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City of Merri-bek

City of Merri-bek
FieldValue
nameMerri-bek City Council
statevic
imageMelbLGA-Merri-bek.gif
captionLocation within Melbourne metropolitan area
pop181725
pop_year2018
pop_footnotes
poprank33rd
area51
area_footnotes
coordinates
est1994
mayorHelen Davidson
(Your Local Independents)
seatCoburg
regionGreater Melbourne
logoMerri-bek logo.png
urlwww.merri-bek.vic.gov.au
stategovBroadmeadows
stategov2Brunswick
stategov3Melbourne
stategov4Niddrie
stategov5Pascoe Vale
fedgovCooper
fedgov2Maribyrnong
fedgov3Wills
near-nwHume, Brimbank
near-nHume
near-neWhittlesea
near-eDarebin
near-seYarra
near-sMelbourne
near-swMoonee Valley
near-wMoonee Valley

(Your Local Independents) |near-nw=Hume, Brimbank |near-n=Hume |near-ne=Whittlesea |near-e=Darebin |near-se=Yarra |near-s=Melbourne |near-sw=Moonee Valley |near-w=Moonee Valley}}

Previous logo of the City of Moreland

The City of Merri-bek (), formerly the City of Moreland, is a local government area in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 11 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. The Merri-bek local government area covers 51 km2, and in June 2018, it had a population of 181,725.

History

The City of Merri-bek's predecessor LGAs (green) as they were in 1994

The local government area was created as the City of Moreland in 1994 during the amalgamations of local governments by the state government, being created from the former local government areas of the City of Brunswick, the City of Coburg and the southern part of the City of Broadmeadows. It was renamed to Merri-bek in September 2022.

In 2004 the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), an independent authority created under Victorian state legislation, conducted a representation review of the council's electoral structure, resulting in a recommendation that the 10 single councillor wards be replaced by three multi-councillor wards. A consequence of the change from single-councillor to multi-councillor wards was a change in election method from Instant runoff voting to proportional representation via Single transferable vote. Elections are held every four years.

Renaming

In November 2021, it came to the council's attention that Moreland's namesake was indirectly associated with a Jamaican plantation site that had traded slaves up to the 1800s. This historical information was contained in the 2010 Moreland Council publication Thematic History, and published in books and articles as far back as 1944.

In October 1839, Scottish surgeon and settler Dr Farquhar McCrae was sold land between Moonee Ponds Creek and Sydney Road by the Crown in the area's first colonial sale. McCrae gave the land the name Moreland. Some suggest he may have taken this name from a Jamaican sugar plantation that his paternal grandfather Alexander McCrae worked at from the late 1760s to the early 1790s, which was involved in slave trading, and kept up to 500 to 700 enslaved people in the operation in any one year. Greens Mayor Mark Riley said "The history behind the naming of this area is painful, uncomfortable and very wrong. It needs to be addressed". In May 2022 a choice of three proposed names from the Woi-wurrung language was announced by Riley and Uncle Andrew Gardiner, deputy chair of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation: Wa-dam-buk, meaning “renew”; Merri-bek, meaning “rocky country”; and Jerrang, meaning “leaf of tree”. The names were scheduled to be decided by July 2022 following community consultation.

The community consultation for the renaming commenced in May 2022 and ended June 2022. Some residents expressed dissatisfaction with the process resulting in a petition to council.

On 3 July 2022 (coinciding with the start of NAIDOC Week) the Council voted at a Special Council Meeting to officially endorse Merri-bek as the preferred name. The name was submitted to the Minister for Local Government for consideration and the Minister's decision to alter the name was gazetted on 13 September 2022 and came into operation on 26 September.

Council services

Merri-bek Council runs the Counihan Gallery at the Brunswick Town Hall, a free public art gallery named after the local artist, Noel Counihan. Other art events supported by Council include the MoreArt event, an art in public spaces show located along the Upfield transport corridor. The council also sponsors various street festivals around the municipality, the best known being the Sydney Road Street Party.

One of the highlights of Merri-bek is its public library. Merri-bek City Libraries has five branches.

