Shire of Mornington Peninsula
Local government area in Victoria, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mornington Peninsula Shire is a local government area in southeastern metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located to the south of the Melbourne city centre, it covers its namesake Mornington Peninsula, and is headquartered in the suburb of Rosebud. It has an area of 724 square kilometres (280 sq mi) and at the 2021 census it had a population of 168,948.[2]
Mornington Peninsula Shire | |||||||||||||
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 Interactive map of Mornington Peninsula Shire | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
| Region | Greater Melbourne | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Council seat | Rosebud | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Mayor | Cr Anthony Marsh | ||||||||||||
| • State electorates | |||||||||||||
| • Federal divisions | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 724 km2 (280 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 168,948 (2021)[2] (40th) | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 233.35/km2 (604.4/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Website | Mornington Peninsula Shire | ||||||||||||
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History
The Mornington Peninsula Shire came into existence on 15 December 1994 when the state government amalgamated the previous Shires of Flinders, Hastings and Mornington.[3]
On August 13, 2019, the Shire voted to declare a climate emergency in response to other similar declarations from councils around Australia. This declaration was later overturned by a motion in April 2025, which passed with a 6–5 vote.[4]
The Shire abolished the 150-year-old tradition of reciting a prayer before Council meetings in December 2020. According to the Australian National Secular Lobby, the Shire was "the first council or parliament to be removed from their list of government institutions that impose prayers on elected representatives”.[5]
Council
Current composition
The Mornington Peninsula Shire is split into eleven single-member wards. The current council was elected at the 2024 council election:[6]
| Ward | Party | Councillor | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beek Beek | Independent | Kate Roper | ||
| Benbenjie | Independent | Max Patton | ||
| Briars | Independent Liberal | Anthony Marsh | Mayor | |
| Brokil | Independent | Patrick Binyon | ||
| Coolart | Independent | David Gill | ||
| Kackeraboite | Independent Liberal | Stephen Batty | ||
| Moorooduc | Independent | Bruce Ranken | ||
| Nepean | Independent | Andrea Allen | ||
| Tanti | Independent | Paul Pingiaro | Deputy Mayor | |
| Tootgarook | Independent | Cam Williams | ||
| Warringine | Independent | Michael Stephens | ||
Election results
2024
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 90,460 | 82.86 | 10 |  1 | |||
| Independent Liberal | 10,013 | 9.17 | 1 |  1 | |||
| Independent Labor | 5,864 | 5.37 | 0 |  | |||
| Greens | 2,026 | 1.86 | 0 | | |||
| Victorian Socialists | 811 | 0.74 | 0 | | |||
| Formal votes | 109,174 | 97.01 | |||||
| Informal votes | 3,360 | 2.99 | |||||
| Total | 112,534 | 100.00 | 11 | | |||
| Registered voters / turnout | 134,819 | 83.47 | |||||
Townships and localities
The 2021 census, the shire had a population of 168,948 up from 154,999 in the 2016 census[7]
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Arthurs Seat | 394 | 414 |
| Balnarring | 2,270 | 2,371 |
| Balnarring Beach | 418 | 471 |
| Baxter | 2,162 | 2,166 |
| Bittern | 3,705 | 4,276 |
| Blairgowrie | 2,313 | 2,786 |
| Boneo | 354 | 314 |
| Cape Schanck | 446 | 569 |
| Capel Sound | 4,930 | 5,246 |
| Crib Point | 3,183 | 3,343 |
| Dromana | 5,803 | 6,626 |
| Fingal | 529 | 637 |
| Flinders | 905 | 1,130 |
| Hastings | 9,609 | 10,369 |
| HMAS Cerberus | 1,040 | 1,124 |
| Main Ridge | 416 | 453 |
| McCrae | 2,823 | 3,311 |
| Merricks | 190 | 184 |
| Merricks Beach | 127 | 157 |
| Merricks North | 426 | 423 |
| Moorooduc | 1,098 | 1,004 |
| Mornington | 23,989 | 25,759 |
| Mount Eliza | 17,888 | 18,734 |
| Mount Martha | 18,548 | 19,846 |
| Pearcedale^ | 3,821 | 3,867 |
| Point Leo | 158 | 178 |
| Portsea | 510 | 787 |
| Red Hill | 924 | 1,009 |
| Red Hill South | 603 | 708 |
| Rosebud | 13,195 | 14,381 |
| Rye | 8,416 | 9,438 |
| Safety Beach | 4,821 | 6,328 |
| Shoreham | 608 | 679 |
| Somers | 1,667 | 1,857 |
| Somerville | 11,336 | 11,767 |
| Sorrento | 1,592 | 2,013 |
| St Andrews Beach | 889 | 974 |
| Tootgarook | 2,869 | 3,178 |
| Tuerong | 354 | 357 |
| Tyabb | 3,338 | 3,449 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
See also
- List of Melbourne suburbs, for other Melbourne suburbs and municipalities
- Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere Reserve
