Led by the Mayor, CEO, and Advocacy Team, Council engaged directly with all candidates contesting the seat of Macnamara. Efforts focused on ensuring that the needs of Port Phillip's diverse community were front and centre in the federal election conversation. Key activities included:
- Development of the Federal Election Priority Projects Opportunity document
- Direct meetings and correspondence with candidates
- Support for candidate commitments aligned with Council priorities
- A comprehensive community campaign to inform and engage the community
Commitments for Our Community
Thanks to strong advocacy and community engagement, there was a total of over $115 million in commitments across major parties to projects within the City of Port Phillip. These pledges reflect a shared recognition of the importance of investing in our local infrastructure, culture, environment, and wellbeing.
Commitments made by major parties include:
| Labor - Josh Burns | Liberal - Benson Saulo | Greens - Sonya Semmens |
TOTAL: $45.7 MILLION |
TOTAL: $37 MILLION+ |
TOTAL: $32.9 MILLION+ |
We thank all candidates for their engagement and congratulate the community for their strong advocacy throughout the campaign.
Over 3300+ people visited Council's 2025 Federal Election Campaign website and with hundreds of interactions with published advocacy articles, the Port Phillip community was extremely engaged and present during this election period.
As announced on 3 May, Josh Burns was re-elected to represent the seat of Macnamara, and the Labor party was re-elected to lead the Federal Government. Over the coming term, Council will work closely with the Josh Burns to ensure local commitments, where council are a partner, are delivered in alignment with the Council Plan.
Local Federal Senators James Patterson (Liberal Party) and Steph Hodgins-May (Greens) were also re-elected to the Australian Senate.
