Greater Geraldton election results: Shane Van Styn to go up against Natasha Colliver for deputy mayor

Former Greater Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn is back on council after dominating the election count, securing more than a third of votes, and will waste no time making his presence felt with a clear mandate.

Mr Van Styn will be joined on council by re-elected councillor Natasha Colliver and newcomers Serena Giudice and Tim Milnes, who were all elected to four-year terms.

The ex-mayor has confirmed he will put his hand up for the deputy mayor vote at a special council meeting on Tuesday, where he will come up against Cr Colliver, who has been deputy for the past two years — even though Mr Van Styn did not expect to win. Councillors decide the role of deputy.

“Let’s be clear, there’s obviously a public appetite for me to be back in a leadership role and I did out-poll the other three councillors combined and I’ve come back,” he said. “But that’ll (election of deputy mayor) will be a matter for council, I will respect the decision that and people have nothing to fear by that.

“It was a strong result, and I’m most impressed by the fact we had a high turnout comparatively to other years.”

In the highest turnout for a non-mayoral election in Greater Geraldton, 31.6 per cent — or about 9450 — eligible voters had their say.

Mr Van Styn was a clear frontrunner, with 34 per cent of the vote followed by Cr Colliver with 13 per cent, former Liberal candidate for the State election Mr Milnes with 11.6 per cent and Ms Giudice with 8.7 per cent.

Thirteen candidates were vying for four vacancies, with the size of council now shrinking by two to nine members, including the mayor.

The weekend result saw three existing councillors not get re-elected — Victor Tanti, who has served on council for 12 years, Steve Cooper, who has been on council for four years, and Aaron Horsman, on council for two years.

Cr Colliver said she was “personally stoked” with her re-election, but would be sad to farewell some of her fellow councillors. “There’s stuff that I want to get done, so (to get re-elected) that’s great,” she said.

“There’s a lot of experience sitting around that table, which I think is excellent, and I can’t see any reason why I can’t work with anybody.”

Ms Giudice admitted to feeling “relieved” the campaign was over and the outcome was finally known.

“I had no idea, I had hoped to fall somewhere in the middle, which I did, so I was very happy with that,” she said. “I have a few different perspectives that I think I’ll be able to bring to council, one my knowledge as a person that’s operated a business for years and my knowledge of the building industry and the regulation and legislation that surrounds that.

“So I’m looking forward to learning a whole different area of regulations and legislation ... and making a positive impact.”

On the issue of whether local government elections should be compulsory, Cr Colliver said there would be pros and cons, but what she was most wary of is the opportunity it presented for the major political parties to “put their footprint heavily into that space, which I don’t think is good for the independents of local government.” She said the postal voting system had its drawbacks, but noted an in-person election would be “very expensive” and probably would not result in a higher turnout.

Ms Giudice said the WA Electoral Commission needed to “sort out getting ballots to everyone who is eligible to vote”. Mr Van Styn believes the numbers of eligible voters who did not receive their ballot package could be as a high as 25 per cent.

Mr Van Styn said “preferential voting and non-compulsory voting don’t mix”, but was pleased preferential voting did not result in any “perverse outcomes” at this election. The former mayor lost the mayoral election in 2023 on preferences, after winning the primary vote.

City of Greater Geraldton mayor Jerry Clune congratulated the four successful candidates and thanked all the contenders, as well as the three outgoing councillors for their contributions.

“I look forward to our new council coming together in unity, continuing our advocacy of the Greater Geraldton community as well as achieving the outcomes in our Strategic Community Plan 2025-2035,” he said.

The new-look council could be considering some big-ticket items in the near future, such as yellow-bin household recycling and vergeside pick-up. During the campaign, Cr Colliver said she was keen to take a “serious look” at it, while Mr Van Styn said it would not be financially viable.

“I think everybody wants the best but no one wants to pay for it, so it’s a real balancing act,” Ms Giudice said.

Mr Van Styn said healthy debate among councillors was a “good thing” for the community.

“Conflict is not the right word, it’s a debate, it’s a contest of ideas. I think that’s fantastic,” he said.

Mr Milnes was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Mr Van Styn, Cr Colliver and Ms Giudice will be sworn in and a deputy mayor elected at a special council meeting on Tuesday ahead of a regular monthly agenda forum.

Mr Milnes will be sworn in at a later date.

OTHER MID WEST COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS

Shire of Chapman Valley: Nicole Batten, Liz Elliot-Lockhart, Emma Rodney and Peter Humphrey

Shire of Dandaragan: Graham Lethlean, Susan Johnson, Rose Glasfurd and Stephanie Krakowiak

Shire of Irwin: Isabelle Scott, Lesley Berecz, Sophie Hansen and Luke Musulin

Shire of Meekatharra: Adrian Moses, Maurice Anderson and Matthew Hall

Shire of Mount Magnet: Jim McGorman, Jorgen Jensen, Mick Madden, Jason Homewood and Cecilia Kelly

Shire of Perenjori: Dakota Curtin, Les Hepworth and Roger Dring