2016 NSW Council Elections
78 of NSW’s 115 councils go to the polls tomorrow for the first round of local government elections since the NSW Government’s council amalgamations reform took place earlier this year.
Local government elections will take place in three stages over the next 18 months. Tomorrow, councils that were not required to amalgamate will be the first to hold elections. Councils that have amalgamated will have their elections take place in September 2017, while councils that are scheduled for amalgamation but are currently opposing mergers are scheduled to go to the polls in March 2018.
PremierState has provided a short overview below of the campaigns for several key councils in NSW with elections taking place tomorrow.
Councils canvassed include:
Blacktown City Council
Campbelltown City Council
City of Sydney Council
Fairfield City Council
Hawkesbury City Council
Liverpool City Council
Penrith City Council
To see if your council is holding an election this Saturday, click here.
1. Blacktown City Council
Mayor: Cr Stephen Bali (Labor)
Deputy Mayor: Cr Jacqueline Donaldson (Independent)
Almost half of Blacktown City Council’s councillors have decided not to recontest tomorrow’s election, with seven stepping aside to pursue other opportunities. Eight current Councillors will re-contest their positions on council. The candidates are a mix of Liberal, Labor, Greens and independent candidates across four wards.
The Liberal team for Blacktown is comprised of four candidates, including father and son duo Jess and Jaymes Diaz. Cr Jess Diaz has served on the council since 2008 and is an influential member of the local community, while son Jaymes stood for the seat of Greenway during the 2013 federal election.
2. Campbelltown City Council
Mayor: Cr Paul Hawker (Liberal)
Deputy Mayor: Cr Alana Matheson (Liberal)
95 candidates from 11 different groups and parties have put their names forward as candidates for Campbelltown City Council - more than any other local government area in the State.
Their prospects will be aided by the fact that five of the council’s 15 councillors have decided not to recontest their positions, including incumbent Mayor Paul Hawker and Deputy Mayor Alana Matheson.
Current Liberal Mayor, Cr Hawker, has served on council for 12 years, and has decided to retire from local government. The Liberal Party is running nine candidates in 2016, led by Cr George Greiss.
Two Labor councillors are also retiring, although former independent-turned-Labor councillor Darcy Lound will fill one of those vacancies on the Labor Party’s ticket.
First spot on the ballot paper was claimed by an independent group led by former councillor Paul Blyton, who is campaigning on a platform of no rate rises for two years.
3. City of Sydney Council
Lord Mayor: Clover Moore (Independent)
Deputy Lord Mayor: Irene Doutney (Greens)
117,000 residential and 23,000 business voters will line up on Saturday to elect 10 candidates to City of Sydney Council, bringing to a close a hotly contested race for the Lord Mayoralty.
Current Lord Mayor Clover Moore has held her post since 2004, but faces strong competition from Liberal candidate Cr Christine Foster. While Cr Moore and Cr Foster share some policy platforms, Cr Foster is promising to minimise the incumbent Lord Mayor’s big-budget public art and cycling infrastructure promises in favour of more restrained options, as well as promoting innovation and assigning portfolio areas to each councillor.
Independent candidate Cr Angela Vithoulkas has reportedly donated $500,000 personally to her own campaign. Cr Vithoulkas’ running mate, Cr Edward Mandla, is a former Liberal party member but resigned after losing out to Cr Foster as the party’s endorsed nominee for the Lord Mayoralty.
Labor has preferenced Cr Moore above the Liberals, reportedly in response to the State Government’s greyhound industry ban. Notwithstanding the Labor Party's support, the Lord Mayor has not returned the favour.
This will be the first City of Sydney election at which the votes of businesses will receive double weighting, following the passage of a bill introduced by the Shooters and Fishers party to the NSW Parliament earlier this year. Observers of politics will be keen to see whether the change results in a new Lord Mayor for the first time in 12 years.
4. Fairfied City Council
Mayor: Frank Carbone (Labor)
Deputy Mayor: Milovan Karajcic (Labor)
Six candidates have nominated for the mayoralty in Fairfield, including one from each of the Liberal, Labor and Greens parties, as well as three independents.
Interestingly, two of those independents – incumbent Mayor Frank Carbone and Cr Dai Le – are in fact former Labor and Liberal councillors respectively. However, following each of their parties endorsing other candidates, both have decided to run as independents.
The Liberal party has refrained from commenting on Cr Le’s decision to run as an independent, although she has been suspended from the party for ten years. In the case of Cr Carbone, it was previously thought he would not run at all under a party agreement that two Labor figures would not nominate against each other. However, Cr Carbone has claimed impropriety in the course of Labor’s preselection process, therefore warranting his standing as an independent.
5. Hawkesbury City Council
Mayor: Kim Ford (Liberal)
Deputy Mayor: Warwick Mackay (Unaligned)
The lead up to the Hawkesbury City Council election had been relatively low-profile until last Wednesday, when Liberal Democratic Party candidate Tony Pettitt made headlines for his claim, “Asians probably wouldn’t make good soldiers”. Mr Pettitt has subsequently stated his preference would have been to stand under the One Nation banner, however that party does not formally engage in the local government sector.
Mr Pettitt will be up against a group of independents who have branded themselves the ‘Hawkesbury Wobblers’, running on a heritage-preservation platform, as well as ten other parties and individuals. Liberal candidate for the mayoralty Sarah Richards leads a six-strong ticket for her party, while Labor has put forward three candidates and the Greens have nominated one. Current Mayor Kim Ford is not running again, having served as Mayor since 2011.
6. Liverpool City Council
Mayor: Ned Mannoun (Liberal)
Deputy Mayor: Tony Hadchiti (Liberal)
48 candidates have nominated to be elected as councillors on Liverpool City Council this Saturday.
Incumbent Mayor Ned Mannoun has decided not to re-contest the election, supporting Deputy Mayor Tony Hadchiti instead. This is despite the fact he won the mayoralty from Labor at the last election, which was considered a coup at the time given the community’s historically pro-Labor voting patterns. Filling Cr Mannoun’s absence will be his wife and sister-in-law, both of whom have put their names forward as candidates.
Labor has put forward Cr Wendy Waller as their candidate for Mayor, while the Greens nominated nine candidates for the council in total. The Labor team is proposing to introduce an ice inhalation room for use by the community, a policy that is strongly opposed by the Liberal candidates.
7. Penrith City Council
Mayor: Karen McKeown (Labor)
Deputy Mayor: Ross Fowler (Liberal)
Current Labor Mayor Karen McKeown is re-contesting the mayoralty for Penrith Council once more, going up against former Mayor and Deputy Mayor Jim Aitken, who has been a councillor for 21 years and was formerly aligned with the Liberal party. Cr Aitken is opposed to Badgerys Creek Airport operating 24/7, while Cr McKeown said Labor’s focus will be building parking and footpaths.
Liberal Deputy Mayor Ross Fowler will lead a team focused on increasing local jobs to reduce the need for residents to commute, as well as an improved night time economy.
Further Information
For further information or analysis, please contact PremierState on (02) 9223 0311 or via enquiries@premierstate.net.