VICTORIAN local government elections will go ahead as scheduled in October, the state’s Local Government Minister has announced.
Shaun Leane said advice from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton had been sought on whether the elections could proceed amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne.
Mr Leane said the advice was that October represented a period of substantially lower risk than the present.
He said this meant there was no compelling public health grounds for the elections to be delayed.
This year’s elections were already set to be the first where postal voting was in place statewide.
Postal voting had already been used for Mildura Council’s elections before the pandemic.
Guidelines were issued earlier this month for candidates to safely campaign while restrictions are in place.
“This decision was not made lightly and is based on the best public health advice available – but I am pleased Victorian communities can have their say on their local government representatives at democratic council general elections as planned,” Mr Leane said.
