Also standing for the position at the special meeting on Tuesday were councillors David Jones and Di Baker, with Cr Johnston receiving the absolute majority of votes.

This is the eighth consecutive year Cr Johnston has been appointed the mayor.

“We have a new council and it is going to be a challenging time as the new members settle in but I am looking forward to working with them,” Cr Johnston said.

“I am pleased I was re-elected and it is great to see that I had the majority of votes.”

Deputy mayor is councillor Paul Harmon, who was opposed by councillors David Jones, Di Baker and former deputy mayor John Irvine.

“It is the first time I have stood for this position and it is good to know that the other councillors support me in this leadership role,” Cr Harmon said.

“I can’t wait to work closely with the mayor and the community and face the challenges ahead.”

Cr Johnston said he congratulated Cr Harmon for his election.

“I am looking forward to working with Cr Harmon as deputy mayor,” he said.

At the meeting, the committee members were also elected.

The economic sustainability committee is Cr Baker, Cr Mick Lewis, Cr Mal Peters, Cr Larry Cameron and Cr Rick Molesworth.

Cr Jones, Cr Kevin Kneipp, Cr Cameron, Cr Harold Castledine and Cr Irvine are representatives for the services committee.

Community services committee members are Cr Jones, Cr Peters, Cr Harmon, Cr Baker and Cr Jacki Watts.

The chairpersons for each committee will be elected at the first round of meetings on November 12.

“It was good to see at the meeting that there were quite a few people who wanted to be on each committee,” Cr Johnston said.

“We needed to do a few ballots as well so that showed there was a lot of interest which is a good sign of commitment from councillors.”

Delegates for various regional and local organisations were also appointed.

The next ordinary council meeting is on Tuesday, October 28.