Outspoken Melbourne Councillor James Conlan Won’t Run Again

James Conlan, out gay councillor for Merri-bek Council South Ward in Melbourne has announced he will not contest the next election.

Conlan announced that he will not be running at the Merri-bek Council election in October via social media this week.

James Conlan says he “can no longer dedicate the time, effort and resources to do the role”

In 2020 James Conlan was elected as the councillor for the Merri-bek Council South Ward as one of 29 openly LGBTQIA+ councillors.

Since being elected he has been outspoken on many issues inside and outside of his local ward.

Originally elected as member of The Greens party, Conlan made headlines when he resigned from the party in February 2023 in solidarity with Lidia Thorpe.

“I’m not interested in being a member and elected representative of a political party that talks big on anti-racism, whilst silencing, undermining and crushing the voices of those who most need the party’s support and leadership,” he said in a statement via social media at the time.

“To be clear – I am not resigning from the Greens because of the party’s support for Voice. I am resigning in solidarity with Lidia Thorpe, and in opposition to the party’s rejection of grassroots democracy and its sidelining of First Nations voices.”

Since then he has remained an independent councillor for the Merri-bek Council South Ward.

When making the announcement that he would not contest the upcoming election Conlan made a lengthy post on social media taking aim at structural restrictions provided to the role, which he claimed made it difficult to continue in the position.

“Unfortunately I can no longer dedicate the time, effort and resources to do the role as I would like, for another four years” he said.

“The role of councillor is structurally designed to limit the influence of councillors over decision-making by paying us only a part time wage and denying us basic resources like an office, staff and community outreach materials.”

He went on to detail how these amount of resources have restricted his ability to complete his role within the community.

“The lack of time and resources for the role leaves councillors very little time to keep on top of the many complex local issues, to answer the hundreds of weekly emails and phone calls from residents, and almost no time to get out into the community to do proactive community engagement and organising” he stated.

“This leaves councillors very little time to think critically for themselves, making them highly influenced by highly paid, full time, professional senior council staff who tend to be risk-averse and whose interests do not always align with the community’s.”

“The system is structurally designed to keep out the left wing, community activists like Sue Bolton, Monica Harte and myself” he said.

He went on to announce that he would be taking a six week break from council until September 2.

However he hasn’t ruled out returning to council in the future stating “Maybe I’ll be back another time in the future!”