Other Merri-bek local government services include maternal and child health service, waste and recycling collection, parks and open space, a youth space called Oxygen, services for children, and aged services.

Climate action

A January 2020 ClimateWorks Australia local government report identified City of Moreland as one of 3 out of 57 municipal jurisdictions in Australia to have a "fully aligned net zero by 2050 target that addresses both operational and community emissions."

The City of Merri-bek is a member of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, the Cities Power Partnership, Climate Emergency Australia (CEA), Climate Active, The Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (NAGA), and has declared pledges in the TAKE2 scheme with Sustainability Victoria.

Council declared a climate emergency on 12 September 2018.

Council operational emissions reduction

For operational emissions, Moreland Council was certified as a ‘carbon neutral’ council in 2012. This required purchase of carbon offset credits. Moreland was the second council in Victoria, and the third in Australia, to receive this certification. A target of 30% less emissions than 2011, with a stretch goal of 40% by 2020, was over-achieved with an emissions cut of 69% by 2020, which will reduce the carbon offsets required to be purchased.

Moreland City Council installed Victoria's first EV fast charge station in 2013. This has now grown to a network of 16 public EV charging stations around the municipality which are powered by 100% zero emissions renewable energy from the Crowlands Wind Farm, near Ararat.

In 2014, City of Moreland joined with the City of Melbourne and several other institutions and established the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project (MREP). This project developed and funded the construction of a purpose-built 39 turbine, 80 MW Crowlands windfarm, which started supplying 100% renewables power to Council facilities and buildings in 2019.

Net zero by 2040 community emissions target

Moreland's community wide municipal emissions in 2019 were 1,609,000 tonnes CO2e, composed of sectoral emissions of: Waste (3%), Transport (17%), Gas (21%), Electricity (59%).

The City of Merri-bek has set a community emissions reduction target of net zero emissions by 2040 and established the Moreland Zero Carbon 2040 Framework Strategy and the first 5-year action plan to achieve that target.

Other key climate and sustainability policies and strategies driving climate action include: Climate Emergency Action Plan (2020 to 2025), Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy, Waste and Litter Strategy, Achieving zero Carbon in the Planning Scheme, Sustainable Buildings Policy, Urban Heat Island Effect Action Plan, Urban Forest Strategy, Watermap, Procurement policy, Cooling the Upfield Corridor Action Plan, Food Systems Strategy, Fossil Fuel Divestment Strategy, Moreland Nature Plan.

Climate action endorsements

During 2021 City of Moreland supported a climate disaster levy on coal exports, and endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, the first government jurisdiction in Australia to do so.

Council

Current composition

Councillors are elected from eleven single-member wards. The council's most recent election took place in October 2024. Since then, Merri-bek has consisted of the following councillors:

WardPartyCouncillorNotes
Bababi DjinanangSocialist AllianceSue Bolton
Box ForestLaborChris Miles
Brunswick WestGreensElla Svensson
Bulleke-bekGreensJay Iwasaki
Djirri-DjirriYour Local IndependentsHelen Davidson
Harmony ParkLaborHelen Politis
Pascoe Vale SouthYour Local IndependentsOscar Yildiz
PentridgeIndependentNatalie Abboud
RandazzoGreensLiz Irvin
Warrk-WarrkGreensAdam Pulford
WestbreenLaborKaterine Theodosis

Mayor

Main article: List of mayors of Merri-bek

The current mayor for 2025-2026 is Cr Natalie Abboud, while the current deputy mayor for 2025-2026 is Cr Dr Jay Iwasaki.

