Angelica Panopoulos at only 23-years-old was elected as Mayor of Merri-bek (Moreland) City Council, for the 2022-23 term.
The new mayor threw her hat in for the Victorian election as a Greens’ candidate for Pascoe Vale, and while unsuccessful at downing Labor’s Anthony Cianfolne she did manage to get 21.6 per cent of the vote counted.
Panopoulos delivered her mayoral acceptance speech at Coburg Civic Centre on Thursday evening. “Being elected as Mayor sends a very clear message to or community that young people and young women have the right to be in leadership positions in all parts of our society. The democratic process belongs to all of us,” Panopoulos said.
The new mayor said that she would continue to engage the community in Merri-bek and it added that it was an “honour to serve them with integrity” over her term.
“We are the closest level of government to our community and have a responsibility to address issues on their behalf,” Panopoulos said.
The new mayor outlined her vision for 2023 which will include the construction of the Fawkner Leisure Centre and the redevelopment and Saxon Street Community Hub.
She also said that a “new four-bin system introduced will reduce waste sent to landfill, continuing our work to mitigate the impacts of climate change on our community, and advocating to the state government on its Level Crossing Removal Project in Brunswick.”
Panopoulos is in her first term as a Merri-bek City councillor elected in 2020 to represent the North-West Ward.