‘Ratepayers are angry’: New Geelong council must heed message sent by voters

The “back to basics” message adopted by a number of successful candidates clearly struck a chord, but the Greens say the new Geelong council is “out of touch with the changing needs of the community”.

Former state Liberal MP Andrew Katos has been elected to Geelong council after campaigning on a “back to basics” platform. He wasn’t the only one. Picture: Alan Barber.

Three-word election campaign slogans are now the rule, rather than the exception.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott would spruik “jobs and growth” ad nauseam.

Barack Obama’s “yes we can” in 2008 and Donald Trump’s “drain the swamp” in 2016 both had significant cut through.

Fast forward to this year’s Geelong council election and the “back to basics” message adopted by a number of successful candidates clearly struck a chord.

The specific meaning of the term varied depending on who you spoke to, but broadly speaking it formed part of a wider message that council should only focus on what it has control over.

Left-leaning candidates unsuccessfully tried to argue it meant outsourcing services and making cuts wherever possible.

“People kept telling me they wanted council to focus on traditional local government issues,” new Kardinia ward councillor Stretch Kontelj said.

“For me, back to basics is mostly about increasing the allocation of council resources to roads, footpaths, gutters and drains.

“I campaigned for six months and not one person came to me to say: ‘Look, the council is on the right track, keep going with the woke ideology’.

“But plenty of people did come to me and say the opposite.”

Former prime minister Tony Abbott talks with Stretch Kontelj during his previous term on council. Picture: Alison Wynd.

Mr Kontelj, a long-time Liberal Party member who previously spent 17 years on council, defeated the Greens’ Emilie Flynn by 500 votes after preferences.

Independent incumbent councillor Peter Murrihy was knocked out in the process.

Ms Flynn was one of 11 Greens candidates across the region, none of whom were elected.

She was also one of 18 candidates who pledged their full support to a campaign that called on councillors to denounce the “genocidal war on Palestine” and implement policies that punished businesses that profited from the “illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel”.

Of those, only Melissa Cadwell and Elise Wilkinson were successful, and they both benefited from incumbency.

The pair’s political allegiances – Ms Cadwell is a Labor member and Ms Wilkinson aligns with the Greens – will be in the minority this term after a conservative majority was elected.

They also make up two-thirds of the female representation, joined by newcomer and former Reason Party state candidate Emma Sinclair.

The previous council had seven men and four women.

Emilie Flynn (centre) with fellow Greens candidates Maddie Slater and Joey Nicita. Picture: Supplied.

Despite having no candidates elected, the Greens are “celebrating some notable performances and remain firmly committed to pushing for progressive change”.

Ms Flynn said the party viewed the gender imbalance in Geelong as a critical issue.

“We may not have won this time, but the fight for a greener, fairer, and more inclusive future continues,” she said.

“These results show a council that is out of touch with the changing needs of the community.

“The Greens remain committed to holding those in power to account and pushing for better representation for all residents, particularly those who have been left behind.”

Across the state, the number of elected Greens councillors dropped from 36 in 2020 to 28 despite fielding 32 more candidates.

Sarah Mansfield, a former Geelong councillor who resigned to join state parliament’s upper house in 2022, is the party’s local government spokeswoman.

“We’ve seen huge swings to the Greens in many communities across the state, and based on the way people voted we should have even more councillors elected but Labor’s undemocratic single-member wards are distorting the will of communities,” she said.

Anthony Aitken, a northern suburbs councillor since 2017 and deputy mayor the past two years, was comfortably elected in Corio, receiving almost half of all primary votes in a field of six.

This came despite news breaking early in the campaign that he had been disciplined following multiple complaints from council staff about his behaviour.

The 54-year-old remains furious about the action, but unless the sanctions are overturned, he will have all his meetings with council staff recorded until at least September.

Re-elected Geelong councillors Eddy Kontelj and Anthony Aitken recently got into the swing of things at the Austrian Club’s Oktoberfest event. Picture: Facebook.

Mr Aitken said he has been left in no doubt following his time on the hustings and the subsequent election results that ratepayers are angry.

“If the electoral will is displayed by the new council group, council will be wise to get the basics right and earn the community’s trust to venture into issues not specifically the remit of local government,” he said.

“Council cannot just assume that it can get involved in non-local government issues.”

Mr Aitken said the community wanted council to deliver basic services faster and not be caught in a bureaucratic web when attempting to have issues addressed.

“In the north we have too much abandoned rubbish on nature strips and in public open spaces,” he said.

“Ratepayers don’t understand why they have to report the abandoned mattress or lounge chair, why isn’t council being proactive making sure their community where they live is clean and gives them pride?

“The new council will fail if we do not address the ratepayer anger.”

Having replaced Dr Mansfield on council two years ago, Ms Cadwell is set to serve her first full term.

Melissa Cadwell has been elected to the Cheetham ward. Picture: Alan Barber.

Despite the conservative nature of the new council, Ms Cadwell said her approach would not differ.

“Right from the start, I’ve worked with my community to help them with the issues that matter to them,” she said.

“That’s why local sporting clubs and community groups have been a central part of my agenda, both on council and in the election campaign.”

Ms Wilkinson accepts she sits at the progressive end of the political spectrum in comparison to her colleagues, but remains confident all members will work collaboratively.

“Given the fact that these councillors have stepped forward into local government, I would anticipate they will put the community at the centre of all decision making in council, rather than any political ideology or aspirations,” she said.

“As we all know this is when local government is most accountable and effective.”

Originally published as ‘Ratepayers are angry’: New Geelong council must heed message sent by voters