Marrickville Council was a local government area located in the Inner West region of Sydney, Australia. It was originally created on 1 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Marrickville". On 12 May 2016, Marrickville Council was merged with Ashfield and Leichhardt councils into the newly formed Inner West Council.
The area was bounded by Leichhardt to the north, the City of Sydney to the east and north-east, the City of Botany Bay to the south-east, Rockdale to the south, Canterbury to the west, and Ashfield to the north-west. It covers an area of approximately . The area is roughly bounded by Parramatta Road to the north, King Street and the Princes Highway to the east, the Cooks River and Alexandra Canal to the south, and New and Old Canterbury Roads to the west.
While the area's background was traditionally working-class, which made the area a stronghold for the Australian Labor Party, several waves of immigration and a continuing trend of gentrification substantially influenced the demographics and character of the area, increasing the number of independents and Greens on the council. The last mayor of Marrickville Council was Cr. Sam Iskandar of the Labor Party.
In December 2021, a majority of voters in Inner West Council voted in favour of reversing the 2016 merger and separating the three pre-existing councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville.
Suburbs and localities
The suburbs and localities within the former Marrickville Council area were:
History Based on artefacts found near the Cooks River and Alexandra Canal, it is believed that the area has been occupied for at least 7,000 years. The area was originally occupied by the Cadigal clan of the Darug people who spoke the Eora language. Their name for most of the present day local government area was Bullanaming.
European settlement of the area began very soon after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The first land grant was made in 1789, and by 1809 all the land had been granted. In the 1830s, the district consisted of five large estates, including Thomas Chalder's estate named Marrick after his home town in North Yorkshire. At this point, the area was still quite rural in nature.
Following the subdivision of these estates, municipalities were formed in Marrickville (1 November 1861), Camperdown (1862), Newtown (1862), St Peters (1871) and Petersham (1872). The first Marrickville council, consisting of six councillors elected proportionately, was elected on 9 December 1861 at the Stanmore Hotel.
The population of the inner west increased greatly from the beginning of the 20th century, peaking at roughly 113,000 in 1948. It was in this year that the State Government introduced the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, and Marrickville Municipal Council was enlarged by merging with St Peters and Petersham on 1 January 1949. The Camperdown and Newtown municipalities had already been merged with the City of Sydney, however in 1968 a boundary readjustment added parts of these areas to Marrickville.
The area's background was traditionally working-class, making Marrickville Council a stronghold for the Australian Labor Party, and Labor Party ructions often affected the politics of the council itself. In the 1980s, a toxic culture in inner-city party branches and inter-factional disturbances, which led to the assault of NSW Legislative Council member, Peter Baldwin, at his house in Marrickville, affected Marrickville Council most particularly, with a party committee recommending its dismissal in July 1980.
Although initially opposed as an extreme act, particularly by Minister for Local Government, Lin Gordon, when five Labor aldermen, Barry Jones, Margaret Newman, Jack Passaris, Ken Brennan and Grahame Watson, resigned from the council in December 1982, alleging that they had been "bashed out of office" and detailing "five years of threats and intimidation" (Newman and Brennan had both been assaulted in their own homes days before), Gordon finally took action. On 14 December 1982, Gordon dismissed Marrickville Council and appointed the former Shire Clerk of Gunnedah and Walgett, Alexander Trevallion as Administrator. Council remained under administration, which included debates over an amalgamation with Leichhardt Municipality, until elections were held on 22 September 1984.
Israel boycott On 14 December 2010, Greens councillor Cathy Peters moved a motion to support the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. This motion was supported by Greens, Labor and one independent councillor, including the mayor at the time, Fiona Byrne. The motion was widely condemned by politicians from both sides of politics including Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, then Premier Kristina Keneally and federal Greens leader, Bob Brown. The move received support from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mairead Maguire. On 14 April 2011, it was revealed that the boycott would cost Marrickville ratepayers 3.4 million if implemented. The boycott also meant the council would have to replace goods from companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Holden, Volvo and Motorola amongst others.
New South Wales Liberal Premier Barry O'Farrell threatened to use powers under the Local Government Act 1993 to sack the council if it did not rescind its resolution for the boycott. At a council meeting on 19 April 2011, members of the community were invited to express their opinions, and after a three hour debate the motion was rescinded. Byrne did not seek re-election, and in September 2011, Morris Hanna became the new mayor after Labor supported his candidacy and his name was pulled out of the hat in the tie breaker. He is an independent who fought against the BDS campaign.
Amalgamation A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Marrickville Council merge with the Municipality of Ashfield and the Municipality of Leichhardt to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately . The merger was implemented on 12 May 2016.
Demographics At the 2011 Census, there were people in the Marrickville local government area, of these 49.5% were male and 50.5% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.5% of the population. The median age of people in the Marrickville Council area was 36 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 14.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 35.1% were married and 10.9% were either divorced or separated.
Population in the Marrickville Council area between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census decreased by 0.99% and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 6.53%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Marrickville local government area was lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Manly Council area was higher than the national average.
Compared to the national average, at the 2011 Census, Marrickville Council area had a high proportion of households (34.1%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a low proportion (62.3%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).
Selected historical census data for Marrickville local government areaCensus year 200120062011Population Estimated residents on Census night LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales % of New South Wales population 1.11%% of Australian population 0.39% 0.36% 0.36%Cultural and language diversity Ancestry,top responses English 19.5%Australian 17.9%Irish 9.2%Scottish 6.0%Greek 4.9%Language,top responses(other than English) Greek7.2% 6.4% 5.5%Vietnamese5.1% 4.1% 3.7%Arabic3.7% 2.9% 2.3%Portuguese3.1% 2.4% 2.0%Cantonese2.3% 2.0% 1.7%Religious affiliation Religious affiliation,top responses No religion19.5% 24.0% 32.7%Catholic27.1% 25.6% 23.5%Anglican10.1% 9.4% 8.2%Eastern Orthodox9.7% 8.6% 7.5%Buddhism6.6% 5.5% 5.1%Median weekly incomes Personal income Median weekly personal income 595 772% of Australian median income 127.7% 133.8%Family income Median weekly family income A$1,160 A$1,964% of Australian median income 113.0% 132.6%Household income Median weekly household income A$1,460 A$1,605% of Australian median income 124.7% 130.1%
Council
Final composition and election method Marrickville Municipal Council was composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three councillors. All councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office, while the mayor and deputy mayor being elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The last election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the council after that election was as follows:
WardCouncillorPartyNotesCentral Ward Max Phillips The Greens Sam Iskandar Labor Mayor 2008–2010, 2015–2016. Elected Marrickville Ward, Inner West Council. Victor Macri Independent Mayor 2012–2013 Elected Marrickville Ward, Inner West Council.North Ward Sylvie Ellsmore The Greens Jo Haylen Labor Mayor 2013–2014. MP for Summer Hill, 2015. Mark Gardiner Independent Liberal until September 2014. Mayor 2014–2015 South Ward Chris Woods Labor David Leary The Greens Morris Hanna Independent Mayor 2011–2012, Deputy Mayor 2014–2015West Ward Emanuel Tsardoulias Labor Deputy Mayor 2012–2013. Died November 2014. Melissa Brooks The Greens Rosana Tyler Liberal Daniel Barbar Labor Elected at by-election on 15 November 2014
Mayors