Cr McArthur said he was absolutely thrilled and honoured to be elected from such a strong field of candidates.

“My passion and commitment has, and always will be for the betterment of local government," he said.

“The Presidency is an important and influential leadership position to represent the collective voice of local government and to advance sector issues with other spheres of government.

“A key priority for me will be to achieve financial sustainability for local government. I also intend to strengthen the links between the MAV and all municipalities through the role of the appointed MAV Representatives.

Board members represent their regional grouping of councils and are elected by MAV Representatives from within their region.

The general elections for MAV President and regional board representatives was scheduled to take place on Friday March 6 but was postponed until Friday April 3 due to the large number of municipalities affected by the Victorian bushfires.

Victorian municipalities also voted to elect 12 regional MAV Board representatives. Successful candidates from contested Board positions were: