City of Brimbank
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The City of Brimbank is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located 10 kilometres west of the Melbourne city centre and is the gateway to Melbourne’s western suburbs.
The city has an area of 123 km² and in 2021, Brimbank had a population of 194,618.
With more than half of its residents born overseas and more than 160 languages spoken, Brimbank is one of Australia’s most multiculturally diverse municipalities.
History
The Wurundjeri people have been the custodians of the land in the Port Phillip Bay region, including the current City of Brimbank, for over 40,000 years before European settlement. Brimbank lies within the area occupied by the Kurung-Jang-Balluk and Marin-Balluk clans of the Wurundjeri people (also known as the Woiwurrung language group) who form part of the larger Kulin Nation. Other groups who occupied land in the area include the Yalukit-Willam and Marpeang-Bulluk clans.
Brimbank was founded on 15 December 1994 during the amalgamations of local councils by the state government. It was formed from the merger of the western portions of the former Cities of Keilor and Sunshine. It was named after Brimbank Park in Keilor, which itself was named for the practice of local farmers driving livestock "around the brim of the bank" of the Maribyrnong River.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The municipality has thirteen places listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Misconduct investigations and dismissal
In 2008 and 2009, the Brimbank City Council was the subject of several investigations into alleged misconduct by councillors.
On 30 July 2008, the state MP for Keilor, George Seitz, invoked parliamentary privilege in the Legislative Assembly to accuse former Brimbank mayor Cr Natalie Suleyman of branch stacking, describing her as the "Robert Mugabe of Brimbank". Seitz alleged that Suleyman had 'retaliated' by directing Council to block funding for capital works projects after she was defeated in Labor Party preselection for the 2008 Kororoit state by-election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn Following disclosures made under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001, the Victorian Ombudsman, George Brouwer, commenced an investigation into the Council in September.Template:Sfn
Brouwer's report was presented to Parliament on 7 May 2009, and found councillors were "generally dysfunctional",Template:Sfn "lacked awareness of their role",Template:Sfn and were "influenced" by unelected third parties.Template:Sfn The report asserted that between 2005 and 2008, decisions were reached by a majority (or 'ruling') faction of councillors who would vote on decisions as a bloc.Template:Sfn Of the 6 members of the 'ruling faction', only two were re-elected to council in 2008.
The report concluded that:
- External parties, including state MPs George Seitz and Theo Theophanous, and former federal MP Andrew Theophanous, had unduly influenced council business,Template:Sfn
- The 'ruling faction' "did not exercise reasonable care" in directing Brimbank CEO Marilyn Duncan to remove funding for the Keilor Lodge Reserve project,Template:Sfn
- The 'ruling faction' intended to "worry" Seitz by calling for expressions of interest on the Keilor Lodge Reserve site,Template:Sfn
- Cr Suleyman acted "with inappropriate partiality" in prioritising works at Cairnlea Park in the Council's 2008–09 budget,Template:Sfn
- Cr Eriksson contravened the Council's Code of Governance by releasing confidential information to the Sunshine Advocate, Brimbank Leader and Brimbank Star newspapers,Template:Sfn
- The Labor Party had appeared to breach the Electoral Act by distributing prohibited material to Cr Capar,Template:Sfn
- Councillors had misused council-owned laptops and BlackBerry devices,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
- Council had failed to handle the severance package of outgoing CEO Marilyn Duncan "in an open and transparent manner",Template:Sfn
- The 'ruling faction' had determined the election of mayor until 2013,Template:Sfn and
- Local Government Victoria had failed to adequately deal with complaints from residents about Council decision-making.Template:Sfn
In response to the Brouwer report, the Minister for Local Government, Richard Wynne, appointed William Scales to closely monitor the council over a three-month period.Template:Sfn In his second report Scales found that, despite being closely monitored, there remained widespread misconduct amongst councillors, and recommended that councillors should be suspended or dismissed from their positions.Template:Sfn David Walker, a former police detective, was also appointed to investigate possible breaches of the Local Government Act.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 15 September, Wynne announced that Council would be dismissed, with administrators appointed until November 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 17 November, the Victorian Government appointed Peter Lewinsky, Joanne Anderson and Meredith Sussex as administrators for a three-year period.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Investigations into the conduct of Seitz, along with councillors Suleyman, Kathryn Eriksson and Troy Atanasovski, concluded in December with the Local Government Inspectorate informing those involved that it would take no further action.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In May 2012, the Victorian Government announced it would extend the tenure of administrators for a further three years,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with Lewinsky reappointed alongside John Watson and former Brimbank commissioner Jane Nathan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In October 2016, council elections were held in Brimbank for the first time in eight years. Two former councillors were re-elected: Sam David and Margaret Giudice, the latter having rescinded her Labor Party membership in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wards and councillors
