Voting instructions and candidate statements for Huon Valley Council.
Voting is compulsory. Your vote must be received by 2pm on Tuesday 27 October 2026
Don’t delay – late votes won’t be counted!
There are 3 elections being held for Huon Valley Council:
As well as this booklet, your postal ballot pack contains:
Your ballot paper envelope is designed to keep your identity separate from your vote.
Successful candidates for mayor and deputy mayor must also be elected as councillors to be able to accept these offices. The elected councillors, mayor and deputy mayor will serve until October 2030.
Questions? Call 1800 801 701.
Postal services take a number of days, so it is important to complete and return your vote now.
Your vote must be received by 2pm on Tuesday 27 October 2026.
Don’t delay, late votes can’t be counted. Failure to vote may incur a fine.
Follow these five easy steps:
Candidates were invited to provide a statement and photo for your consideration. Statements are reproduced here as provided by the candidate.
Statements appear in alphabetical order but the order of names on ballot papers is rotated.
Number the boxes on each ballot paper from 1 onwards in the order of your choice.
For the election of 7 councillors, number the boxes from 1 to 15 in order of your choice. Number at least 5 boxes to make your vote count.
For the election of mayor, number the boxes from 1 to 4 in order of your choice. Number at least one box to make your vote count.
For the election of deputy mayor, number the boxes from 1 to 4 in the order of your choice. Number at least one box to make your vote count.
Put your completed ballot papers in the ballot paper envelope, which is the smaller envelope with the wider flap, and seal it securely.
Sign your ballot paper envelope in the box on the flap to declare that you are the voter named on this envelope and you have voted on the ballot papers in this envelope. You must sign the envelope and leave the flap attached — or your vote won’t be counted. The returning officer will remove the flap with your details on it before opening the envelope.
Then put your ballot paper envelope in the reply-paid envelope — the larger envelope — and seal it.
Post your reply paid envelope straight away (no stamp needed), or take your vote to the Huon Valley Council office.
As a current councillor on the Huon Valley Council, and a local business owner for over 15 years, I have had many opportunities to really listen to our community concerns and pride myself in good communication. I believe the Huon Valley deserves experienced, independent leadership. Someone who understands council principles and will always put our community first. Future planning is essential, both economically and socially, and having raised my family here, I understand the need for homes, jobs, and ensuring services our future generations will require.
My name is Joshua Bowling. I have worked for many years in Huonville as a practicing lawyer. I believe I have required skills to be your Deputy Mayor. Council work is complicated and you need to be sure that you elect the right person. In my work I am used to working through complicated issues. I am used to applying well balanced, practical and thoughtful decision making. I believe these skills would be an asset to your council. I have really enjoyed being a part of the Huon Valley Community for such a long time. I would be grateful for the opportunity to represent you as Deputy Mayor.
Huon Valley faces a real choice. A leftist Greens bloc risks putting ideology first, blocking development stalling housing and jobs, and ranking fringe politics above roads rates and services. Council can’t deliver on rates alone. Strong partnerships with State and Federal governments are essential. I will use my decades of real world experience to attract national and international investment to the most beautiful place in the nation. I am pro development I will make sure the world knows the Huon is open for business. I am a teacher a social worker and have worked in the Huon for decades.
As Mayor, I’ll work to strengthen communities to be prepared for bushfires and other challenges. By working with local groups Council can help find solutions to important issues including local food, transport and affordable housing. I will stay in touch with residents and push for the support we need. I’ve been in small business for 40 years, building sustainable houses. I know first-hand the planning scheme problems and ways to improve the process. Our population is increasing - As your Green Mayor, I’ll guide how growth happens to retain the beauty of our valley and help communities thrive.
Lived in the Huon since 2007; now on a farm in Geeveston. My focus as Mayor will be: support Councillors to work together; budget control & asset management; sport & recreation - community facilities, access to the river & natural environment; support employers, jobs & a strong economy; keeping Huon an easy place to build & live; cut planning red tape & preserve our rural life style I’ve been a senior public servant, management consultant, lecturer; psychologist; CEO of the State’s largest disability service. Council - 4yrs, A/Deputy Mayor, Chair HR Review Committee, member Audit Committee
I have lived in the Huon Valley for nine years. It’s a special place with wonderful people and I want that to be part of the region’s future. I am proud to be a Greens candidate. I run a small business and have a background in engineering, so I’m pragmatic and make decisions based on analysis and facts. I'm driven by values of creating a more equal society and reducing our impact on the natural environment. As a Greens candidate, if elected, I will listen to community concerns, work collegiately on council and support policies that put people and the environment first.
