Adelaide Deputy Lord Mayor picked for 2025
Adelaide City Councillor David Elliott, a self-proclaimed active transport champion, has been elected Deputy Lord Mayor for 2025.
Elliott, a Labor Party member, secured the position with seven votes at last night’s council meeting, beating out fellow Central Ward councillor Carmel Noon’s five for the post.
On January 13, Elliott will replace incumbent Deputy Lord Mayor Keiran Snape, who was elected to the position this time last year. Snape beat out Elliott at the time, who was also nominated for the 2024 position.
The position of Deputy Lord Mayor is remunerated $47,035.50, 1.5 times the pay of Adelaide City Councillor’s $31,357 a year.
The Deputy Lord Mayor’s duties include representing the Lord Mayor, presiding over council meetings in their absence and being their spokesperson when they are unavailable to attend official appearances.
Elliott is the office manager of Labor MLC Ian Hunter and the chair of Bike Adelaide, the main voice advocating for cycling in metro Adelaide. He previously worked as an intelligence analyst in the Air Force and for the Fair Work Ombudsman.
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Elliott told InDaily he was pleased to have been voted Deputy Lord Mayor by his fellow councillors.
“I think it’s a reflection of the work I’ve done over the last two years to build confidence in colleagues, kind of across the political spectrum,” he said.
“We do have an interesting mix of, you know, political colours and perspectives and I’ve really learned from where people are coming from, and tried to be, you know, collaborative and pragmatic.
“So I think it demonstrates that there’s a building willingness to collaborate across the spectrum and kind of move on from this pointing the finger backwards to previous terms of council, and actually just build on what we have and build on what we’ve been left with and make the best of it.”
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David Elliott. This picture: Angela Skujins/CityMagWhen elected to council in 2022, Elliott told CityMag he copped it for being ‘the cycle guy’ — an enduring trope of contemporary Adelaide Town Hall.
True to that brand, he’s achieved subsidies for residents and businesses buying bikes and e-bikes under the council’s sustainability incentive scheme, pushed for the council to acknowledge and celebrate World Car Free Day, and is eagerly involved with the council’s continuing work on it’s Integrated Transport Strategy, which provides a clear policy for city transport and streets.
Elliott told InDaily he’s seen a positive tone shift about how active transport is discussed in the council which has allowed for these achievements and ongoing policy work.
“I think achieving incremental shifts towards more positive culture around active transport within the council and the council administration is an achievement in itself,” he said.
“It’s being discussed in a meaningful way, and it’s not being framed as tokenistic. It’s actually being considered as a key part of the city’s future.”
Elliott is also interested in the council’s strategic property portfolio and large infrastructure assets like the Torrens Weir and bridge, and how these areas can create opportunities for urban development and public transport outcomes.
