Council Election October 2020

The results of the Boroondara Council election have now been finalised, with big gains for meaningful climate action.

Two of the three Councillors who supported a Boroondara Climate Emergency declaration stood for re-election (Jane Addis and Lisa Hollingsworth), and both were returned.  They have now been joined by three new Councillors who scored very strongly on our climate questionnaire (Susan Biggar, Victor Franco and Wes Gault), plus another Councillor whose responses were more qualified but who also scored well (Di Gillies).

That means we now have six of eleven Councillors who favour effective climate action in Boroondara!

This is a great result, and we can claim a big part of the credit for making it happen!  The many people who helped with our campaign should all feel very satisfied and proud.  That includes more than 100 volunteers who delivered over 30,000 scorecards over two days. 

A big Thank You to everyone who worked on this campaign!

The Kooyong Climate Change Alliance has developed climate scorecards for each Ward in Boroondara to help voters identify candidates committed to strong action on the climate and greater openness in Council processes. The Alliance is a non-partisan group of community organisations, including Lighter Footprints, ACF Boroondara, the Eastern Melbourne Climate Alliance and Stop Adani Kooyong.

Check out the Candidate Climate Scorecard for your Ward!

Click on the relevant link below to find the scorecard for your Ward and the full questionnaire response from candidates.  If you don’t know which Ward you are in, click here to find out.

The scorecards are based on a detailed candidate questionnaire, which you can find here.  The questionnaire is mainly focused on climate action, but also covers candidates’ views on making Council processes more transparent and open to community input. Details of how the candidates’ responses were scored can be found here.

You can also click here to see many of the candidates speaking at the recent Lighter Footprints Election Forum, where they were asked to explain their views on climate action. 

Why consider the climate in a Council election?

Extreme weather events are increasingly frequent and becoming more intense.  The fires on the US west coast, on top of those in Australia last summer, are yet further confirmation of worsening climate conditions. 

All levels of government have a responsibility to respond to the climate emergency.  Many Councils have developed plans for strong climate action, including reducing net emissions from their own operations to zero and introducing incentives to reduce community emissions (e.g. through increasing the uptake of solar panels and electric vehicles).  Councils must also play a key role in helping communities adapt and become more resilient in the face of the changing climate.

Boroondara Council has failed the climate test!

In May this year Cr Jane Addis moved a motion for the Council to declare a climate emergency.  The motion was seconded by Cr Coral Ross and supported by Cr Lisa Hollingsworth, but rejected by the seven other Councillors.  The Council’s 2020-21 Budget reflects this failure by most Councillors to recognise the seriousness of the climate challenge.  We need new Councillors who will support a new Council plan that will deliver strong and effective action to reduce emissions in Boroondara and build community climate resilience.

Help elect Councillors who support strong climate action!

Here are the links to the scorecard for each Ward and the full questionnaire responses from candidates.  If you don’t know which Ward you are in, click here to find out.

If you would like to help our campaign to elect climate Councillors, please sign up here!