The minor party will be on the ballot across a number of Victorian councils − but not the capital.
Libertarian Party member Krystle Mitchell will head a ticket for the Melbourne City Council election, with the minor party not formally contesting the capital city at next month's local government elections.
Mitchell, a former Acting Senior Sergeant who resigned from Victoria Police in 2021, is leading "Your Voice Matters To Me". The group is not contesting the Leadership Team (Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor) election.
As reported at the time by The Age, Mitchell resigned from the force "claim[ing] that most of her colleagues do not believe in the directions put in place by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, and that enforcing them was doing reputational harm to the force".
In 2022 she was second on the Libertarian Party (then known as the Liberal Democrats) Senate ticket in Victoria, behind current state MP David Limbrick.
Now, Mitchell is aiming to win one of the nine councillor positions up for grabs, although she isn't formally listed as a Libertarian on the ballot despite being a party member.
Speaking to 6 News, she admitted not being the official Libertarian candidate was "my fault," saying she left the application process "too late" and missed the boat for the party's endorsement.
However, Mitchell also said she "has the support of the party", with the Libertarians not running a formally endorsed ticket for Melbourne, unlike in 2020.
The Libertarian Party does have endorsed candidates in a number of LGAs statewide, including Surf Coast incumbent Paul Barker and Wodonga incumbent Olga Quilty.
"I am certainly trying to make it as well known as possible that I am a member of the Libertarian Party," Mitchell said, noting that the Victorian Electoral Commission does not require council candidates to disclose political party membership unless they are formally endorsed by a party.
New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia all have mandatory party membership disclosures which are publicly accessible online at local elections. However, candidates in Victoria are only asked "Are you endorsed by a registered political party?".
Mitchell also told 6 News she was in favour of dumping group voting tickets, which are only used for Melbourne City Council councillor elections and Victoria's upper house. The system, abolished for the Senate in 2016, means voting above-the-line on the ballot gives that party or group full control of your preferences.
She also added she agreed with another candidate who wanted a review into Melbourne's "business vote", which gives businesses within the City of Melbourne LGA two votes.
"We don't want divisive councils that are making decisions that are [...] supporting big business, big corporations, big agendas, and is leaving ratepayers out in the cold."
"We have to have better engagement".
Also on 6 News, Labor lord mayoral candidate Phil Reed called for both group voting tickets and the business vote to be scrapped, returning to "one vote, one value".