The
Liberal Democrats had their first-ever electoral victories, with Jeff Pettett and Clinton Mead elected to
Ku-ring-gai Council and
Campbelltown City Council respectively. The election of Tony Oldfield to
Auburn City Council remains the only time the present-day
Communist Party of Australia had had an electoral win.
Australia First councillor Maurice Girotto left the party in 2013 to sit as an independent, before joining the
Christian Democrats in March 2016. Following the elections, major changes occurred as a result of the enactment of the
Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 and as a result of a review by the
NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) that commenced in 2013. On 12 May 2016, following a further review by the
Minister for Local Government and the independent Local Government Boundaries Commission,
Premier Mike Baird announced Stage 1 starting with 19 new councils, through amalgamations and mergers, with immediate effect. The Minister indicated in principle support to create a further nine new councils, subject to the decision of the courts. On the same day, the
Governor of New South Wales acted on the advice of the Minister, and proclaimed the 19 new local government areas. Another proclamation occurred a few months later with the amalgamation of
City of Botany Bay and
City of Rockdale. This resulted in 79 councils being contested in
2016 and 46 in
2017, before the vast majority contested together again in
2021. ==By-elections==