This has been an interesting weekend. Local government elections were held in Sydney and the rest of NSW. From media reports the Australian Labor Party has been beaten like a gong. They look set to loose control of councils across the state.
They were never in the race for Sydney City Council. The Clover Moore Independent Team has won 47% of the first preferences, compared to the Greens 18%, Labors 15% and the Liberals 14%. I would love to say that things are going to improve for the city’s residents and those who work in it but I get the feeling that Labor will probably stonewall any requests for co-operation on issues like public transport, developing cycle lanes for bicycle commuters and a better system of pedestrian facilities.
It was interesting to notice that Marrickville, where I reside there has pretty much a swing to the Greens with Central Wards Greens getting 33% to the ALP’s 24 and the Liberals 9 and the two independent teams 10 and 14. In North Ward it was pretty much the same with the Greens getting a whopping 49% compared to 26 for the ALP and 14 for the Liberals. It was closer in South Ward where the Greens got 37% to Labor’s 30 with Morris Hanna making 23%. The only place the ALP got even close to the Greens was in West ward where the Greens got 29% to the ALP’s 28 (gap of only 1%). They may benefit from the Mayor’s Dimitrious Thanos’s preferences after he got 21%.
It seemed Leichhardt experienced a swing in excess of 10% with the Greens in some cases more than double the first preference votes in most of the wards. The only places the major parties seemed to do better than the Greens and independents were in strong holds like Auburn & Canterbury (ALP) or Woollarah & Lane Cove (Liberal).
The most pleasing result was the poor showing of the Australia First Party 4% in A Ward in the shire – the only ward they contested in the Sutherland area, 5% in fifth ward in Blacktown and 0% in Hawkesbury. The power of celebrity worked for the No Parking Meters Party in Randwick running Craig Wing as a candidate in their group which got 21% of the first party preferences in Randwick City Councils South Ward.
The long and the short is that Sydney has made a statement to the state government regarding the planning laws brought in by the former planning minister Frank Sartor. There may be less ALP councilors and Labor may have less control of councils across the region. This means that there will be some debate as to relations between councils controlled by Liberals, Greens or Independents and the State Government controlled by the ALP. The state government can sack councils at will but in the current political climate were the state government is fighting to save it’s political skin it will be unlikely that we will see a council sacked without real cause. The real worry will how the governement will use it’s powers and it’s agencies like the RTA in dealing with issues raised by councils. It is good to see more independents and minor parties involved in local government.
Tags: ALP, Australia First Party, Celebrity, Clover Moore, Clover Moore Independent Team, Councils, Craig Wing, Dimitrious Thanos, Elections, Greens, Independents, Labor, Lane Cove, Leichhardt, Liberal, Local Government, Marrickville, Morris Hanna, No Parking Meters Party, Sydney City Council, Waverly, Woollarah