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Australian party style| | Independent Labor | 5 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Independent | 4 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Greens | 1 |
| Template:Australian party style| | Independent Liberal | 1 |
| Total | 11 | |
The councillors following the October 2024 local elections are:
| Ward | Party | Councillor | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanvale | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | Victoria Borg | Deputy Mayor<ref name="council">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Cherry Creek | Template:Australian party style| | Independent Labor | Kim Thien Truong | |
| Copernicus | Template:Australian party style| | Independent Liberal | Maria Kerr | |
| Delahey | Template:Australian party style| | Independent Labor | Katharine Nikolic | |
| Grasslands | Template:Australian party style| | Independent Labor | Thuy Dang | Mayor<ref name="council"/> |
| Harvester | Template:Australian party style| | Independent Labor | Daniel Kruk | |
| Horseshoe Bend | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | Virginia Tachos | |
| Kororoit Creek | Template:Australian party style| | Greens | Lucy Nguyen | |
| Mount Derrimut | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | Joh Bauch | |
| Organ Pipes | Template:Australian party style| | Independent Labor | Ranka Rasic | |
| St Albans East | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | Duyen Anh Pham | |
Mayors
Mayors (1998– 2009)
| No. | Mayor | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciro Lombardi | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 1998 |
| 2 | Sam David Template:Post-nominals | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 1998–1999 |
| 3 | Brooke Gujinovic | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 1999–2000 |
| 4 | Charlie Apap | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2000–2001 |
| 5 | Natalie Suleyman | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2001–2002 |
| 6 | Andres Puig | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2002–2003 |
| (2) | Sam David Template:Post-nominals | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2003–2004 |
| (5) | Natalie Suleyman | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2004–2006 |
| 7 | Margaret Giudice | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2006–2007 |
| (2) | Sam David Template:Post-nominals | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2007–2008 |
| 8 | Troy Atanasovski Template:Post-nominals | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2008–2009 |
Administrators (2009–2016)
| Administrators | Term |
|---|---|
| Peter Lewinsky (chair) Joanne Anderson Meredith Sussex Template:Post-nominals |
2009–2012 |
| John Watson (chair) Peter Lewinsky Jane Nathan |
2012–2014 |
| John Watson (chair) Jane Nathan John Tanner |
2014–2016 |
Mayors (2016–present)
| No. | Mayor | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | John Hedditch | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | 2016–2017 |
| (7) | Margaret Giudice | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | 2017–2018 |
| 10 | Lucinda Congreve | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | 2018–2019 |
| 11 | Georgina Papafotiou | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | 2019–2020 |
| 12 | Ranka Rasic | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2020–2021 |
| 13 | Jasmine Nguyen | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2021-2022 |
| 14 | Bruce Lancashire | Template:Australian party style| | Independent | 2022-2023 |
| (12) | Ranka Rasic | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2023-2024 |
| 15 | Thuy Dang | Template:Australian party style| | Labor | 2024-2025 |
Demographics
Townships and localities
The 2021 census, the city had a population of 194,618 up from 194,319 in the 2016 census<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Template:VICcity | 5,491 | 5,641 |
| Template:VICcity | 4,731 | 4,334 |
| Template:VICcity | 3,103 | 3,170 |
| Template:VICcity^ | 8 | 10 |
| Template:VICcity | 9,657 | 10,038 |
| Template:VICcity | 0 | 0 |
| Template:VICcity | 18,126 | 18,145 |
| Template:VICcity | 8,339 | 8,077 |
| Template:VICcity | 8,269 | 8,651 |
| Template:VICcity^ | 1,174 | 1,156 |
| Template:VICcity | 3,194 | 3,226 |
| Template:VICcity^ | 5,853 | 5,906 |
| Template:VICcity | 9,995 | 9,857 |
| Template:VICcity^ | 0 | 0 |
| Template:VICcity | 1,752 | 1,668 |
| Template:VICcity | 67 | 67 |
| Template:VICcity | 2,719 | 2,684 |
| Template:VICcity | 8,198 | 8,203 |
| Template:VICcity | 37,309 | 38,042 |
| Template:VICcity | 9,768 | 9,445 |
| Template:VICcity | 11,700 | 12,047 |
| Template:VICcity | 18,580 | 18,552 |
| Template:VICcity | 10,838 | 10,578 |
| Template:VICcity | 15,519 | 15,174 |
| Template:VICcity^ | 11 | 9 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
Environmental issues
In 2021, Brimbank was recognised as Melbourne's smelliest local government area with more than 640 complaints from residents mainly due to the large amount of industries in the area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This includes the Kealba Sunshine Landfill which produced a smell described as "rotting carcasses" for three years. EPA Victoria suspended and then cancelled the license to operate the landfill by Barro Group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
Template:Reflist https://dbr.abs.gov.au/region.html?lyr=lga&rgn=21180
Bibliography
External links
- Template:Commonscat-inline
- Template:Official website
- Metlink local public transport map
- City of Brimbank at the Local Government Victoria website
- [1]
- Template:Victorian local government areas pre-1994 vs present map link
Template:City of Brimbank suburbs Template:Local Government Areas of Victoria