…a fiver each way
WE now know the results from the from the 4 December Local Government elections. In Ku-ring-gai the winners are Kim Wheatley and Cedric Spencer (Wahroonga), Martin Smith and Christine Kay (St Ives), Barbara Ward and Simon Lennon (Gordon), Jeff Pettett and Greg Taylor (Comenarra), and Sam Ngai and Alec Taylor (Roseville). Five of the ten are new to Council, and five of the ten are members of the Liberal Party.
Covid determined that Ku-ring-gai’s previous term was an extended four years and three months. Jennifer Anderson was Mayor for the initial four years, and became the longest serving Mayor in the Council’s 105-year history. The Council was mostly split five-five during this time, with Mayor Anderson regularly using her casting vote.
The September 2020 election was moved to September 2021, then to December. The second delay allowed a leadership spill to occur, and with a tied vote and a lucky-dip of names in plastic tubes from a timber box, we had new Mayor Cedric Spencer and new Deputy Mayor Sam Ngai. We then saw Council dysfunction reach a new high with five Councillors unable to attend a costly series of extraordinary meetings. The meetings were called to discuss the tenure of Council’s General Manager John McKee, but a quorum of six was never reached.
During the election campaign itself Alister Henskens, Ku-ring-gai MP and Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services, made a controversial speech in NSW Parliament bemoaning Ku-ring-gai Council’s performance, and the performance of John McKee, including benchmarking Ku-ring-gai Council against Hornsby Council. Its accuracy was questioned, and although it was widely viewed and created a stir, it’s difficult to quantify its influence on the election. Jennifer Anderson was a target of the speech and was not re-elected in Roseville, however Martin Smith, who also strongly rebutted Mr Henskens’ criticisms, polled far better than he did in 2017. Sam Ngai, who publicly supported the accuracy of Mr Henskens’ comments, also improved on 2017.
In other contests, newcomer musician and environmentalist Greg Taylor polled well Comenarra. Of the primary candidates, and at the other end of the political spectrum, Peter Kelly in Gordon Ward seems to have suffered the largest fall in the polls. You may recall him as Professor Peter Kelly when he ran in 2017.
This time around the Local Government term is only two years and nine months. A short period for a new Council to find stability and make good on a backlog of achievements. The Community Strategic Plan Review is currently calling for public comment, and is then to be adopted in June 2022. Yes, we are unburdened by tight timelines in Ku-ring-gai! High up on the list will be turning a sod at the Lindfield Village Hub and at the new Marian Street Theatre. These were major election issues in 2017 and they were again in 2021. Will we see progress before 2024? Stopping the sale of Council’s green space, creating an affordable housing policy, and halting the construction of synthetic fields are amongst the other promises our new Councillors have made.
The new Council will meet for the first time on 11 January. The Councillors will elect a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Between the Christmas ham, seafood and champagne the jockeying for these leadership positions will be on in earnest. Will Cr Spencer have the support of his new fellow Liberals? Who knows, those two leadership positions may be filled by two of the five new Councillors. The tenure of the General Manager will presumably be the second item of business.
Hopefully this time the plastic tubes and the timber box can remain in the cupboard. The Ku-ring-gai ratepayers, residents, and interest groups will be watching all this with a keen eye, focussed on community outcomes, not infighting.
Greg Cook was a candidate for Gordon Ward in the Ku-ring-gai Local Government elections.