Past councillors

1996–2004 (10 wards)

YearBox ForestGlencairnGrandviewHoffmanLincoln MillsLygonMerriMoonahNewlandsWestbreenCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillor
1996independent}}John Sawyer (Independent)independent}}Chris Iliopoulos (Independent)independent}}Rosemary Kerr (Independent)
Labor}}Mike Hill (Labor)Labor}}Rod Higgins (Labor)Labor}}Glenyys Romanes (Labor)Labor}}Anthony Helou (Labor)Labor}}Andrew Rowe (Labor)Labor}}Stella Kariofyllidis (Labor)independent}}Geoff Lutz (Independent)
1999independent}}Ken Blair (Independent)Labor}}Robert Larocca (Labor)independent}}Andy Ingham (Independent)Labor}}Leigh Snelling (Labor)independent}}Melanie Raymond (Independent)
2000Labor}}Vicki Yianoulatos (Labor)
2001Labor}}Joe Caputo (Labor)
2002independent}}Stephen Roach (Independent)Greens}}Fraser Brindley (Greens)Labor}}Mark Higginbotham (Labor)Labor}}Joe Ficarra (Labor)

2004–2024 (three wards)

North-East Ward

YearCouncillorPartyCouncillorPartyCouncillorPartyCouncillorParty
2004Labor}}Anthony HelouLaborLabor}}Mark O'BrienLaborGreens}}Andrea Sharam
2008Michael TetiLaborToby ArcherGreensLabor}}Stella KariofyllidisLabor
2012Lenka ThompsonGreens
2012Socialist Alliance}}Sue BoltonSocialist AllianceLiberal}}Rob ThompsonIndependent Liberal
2016Annalivia Carli HannanLaborNatalie AbboudGreensIndependent}}Ali IrfanliIndependent
2020Sue Bolton Moreland TeamAdam PulfordGreensHelen Pavlidis-MihalakosIndependent
2022aSocialist AllianceVictorians
2022bIndependent}}Independent

North-West Ward

YearCouncillorPartyCouncillorPartyCouncillorPartyCouncillorParty
2004Labor}}Mark HigginbothamLaborLabor}}Kathleen Matthews-WardLaborDemocratic Labour}}John Kavanagh
2008Oscar YildizLaborEnver ErdoganLabor
2012Independent}}Helen DavidsonIndependentLita GilliesLabor
2014Independent}}Independent
2016Greens}}Dale MartinGreens
2018Independent}}Independent
2020Labor}}Milad El-HalabiLaborAngelica PanopoulosGreens
2021Victorians
2022aIndependent Labor
2022bIndependent}}IndependentSocialist Alliance}}Monica HarteSocialist Alliance

South Ward

YearCouncillorPartyCouncillorPartyCouncillorParty
2004Labor}}Joe CaputoLaborLabor}}Alice PryorLabor
2008Lambros TapinosLabor
2012Meghan HopperLaborSamantha RatnamGreens
2016Greens}}Mark RileyGreens
2017Jess DorneyGreens
2020James ConlanGreens
2023Independent}}Independent

2024 (11 wards)

YearBababi DjinanangBox ForestBrunswick WestBulleke-bekDjirri-DjirriHarmony ParkPascoe Vale SouthPentridgeRandazzoWarrk-WarrkWestbreenCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillor
2024Socialist Alliance}}Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance)Labor Vic}}Chris Miles (Labor)Greens Vic}}Ella Svensson (Greens)Greens Vic}}Jay Iwasaki (Greens)Your Local Independents}}Helen Davidson (Your Local Independents)Labor Vic}}Helen Politis (Labor)Your Local Independents}}Oscar Yildiz (Your Local Independents)Independent}}Natalie Abboud (Independent)Greens Vic}}Liz Irvin (Greens)Greens Vic}}Adam Pulford (Greens)Labor Vic}}Katerine Theodosis (Labor)

Election results

2024

2020

2016

2002

PopulationLocality20162021
24,47324,896
11,50413,279
14,15914,746
^26,18526,574
7,6018,327
^14,04314,274
^12,33912,781
22,24523,792
2,7732,971
5,6106,269
6,2056,714
^7,4097,074
17,05118,171
10,06910,534
^6,6056,733

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

Sister cities

  • China Xianyang, Shaanxi, China
  • Italy Solarino, Italy
  • Australia Canterbury, New South Wales, Australia
  • East Timor Aileu, East Timor
  • Australia Mansfield, Victoria, Australia
  • Greece Sparta, Greece
  • Turkey Çorum, Turkey

