The City of Northcote was a Local Government Area located about 5 kilometres (3 mi) northeast of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, the state capital of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The city covered an area of 17.62 square kilometres (6.8 sq mi), and existed from 1883 until 1994.

History

Prior to the 1880s land boom, Northcote had been part of the Jika Jika Shire which also included Preston. Northcote was severed and incorporated as a borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

 on 25 May 1883. It became a town on 12 September 1890, and was proclaimed a City on 8 April 1914. On 1 October 1962, it annexed the South Ward of the City of Heidelberg

City of Heidelberg

The City of Heidelberg was a Local Government Area located about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1840 until 1994.-History:...

.

Council elections in Northcote were generally contested, at least from the 1940s onwards, by candidates supported on the one hand by local businesspeople, standing as Independents, and candidates endorsed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) on the other. The ALP came to dominate Northcote Council politics after the early 1950s, and the majority of candidates were returned without opposition until as recently as the late 1970s. The ALP was slow to endorse migrant candidates, but it gradually did so as the population of the City of Northcote changed, with non-English speaking background immigrants an increasingly important factor in the Council electorate.

Changes in the composition of Northcote Council saw more non-Anglo ethnic Councillors from the late 1970s, and certainly a swing to the political left. In 1980 strongly left-wing Councillors achieved national media coverage, as outspoken Victorian RSL President Bruce Ruxton condemned a number of Council policies that were anathema to those traditionally held by the RSL. These included the flying of the Eureka flag rather than the Australian flag from the Northcote Town Hall, and support for an Australian republic. Ruxton claimed 'ethnics and anti-British elements' were responsible for a lack of patriotism. Ruxton was also incensed at the refusal of Scottish-born Councillor Brian Sanaghan to renew his oath of allegiance

Oath of allegiance

An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to monarch or country. In republics, modern oaths specify allegiance to the country's constitution. For example, officials in the United States, a republic, take an oath of office that...

 to the Queen after being re-elected to the Northcote Council in 1980. Pressure from Ruxton resulted in Sanaghan's place on the Council being declared vacant.

The City of Northcote elected Victoria's first Italo-Australian Mayor, Tony Matisi, in 1969 and Australia's first Italo-Australian woman Mayor, Lidia Argondizzo

Lidia Argondizzo

Lidia Serafina Argondizzo is an Australian politician. She was the Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing Templestowe Province from 2002 to 2006....

, in 1989. Argondizzo later became a member of the Victorian parliament. Italians did not, however, achieve representation on Northcote Council in large numbers. Greeks certainly did so after the election of the first Greek-Australian to the council in the late 1970s.

Northcote produced twelve Greek councillors, the first being Peter Tsitas in 1977. Socrates Papadopoulos followed, and he became Victoria's first Greek-Australian Mayor in 1983. Emily Dimitracopoulos, as well as being a Councillor, also served as Vice President of the Victorian ALP. Other Greek-Australians who were elected as ALP endorsed candidates were Teena Cross, Con Sakis, George Gogas, John Gogas, Maria Vamvakinou

Maria Vamvakinou

Maria Vamvakinou , is an Australian politician. She has been member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2001, representing the Division of Calwell, Victoria for the Australian Labor Party...

, Andy Mylonas and Jenny Mikakos

Jenny Mikakos

Jenny Mikakos is an Australian politician for the Australian Labor Party. She is currently the Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, and a Member of the Legislative Council for Northern Metropolitan Region....

. Vamvakinou was later elected to the federal parliament for the House of Representatives electorate of Calwell, and Mikakos was later elected to the upper house of the Victorian parliament. Jim Karmis and Angela Kotsiras served as Independent non-party members of the Council. Kotsiras is the wife of Nick Kotsiras, the Liberal Victorian lower house member of parliament for Bulleen since 1999.

On 22 June 1994, the City of Northcote was abolished and was merged with neighbouring Preston into the newly-created City of Darebin

City of Darebin

The City of Darebin is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of , and as of 2009, has a population of 139,608...

. Parts of the suburbs of Alphington and Fairfield (south of Heidelberg Road) were moved into the City of Yarra

City of Yarra

The City of Yarra is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 19.5 square kilometres, and at the 2006 census it had a population of 69,330...

.

Council meetings were held at Northcote Town Hall

Northcote Town Hall

Northcote Town Hall is a civic building located in High Street in Northcote, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.-Town hall:It was designed in the Classic Revival style by George Johnson and built in 1887 as the municipal offices and council chambers for the City of Northcote.-Arts and Community...

 in High Street, Northcote. It is still in use as secondary council offices for the City of Darebin

City of Darebin

The City of Darebin is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of , and as of 2009, has a population of 139,608...

.

Wards

On 31 March 1981, the City of Northcote was subdivided into four wards, each electing three councillors:

• Merri Ward
• Cain Ward
• Darebin Ward
• Yarra Ward

Suburbs

• Alphington
  Alphington, Victoria
  Alphington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra. At the 2006 Census, Alphington had a population of 4,483...
  
  
• Fairfield
  Fairfield, Victoria
  Fairfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra...
  
  
• Northcote
  Northcote, Victoria
  Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...
  
  
• Thornbury
  Thornbury, Victoria
  Thornbury originalSince the 1960s, the vast majority of Melburnians pronounce the name phonetically. The 'h' is no longer silent, and there is more stress placed upon the 'o'. pronunciation is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north from Melbourne's central business district....
  
  

Population

Year	Population
1891	7,100
1911	17,519
1921	30,519
1954	43,604
1958	42,800*
1961	44,746+
1966	56,179+
1971	59,303
1976	54,881
1981	51,235
1986	48,552
1991	46,547

* Estimate in the 1958 Victorian Year Book.

+ The sudden jump in 1966 arises in part from the annexation of the South Ward of the City of Heidelberg. The 1961 population of the combined area was 55,750.