Mid West Gascoyne councils have mixed results for nominations for October 18 local government elections

A drought of council candidates has emerged in parts of the Mid West, with some shires struggling to attract enough interest to fill their vacancies at the October 18 election. A cluster of neighbouring councils — Three Springs, Mingenew and Morawa — along with the shires of Yalgoo and Murchison have had shortfalls of candidates, prompting the need to hold extraordinary elections in the future. The shires of Northampton, Cue, Carnamah and Upper Gascoyne have just enough candidates to cover their vacancies, with everyone who nominated elected unopposed. Three Springs had the smallest amount of nominations, with just one existing councillor throwing their hat in the ring. Retiring Three Springs shire president Chris Lane said an extraordinary election would probably be held later this year or early next year in a bid to fill the remaining three spots. In the meantime, Three Springs would still have a quorum with four councillors, she said. “Without a quorum, we would have fallen under ministerial control, and it just would have gotten very ugly and messy, but while there’s four of them still there, as long as they all turn up to meetings, things can still proceed with lesser numbers on council,” Cr Lane said. “As bad as I feel for us, we’re not alone because of the six or seven neighbours that we have, some are going to an election, some have just enough numbers to cover their vacancies, and three of us will be going to an extraordinary . . . there’s definitely a lack of candidates out in our North Midland zone.” Retiring Mingenew shire president Gary Cosgrove said the council had fallen two nominations short to cover its openings. “There was a couple of people that did express interest. We were hoping they would nominate, so I guess we’ll have to do a little bit more work on them and see if we can convince them that they should,” he said. The councils that attracted the largest number of candidates were Greater Geraldton (13), Dandaragan (10), Mt Magnet (10), Exmouth (nine), Carnarvon (eight), Chapman Valley (six) and Shark Bay (six). Among those contenders vying for a seat on Carnarvon’s council is former State MP Merome Beard. The Carnarvon publican’s one term in State politics came to an end at the March 2025 State election, when she lost to Nationals WA leader Shane Love in the seat of Mid-West. Ms Beard had defected from the Nationals to the Liberals after her North West Central electorate was merged with Mr Love’s seat of Moore to create the new electorate of Mid-West. Three local shire presidents are standing for re-election — Morawa’s Karen Chappel, Nicole Batten from Chapman Valley, and Mt Magnet’s Jim McGorman — as well as a host of existing councillors. Unlike mayors, shire presidents are not voted for by the public, but by their fellow council members. Cr Chappel said it would have been nice to fill all vacancies in Morawa, but with the three nominees elected unopposed, the council would still be able to function. “It would have been nice to have four (nominations to fill all the vacancies), but now we get on with it with a council of six until there’s an opportunity to go out there again (with an extraordinary election),” she said. Cr Chappel said in regional communities, populations were limited and many community members had to be selective about volunteering because everybody was so time-poor. She urged people to speak to an elected member to get a proper insight into the role of a councillor. “Local government does get a bit of a hammering so from the perspective of looking in, some people might think ‘do I really want to volunteer for this?’,” she said. Cr Chappel is extending her 20-year local government career for another four years because it’s a passion of hers and she has “unfinished” business, particularly helping secure the rest of the funds needed for an early childhood education centre in Morawa, and advocating for road safety. Yalgoo also fell short by one nomination, with shire CEO Ian Holland saying the council would meet in October to discuss options for an extraordinary election. Election packages for postal votes will be sent to out to WA households this month. MID WEST GASCOYNE COUNCIL NOMINATIONS Carnamah (three vacancies, all elected unopposed) Cr Con Kikeros Cr Dwayne Wooltorton Cr Bruce Chisholm Carnarvon Town ward (three vacancies) Boston Saxon Cr Dudley Maslen Cr Luke Skender Kylie Coniglio Merome Beard Plantation ward (one vacancy) Paul Shain Cr Marco Ferreirinha Coral Bay ward (one vacancy, elected unopposed) Mark Young Chapman Valley (four vacancies) Cr Emma Rodney Cr Liz Elliot-Lockhart Cr Nicole Batten (shire president) Wayne Harris Peter Humphrey Laszlo Csepany Cue (four vacancies, all elected unopposed) Cr Julie Humphreys Jacquie Lacy Cian Lyon Norm Lyon Coorow (five vacancies, all elected unopposed) Luhan Van Den Heever Colin Hassell Dirk Gericke Gene Hannington Durwin Melbin Dandaragan (four vacancies) Cr Graham Lethlean Cr Rose Glasfurd David Brown Suzie Probert Rick Krieg Courtney Frew Brooke Hearle Susan Johnson Mal Scott Stephanie Krakowiak Exmouth (five vacancies) Cr David Gillespie Gary Mounsey Cr Jackie Brooks Craig Heron Jade Bowra James Penfold Amanda Kailis Matthew Thorburn Jacqueline Hine Greater Geraldton (four vacancies) Michael Reymond Cr Victor Tanti Ron Bertelsen Tim Milnes Shane Van Styn Serena Giudice Minna Rankine Cr Steve Cooper Cr Natasha Colliver Hari Kumar Cr Aaron Horsman Ian Dempsey Jesse Steele Irwin (four vacancies) Sophie Hanson Isabella Scott Lesley Berecz Luke Musulin Thomas Coffey Meekatharra (three vacancies) Cr Judy Holden Adrian Moses Gary Scott Matthew Hall Maurice Anderson Mingenew (four vacancies, two nominees elected unopposed. Extraordinary election needed for remaining two vacancies) Cr Jonathan Holmes Naomi Obst Morawa (four vacancies, three nominees all elected unopposed. Extraordinary election needed for remaining vacancy) Cr Karen Chappel (shire president) Cr Ken Stokes Cr Mark Coaker Mt Magnet (five vacancies) Cr Cecilia Kelly Jorgen Jensen Roselyn Little Pennoschea Little Paul Tonkin Paul Noble Cr Jason Homewood Mick Madden Cr Jim McGorman (shire president) Cr Catherine Jones Murchison (three vacancies, two nominees elected unopposed. Extraordinary elected needed for remaining vacancy) Cr Emma Foulkes-Taylor Cr Greydon Mead Northampton (three vacancies, all elected unopposed) Cr Tim Hay Cr Des Pike Chad Smith Perenjori (three vacancies) Dakota Curtin Cr Les Hepworth Rob Gronow Roger Dring Sandstone (three vacancies) Cr Caroleann Hodshon Margaret Duhig Jamie Turner Stephanie Brown Cr David Lefroy Shark Bay (three vacancies) Bevan Buirchell Janine Gunther Cr Ed Fenny Angela Johns Cr Mira Vankova Cr Laurence Bellottie Three Springs (four vacancies, one nominee elected unopposed. Extraordinary election needed for three remaining vacancies) Cr Jennifer Mutter Upper Gascoyne (four vacancies, all elected unopposed) Cr Hamish McTaggart Cr Alys McKeough Greg Watters Cr Blanche Walker Yalgoo (three vacancies, two nominees elected unopposed. Extraordinary election needed for remaining vacancy) Cr Tamisha Hodder Raelene Kroon