Notes

References

References

  1. (27 March 2019). "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
  2. "Renaming Moreland".
  3. "Order Altering the Name of Moreland City Council".
  4. "Changing Moreland's name". Brunswick Community History Group.
  5. "Minutes of the Special Council Meeting - 13 December 2021". Moreland City Council.
  6. . (May 1, 2010). ["City of Moreland Thematic History"](https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/globalassets/areas/strategic-planning/moreland-thematic-history.pdf).
  7. Lesh, Dr James. (2022-04-13). "Report on the place name: Moreland". Deakin University.
  8. Lesh, James. (2022). "Report on the place name: Moreland : Legacies of Slavery.".
  9. "Council asked to consider Moreland name change".
  10. (2021-11-25). "Melbourne council to ditch slave-link name".
  11. Fowler, Michael. (2021-11-24). "'Shocked' Melbourne council to change name after discovering slavery link". [[The Age]].
  12. (14 May 2022). "New Indigenous names for Moreland Council proposed".
  13. . (9 August 2022). ["Community demand more consultation"](https://theage.com.au/national/victoria/moreland-residents-demand-consultation-on-council-name-change-20220809-p5b8d1.html).
  14. Council, Moreland City. "With new Merri-bek name, Council is a step closer to reconciliation".
  15. (January 2020). "Net zero momentum tracker – local government report". [[ClimateWorks Australia]].
  16. . ["Global Covenant of Mayors City Dashboard - Moreland"](https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/cities/oceania/australia/moreland/). *Global Covenant of Mayors*.
  17. . ["Moreland City is a Power Partner"](https://citiespowerpartnership.org.au/partners/moreland/). *[[Cities Power Partnership]]*.
  18. . ["Our Sustainability Story"](https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/my-council/about-council/our-sustainability-story/).
  19. (September 13, 2018). "Media Release: Moreland Council adopts Climate Emergency". Climate Action Moreland.
  20. . (June 21, 2021). ["Moreland City Council slashes its carbon emissions"](https://morelandzerocarbon.org.au/news/moreland-city-council-slashes-its-carbon-emissions/). *City of Moreland*.
  21. . ["Use an Electric Vehicle"](https://morelandzerocarbon.org.au/travel-smart/use-an-electric-vehicle/). *City of Moreland*.
  22. Jewell, Cameron. (December 1, 2015). "Melbourne consortium forms to drive renewable investment". The Fifth Estate.
  23. . ["Melbourne Renewable Energy Project: A new generation of energy"](https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/business/sustainable-business/mrep/Pages/melbourne-renewable-energy-project.aspx). *City of melbourne*.
  24. . ["Moreland 2019 municipal emissions snapshot"](https://snapshotclimate.com.au/locality/municipality/australia/victoria/moreland/). *Ironbark Sustainability*.
  25. . ["About Zero Carbon Moreland"](https://morelandzerocarbon.org.au/about/about/). *City of Moreland*.
  26. . (11 March 2021). ["Moreland Council supports a Climate Disaster Levy"](https://climateactionmoreland.org/2021/03/11/moreland-council-supports-a-climate-disaster-levy/). *Climate Action Moreland*.
  27. . ["Moreland City Council says no to fossil fuels"](https://morelandzerocarbon.org.au/news/moreland-city-council-says-no-to-fossil-fuels/). *City of Moreland*.
  28. . ["Fossil Fuel Treaty"](https://fossilfueltreaty.org/endorsements). *Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative*.
  29. Phillips, Mark. (2024-11-21). "Davidson elected first Mayor of new council".
  30. Phillips, Mark. (2024-11-21). "Davidson elected first Mayor of new council".
  31. "First Council".
  32. "Second Council".
  33. "Third Council".
  34. (30 January 2006). "The Green mayor who kept his council car".
  35. (25 March 2010). "ALP suspends trio for breaking ranks". [[The Age]].
  36. (27 October 2012). "Moreland Council elections 2012". [[Internet Archive]].
  37. "Election Results". Moreland City Council.
  38. (11 January 2023). "Census {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics".
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