Meet Your Council

The Alpine Shire Council is made up of seven elected representatives. Together, they govern the Alpine Shire.

Mayoral elections are held each year. After each election, the former Mayor and Deputy Mayor revert to their general Councillor roles.

Cr John Forsyth

Mayor

This is the third term on Council for John and his third term as Mayor.

As a former local business owner, John is concerned with the sustainability of businesses in the Alpine Shire. The unpredictability of weather events, bush fires, pandemics and State Government interventions all lead to an uncertainty for business owners and managers. Making sure that the Alpine Shire is resilient to these vagaries is a key issue for John’s involvement on Council.

As a resident he is concerned with waste collection, water quality and amenities and services for all residents. John believes in initiatives and services that support and build happy and healthy communities and a sustainable environment.

As a Councillor, John is open to extensive community engagement and takes a Shire wide and long term view in order to add community value and wellbeing for all residents.

Phone: 0408 464 924

Cr Simon Kelley

Deputy Mayor

Simon Kelley first called Bright home in 2015, having been a regular visitor since his childhood days in the Goulburn Valley.

He has a Bachelor of Engineering and a Masters in Business Economics.  Simon has worked in the renewable energy industry for almost two decades. He has engaged with many local governments across Australia, operating wind farms, solar and hydro plants.  Today, he works in Mount Beauty, as Head of Hydro at AGL Energy.  

Cr Kelley is passionate about the strong link between the local economy and the local environment, seeking to get the balance right for the community and visitors.  As the newest member of Council, Simon is focused on good governance and leadership that positions the Shire to continue to be a great place to live, work and holiday.

On weekends Cr Kelley enjoys being outdoors with his partner and two daughters, swimming in summer and snow play in winter.

Mobile: 0408 987 950

Cr Katarina Hughes

Katarina Hughes was born into and grew up in the Ovens Valley and is currently raising her three young boys and working as a Business Manager of a financial planning business in Bright.

Cr Hughes is passionate about opening up the communication channels between Council and Alpine Shire residents and ratepayers to encourage informed involvement from all parties. Her focus is to also connect with and utilise the youth of our Shire as they are the future and their talents are new, innovative and connecting with this demographic opens up to an exciting future.

She is here to represent the local families, business owners and ratepayers to build a future that our children can be proud of.

Her passion is working with women and families on creating better health and wellbeing habits. Learning and growing in this space has been a very rewarding personal development journey over the last two years and provides her with focus on what the future of the Alpine Shire should be providing away from digital platforms and enabling more outdoor activities for all ages.

Phone: 0417 424 119

Cr Ron Janas

Ron Janas has lived and worked in the Alpine Shire for 31 years, spending 20 of those years as a police officer in the North East.

A member of the Buffalo River CFA and local RSL club, Cr Janas is married, with adult children and grandchildren.

Cr Janas served in the Australian Army for nine years.

His hobbies include gardening, bushwalking and social bike riding, and he is a member of Myrtleford Landcare.

His focus during this four-year term will be to forge relationships between Council and the community, promote good governance and sustainability and the achievements of common goals for the betterment of all communities.

Phone: 0417 305 196

Cr Tony Keeble

Tony Keeble spent his childhood living in the Upper Kiewa Valley and completed Year 12 at Mount Beauty Secondary College. He then went on to complete a BA in Outdoor Education, a Graduate Diploma in Education, a Masters in Environmental Science and completed a PhD in Education in 2020.

Cr Keeble travelled for several years overseas working in a variety of vocations including tourism, managing a raft company in Canada, and being employed as Director of Mountain Management at a ski resort in USA. 

Cr Keeble is currently the Principal of Outdoor School, a multi campus school that teaches students to be sustainably resilient in todays and tomorrow’s society.

Previously Cr Keeble has been the Principal of Mount Beauty Primary School, the Principal of two Indigenous schools in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, a lecturer in the education department for LaTrobe University and a teacher at Wesley College.

Cr Keeble has four beautiful daughters who are all achieving their life goals. Cr Keeble maintains a strong connection to communities and their voice for change and action.

Phone: 0417 541 732

Cr Sarah Nicholas

Sarah Nicholas has lived in Wandiligong for over 20 years and visited and worked in this beautiful area for many years before making it her home.

Cr Nicholas is an active, outdoors person who loves to understand the natural environment and how to live more sustainably.

She has a B Agric Sc and Masters in Environmental Law, Business and Management and experience in leadership, governance, community engagement and strategic planning.

With her partner and two children Cr Nicholas enjoys skiing, cycling, dancing, gardening, reading, being with family and friends. She has travelled widely to pursue her skiing interests and managed the Mount Hotham Ski Patrol for several years.

Cr Nicholas sees her role on Council as a way to ensure continued good governance so that communities can be encouraged and supported to achieve great outcomes for local areas and the Alpine Shire as a whole.

Phone: 0408 423 571

Cr Kelli Prime

Kelli Prime grew up on the family dairy farm in Tawonga and attended Tawonga Primary School and Mount Beauty Secondary College. After high school she completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at Charles Sturt University in Albury and has spent the last few years working in Regional Victoria as well as the United Kingdom. 

She now calls Upper Gundowring home, where she runs sheep and beef cattle on the farm she owns with her partner Michael. 

Cr Prime is passionate about recycling and waste reduction and improving people’s health and wellbeing. In her spare time she enjoys playing netball for Dederang Mount Beauty FNC and is a member of the Upper Gundowring Hall Committee. 

She is looking forward to her time on Alpine Shire Council and building relationships with the community and fellow councillors.

Phone: 0439 619 853

Council policies and documents can be found on the Governance page.

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