Elections for the newly constituted Groote Archipelago Regional Council election have been postponed to 15 March 2025.
The elections were planned for 26 October 2024.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Housing, Steve Edgington said as a result of strong community sentiment of the Groote Archipelago community, the election date for the Groote Archipelago Regional Council has been postponed.
"The decision to postpone the election was made to allow for further consultation with leaders and community members across the Archipelago about the possibility for ward representation.
"I am committed to ensuring the voices of Groote Archipelago communities are central to the election process and have decided to postpone the election to enable a robust community consultation process to be undertaken to determine community sentiments on the structure of the new council," Mr Edgington said.
"The CLP Government is committed to returning local control through local government, so that Aboriginal people have a direct say on what they need in their communities.
"The CLP Government wants to make sure that the establishment of the council is built on a strong foundation of fairness, inclusivity, and representation."
A comprehensive community consultation process will be undertaken in November to seek community feedback on the level of support for wards to be established, what the boundaries of these wards should be, and how many Councillors should be elected to represent each ward.
