According to Council Watch the fall of Mayor Josh Gilligan highlights factional instability at Wyndham — and it may carry political consequences well beyond the council chamber as Victoria heads toward the November state election.
The local governance watchdog, led by Dean Hurlston, argues Gilligan’s suspension isn’t simply a story about one councillor crossing a line; it’s a window into deeper strain inside one of the state’s most strategically important growth municipalities
But Council Watch says the bigger story is what the episode exposes: the cultural fault-lines and factional fractures that, in its view, have been building for some time.
It has previously described Gilligan’s approach as “scorched earth politics” — and warns that removing one figurehead doesn’t automatically end the internal “numbers game” that has defined this term of council.
The chamber has long been understood to be split into two blocs. On one side: Barrera, Gilligan, King, McGuire, Shaw and Singh.
On the other: Hill, Maynard, McIntyre, Szatkowski and Zhao. Whether those alliances hold as councillors prepare to re-run the mayoralty contest remains uncertain — and Council Watch says that uncertainty is the point.
Those who brokered the arrangement that elevated Gilligan to the top job are now facing sharper scrutiny. His combative style and history of complaints were hardly a secret inside local government circles.
The suspension may have been triggered by a specific breach, but critics argue the instability was foreseeable.
Council Watch has also aimed fire at Local Government Minister Nick Staikos, explicitly criticising him for not appointing a municipal monitor despite what it describes as sustained dysfunction inside the chamber.
It calls the lack of state intervention “conspicuous”, given Wyndham’s size, its rapid growth pressures and its strategic importance to Victoria’s future planning and service delivery. And the implications, it argues, don’t stop at the edges of Wyndham’s $787 million organisation.
At the 2025 Werribee by-election, Labor retained the seat by just 693 votes after preferences, despite the Liberals winning the higher primary vote.
That wafer-thin margin sharpens political attention ahead of the November state election — particularly in a growth corridor where perceptions of competence and stability can cut through fast..
With councillors required to elect a new mayor by 25 March — and the state election looming in November — Wyndham City Council, and the seat of Werribee, are now firmly on the must-watch list for 2026.
