Mayor & councillors
Gannawarra has 7 councillors, all elected across the whole shire — there are no wards. They were elected in October 2024 for the 2024–2028 term. Voters don't elect the Mayor directly: the councillors choose one of themselves each year. Cr Garner Smith was re-elected Mayor for 2025/26 on 19 November 2025, with Cr Ross Stanton as Deputy Mayor. At the council meeting of 16 September 2026, Cr Smith announced he will step down as Mayor on 30 September 2026, following his nomination as a candidate for the Murray Plains electorate at the November 2026 state election.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- How the mayor is chosen
- Either elected directly by voters, or chosen by the councillors.
- Ward
- A subdivision of a council area that elects its own councillors.
- Local Government Area (LGA)
- The official area a council governs.
Who represents you
- Mayor
- Cr Garner Smith — stepping down as Mayor on 30 September 2026Re-elected unopposed by the councillors on 19 November 2025 for 2025/26; also Mayor in 2024–25. He announced on 16 September 2026 that he will step down as Mayor on 30 September. As of 29 September 2026 the council hadn't published who will fill the role; its meetings page says an unscheduled council meeting to hold the mayoral election will take place in November 2026, date to be confirmed.September 2026 meeting →
- Deputy Mayor
- Cr Ross StantonRe-elected unopposed on 19 November 2025 for 2025/26.
- Councillors
- 7, elected shire-wideMatches the Victorian Electoral Commission's list of current councillors (checked September 2026).
- Changes since the 2024 election
- NoneThe VEC's countbacks and by-elections timeline lists no Gannawarra countback since the 2024 election; the two it lists are from 2020, under the old ward structure (checked September 2026).VEC timeline →
- Council meetings
- Third Wednesday of the month, 6pm, The Glasshouse, KerangEleven meetings a year, February to December. Meetings are recorded and the video is online within 24 hours. The next scheduled meetings are 21 October, 18 November and 16 December 2026.Council meetings →
Your representatives
Garner Smith
Mayor (to 30 Sep 2026) / Councillor
Ross Stanton
Deputy Mayor / Councillor
Charlie Gillingham
Councillor
Daniel Bolitho
Councillor
Keith Link
Councillor
Lisa Farrant
Councillor
Pat Quinn
Councillor
Want to raise something? Contacting your ward councillor or the mayor is one of the most direct ways to be heard between elections.
Victorian council ballot papers and results don't show party affiliation, so we don't label councillors. We list who holds office, with the council email addresses from each councillor's page on the council website (September 2026), and link to the election results. The VEC lists Cr Gillingham as Charles Gillingham. In an unsubdivided council like Gannawarra, a vacancy is filled by a VEC countback of the 2024 votes, not a by-election. For the latest list, see the council's page or the VEC.
Sources — check it yourself
- Gannawarra Shire Council — Councillors (and each councillor's page) · Sep 2026
- Gannawarra Shire Council — Council Meeting wrap, September 2026 (17 Sep 2026) · Sep 2026
- Gannawarra Shire Council — Council Meeting wrap, November 2025 (20 Nov 2025) · Nov 2025
- Gannawarra Shire Council — Council Meetings (2026 schedule, mayoral election meeting) · Sep 2026
- Gannawarra Shire Council — History: Gannawarra Shire Council (past mayors) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Gannawarra Shire Council (current councillors) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Council by-elections and countbacks timeline · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 Gannawarra Shire Council election results · Nov 2024
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.