One new face to join Bunbury city council

Just one new face will be joining the Bunbury city council as four vacant seats were filled with three incumbents and one first-time councillor at the weekend.

Councillors Gabi Ghasseb, Tresslyn Smith and Marina Quain were re-elected for another four years, with Julie Broad elected for the first time.

Cr Ghasseb led throughout the count, which featured six updates on Saturday night, with all first preference votes counted before they were double-checked on Sunday morning.

Cr Ghasseb secured 1479 first-preference votes, followed by Cr Smith on 877, Cr Broad on 779, and Cr Quain on 765.

The next candidate was more than 80 first-preference votes behind, with the four elected members leading the count throughout the night.

Preferences were distributed, but did not change the outcome other than to almost or more than double the already leading candidates’ tallies.

Ex-councillors Ben Andrew, Karen Steele and Michelle Steck all missed out on re-election, with only four seats vacant following local government reforms in recent years.

Mr Andrew secured 683 first-preference votes, while Ms Steele had 337 and Ms Steck had 600.

Other candidates included Barry White, Matthew Milligan, Sam Morris, Courtney Truman and Daniel Singleton, while Megan Lawless was a late scratching but still featured on the ballot.

Cr Broad is the former Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO, and retired from the top job earlier this year.

She has owned five small businesses, and moved to Bunbury six years ago to be closer to her adult children who live in the region with her grandchildren.