The Huon Valley is where I started my career, bought my first home and where our family has six generations of connection. I care deeply about it and am focused on its future. I bring 20 years’ experience across farming, tourism, energy, small business and the public sector, and five years in local government leadership. I understand community engagement, planning, advocacy and good governance well. I’m standing for Mayor and Councillor to offer kind, strong and collaborative leadership — listening well, asking the right questions and with what's best for the Huon always at the heart.
I am standing for the Greens as a councillor and for Deputy Mayor. My experience on Council over 2 years has shown me that a council must be more than a service provider. It should be a voice for the community. I will be this voice, working towards financial sustainability and enabling our communities to find local solutions to the challenges we’re facing. I bring courage and creativity. These are two qualities that are essential for rethinking how we live, work and learn, and for taking advantage of this wonderful place we call our home.
I have lived in the Huon Valley all my life and have a strong connection to our community and the land. After four years as a councillor, I am seeking re-election to continue working for a practical, sustainable future. I have always been community minded, with leadership roles in local schools and sporting clubs. I support reducing red tape, particularly in planning, and making Council processes simpler and efficient. Particularly I want to help remove barriers to housing affordability, while protecting the character of our Valley. I value hard work, honesty, compassion and listening to you.
Snowgum is a passionate youth activist who believes in the strength of community and in the power held by ordinary people. Snowgum believes in furthering council’s transparency and holding members accountable for their actions, and is proud to support those who need it most, for people and not for profit.
I value a productive, diverse and engaged community. As an active volunteer and parent living on a small family farm in Port Huon, our village matters. I bring integrity and a constructive attitude, demonstrated in my current term as councillor. An experienced land manager, auditor and director, trained (GAICD, BEnvSci) and skilled at strategic planning and communicating – with boots firmly on the ground. Independent and a capable negotiator - I’ll achieve balanced, considered and effective solutions that bring people together to live well. Vote 1 for a Deputy Mayor who’ll go the extra mile.
I am a Greens candidate living in the Huon Valley on our blueberry farm with my husband and our three children. Having worked as a General Practitioner in Cygnet for ten years, I have been continually inspired by the resilience of our community. I am passionate about the health of individuals, communities, and our environment, and I recognise the deep connections between them. Guided by Green values, I will work hard and honestly as a councillor to optimise the health and safety of our community now and into the future.
Modern local government is about far more than rates, roads, and rubbish. Councils shape how we plan for population change, community wellbeing, recreation, health services, emergency preparedness, and climate resilience. I bring a thoughtful, independent voice to those decisions. That voice must be grounded in genuine listening. As your Councillor, I will hold "Coffee with a Councillor" meetings at businesses in Dover, Geeveston, Franklin, Huonville, and Cygnet in the week before every council meeting. A standing invitation for you to raise concerns, share ideas, and help shape how I vote.
Council exists to serve this community, not control it. Too often "we followed the rules" ends the conversation when it should start one — I'll ask whether rules serve residents, and push to change them when they don't. Young people can't afford to live here, and older residents lack aged care and options to downsize — that's a policy failure Council must confront. I answer not to Council staff but to you: the resident and ratepayer. I bring transparency, backed by my work as investigative journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Tasmanian Independent Media.
Community has always been at the heart of who I am. For many years, I have volunteered, led, listened and worked alongside local families, young people and community groups. I am standing for Council to support our community, strengthen local connections and ensure residents’ voices are heard. I understand the role and responsibilities of local government and will be a strong advocate for responsive, effective Council services, delivered within the capacity of local government. I will bring energy, compassion, practical thinking and a commitment to listening and getting things done.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) publishes candidate statements and photographs under section 284 of the Local Government Act 1993. It does so in line with published requirements determined by the Commission, which apply equally to all candidates.
Statements and photographs are optional and must meet the published requirements for inclusion. Each candidate is allocated the same amount of space, whether or not a statement or photograph appears.
Statements are the candidates’ own words, and they are responsible for their content and accuracy. The TEC does not verify factual claims or endorse what a candidate says.
The TEC makes only limited, standard changes needed for consistent publication of candidate statements and photographs. It does not otherwise correct, rewrite or alter a candidate statement, or change a candidate’s appearance.
If a statement or photograph does not meet the approved requirements for publication, the TEC contacts the candidate and, where publication timelines allow, gives them one opportunity to provide a replacement.