New Moorabool Mayor

By Lachlan Ellis

Moorabool Shire has a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor, after new holders of the roles were elected at the latest Council meeting.

The Statutory Meeting of Council on Wednesday 30 November called for a new one-year term for a Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Moorabool, with neither outgoing Mayor Cr Tom Sullivan, nor Deputy Mayor Cr Tonia Dudzik, standing for re-election to their roles.

However, Cr Dudzik did stand for the position of Mayor, as did Crs Rod Ward, Ally Munari, and Moira Berry.

The meeting began with the mayor’s report, with Cr Sullivan thanking the people of Moorabool for “the honour and privilege to be Mayor of Moorabool Shire”, and his fellow Councillors for their support.

Tributes followed to Cr Sullivan and his service as Mayor came from every Councillor present, from Cr David Edwards saying Cr Sullivan had “respect across the Shire and always put Moorabool first”, and Cr Berry calling him “fair, a great listener, great talker, and great advisor”.

An absolute majority of four Councillors’ votes is required to elect the Mayor, and with Cr Paul Tatchell an apology and not present, there were six Councillors voting.

In the first round of voting, Cr Ward and Cr Berry both received two votes – Cr Ward voted for himself and was supported by Cr Edwards, while Cr Berry also voted for herself and was supported by Cr Sullivan.

Crs Dudzik and Munari both received only one vote each, their own. To break the tie between them, the Councillors drew pieces of paper, with one blank and the other reading ‘defeated’ – it was Cr Munari that drew the defeated paper, and thus she was eliminated from the second round.

In the second round of voting, Cr Ward was again backed by Cr Edwards but also by Cr Munari, while Cr Berry again received Cr Sullivan’s support. With the least votes, Cr Dudzik was eliminated.

Finally, in the third round of voting, Cr Ward received the absolute majority he needed, with his own vote, and the votes of Crs Edwards, Munari, and Dudzik.

Cr Ward was officially named the new Mayor of Moorabool Shire, putting on the mayoral chain and robes of office, before thanking his fellow Councillors for their support.

“Thank you very much to my fellow Councillors for this great privilege. It is a great honour to serve the community. It’s a great honour and privilege to be elected Mayor of Moorabool Shire Council,” he said.

“I promise to be a Mayor for the whole of Moorabool.”

Cr Ward also paid tribute once more to the outgoing Mayor.

“It’s my goal as Mayor, Cr Sullivan, to serve to the high standards that you did, serve everyone fairly, and show the energy and passion for Moorabool Shire that you’ve shown over many years,” he said.

Cr Munari was unopposed in her nomination for the role of Deputy Mayor, and thus became the new Deputy Mayor of Moorabool Shire.

Both Mayor Cr Ward and Deputy Mayor Cr Munari are relatively new faces to local government, both being first elected to Moorabool Shire Council at the 2020 local government election.