These were the first elections for the council in over two years, after it was suspended in March 2018 due to issues arising from the behaviour of councillors.[1]
Media personality Basil Zempilas was elected lord mayor for a three-year term. Four of the eight councillors were elected for a one-year term until the 2021 election, while the other four were elected until 2023.[1]
Background
Beginning on 2 March 2018, the council was managed by a panel of three Commissioners appointed by the Government of Western Australia, pending the results of a thrice-extended two-year inquiry into the activities of the suspended council.[2][3][4] The report containing 250 findings and 341 recommendations, including suspected criminal behavior involving 23 individuals was released to the West Australian Parliament in August 2020. However, no single prosecution resulted. Police charged a councillor and his family with various offences but the charges were subsequently dropped. No apology or retraction was ever issued by authorities, despite the signal failure of the widely publicised "referrals" to result in further action.[5]
The elected City of Perth comprises eight councillors elected proportionally, with no divisions into wards. Excepting the 2020 election, usually councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. Elections are held every two years on the third Saturday in October, with (usually) four councillors elected for a four-year term at each election. The Lord Mayor is (usually) directly elected for a four-year term, with the Deputy Lord Mayor elected for two years by the councillors at the first meeting of the council.[6]
Council composition (at time of suspension)
The Lord Mayor was elected in October 2015 and, pending the results of the public inquiry, all Councillors' terms expired in October 2019. The makeup of the council at the time of its suspension, in order of election and term, is as follows:[6]
Homelessness, governance, reinvigorating retail spaces and creating a sustainable city are key platforms on which candidates are campaigning on.[21]
Zempilas has faced public scrutiny over his potential conflicts of interests after radio interviews by Russell Woolf on ABC Radio and Gareth Parker on Radio 6PR.[22] Bain released a list of potential conflicts in the City of Perth connected to her or her husband amounting to $95.75 million, including a private equity firm that owns a suite of buildings in the CBD.[23] McCulloch's company Spacecubed has refused a $15,000 City of Perth economic development grant awarded before his campaign announcement citing it as an example of strong governance and decision making.[24]
Zempilas was elected Lord Mayor with 29.44% of the popular vote with 41% turnout.[25][26]
