Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis hits back at sitting councillors over outdated back to basics pledge

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has hit back at claims made by sitting councillors who say the council should “return to the basics”, saying it will do nothing but keep the tropical capital in the past.

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the “back to basics” line being towed by other mayoral candidates was “1960s thinking”. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the “back to basics” line being towed by other mayoral candidates was “1960s thinking”, as he stood firm over the decisions he has made – and hopes he can continue to make – at the council’s helm.

The Lord Mayor also said there was “no such thing” as a gag order preventing sitting councillors from making public statements, as reported by the NT News, however they should be “courteous to each other” to avoid getting into trouble.

“Everybody is allowed to go out and make a statement,” he said.

“I always say, ‘Be careful how you express yourself to other people; do it the way that you want them to express you’.”

Over the past two weeks, three sitting Darwin councillors told the NT News they would run an ‘honest, open and transparent’ council if they were elected as lord mayor.

Mr Vatskalis questioned why the councillors did not introduce motions of their own to increase ‘honestly, openness and transparency”. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Vatskalis said he found this pledge puzzling, because two of these councillors – Amye Un and Sylvia Klonaris – had been part of the council for four years, and the third – Sam Weston – about two years.

“Where were their motions to actually change our policies?” he said.

“If you want change, where was your motion to say, ‘We want to change this procedure’?

“To me, this is just window dressing because they have nothing else to talk about.”

Even then, the council was often in agreeance for many motions, including the new civic centre and the kinetic sculpture at Bundilla Beach, Mr Vatskalis said, but when criticism arose councillors would often “duck for cover” rather than speak out.

“If you’re going to be a leader, you have to be out there, stand up and cop the criticism,” he said.

Thus far in the election campaign, the three councillors vying for the top job have run mostly on a ‘back to basics’ agenda, generally focusing on roads, rates, rubbish and greenery.

While he acknowledged the council was of course responsible for these basics, Mr Vatskalis said “the world has changed” and more should be expected of the council than just the basics.

Mr Vatskalis said he had many plans for the future. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Vatskalis said he had a plan for the future beyond returning to the basics – including planting more trees, upgrading the Casuarina Childcare Centre, installing a Childcare Centre in Karama, installing more 30 minute parking and more, as previously reported.

“If we go back to the basics, kiss goodbye to seniors’ week, kiss goodbye to the holiday programs, kiss goodbye to the fun bus, kiss goodbye to the Christmas pageant, kiss goodbye to the grants we give the cultural groups, and kiss goodbye to economic development in the city,” he said.

When asked if he thought the councillors were running out of self-interest, Mr Vatskalis said: “Of course”.

“You want to be lord mayor? Great. What are you going to do when you go back to basics? That means nothing” he said.

“They can’t just blame me when they’re part of the decision making process too.”

Originally published as Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis hits back at sitting councillors over outdated back to basics pledge