Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council: Labor, women lead vote

Early results for Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council indicate plenty of fresh faces - including the first Indigenous councillor - and a female-majority council will be elected.

The Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council is set to look different in 2022 with a female majority predicted.

While vote counting isn’t expected to wrap up until mid-December, the ABC election analyst Antony Green has declared 10 candidates out of 11 as elected.

Six out of 10 of those candidates are women; a stark change from only two female councillors being elected in 2017.

NSW Minister Local Government Shelley Hancock said while the vote count was still in its early stages, it was “promising” to see efforts to encourage women to run in local government had been successful.

“Across the state, women represented 41.7 per cent of all candidates this year,” she said

“(This is) a 4.2 per cent increase from 2016-17 and a 6.2 per cent increase from 2012.”

Labor candidates Bryce Wilson and Esma Livermore have been elected to the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council

Labor is in the lead, with candidates Bryce Wilson and Esma Livermore clearly elected to council.

Livermore, a Bigambul woman, is the first openly indigenous woman to be elected to the QPRC.

She said it felt “surreal” to be elected, and said it she was excited to represent the indigenous community and the Queanbeyan-Palerang community more broadly.

“Not seeing and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in local politics is something I wanted to change,” she said.

Ms Livermore said while working at a Barnados homework club, she saw indigenous kids with dreams of entering politics who didn’t have rolemodels to follow.

“I was at the stage where I was like, no more what ifs, why not,” she said.

Ms Livermore said the Aboriginal and Torres Strait community in Queanbeyan-Palerang was diverse and housing affordability was a big issue facing indigenous people in the region.

Lead candidate Bryce Wilson credited Labor’s success on having a “positive plan” and “sticking to Labor values”.

He said it was too early to tell if Labor would secure a third councillor.

Group F candidates Kenrick Winchester and Edwina Webster have been elected into the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.

Following Labor is Group F led by Kenrick Winchester.

Mr Winchester described his re-election as a “strong endorsement” of his approach on the council over the previous two terms.

He is one of only two incumbent councillors to be re-elected at this stage.

Alongside Mr Winchester, Edwina Webster has also been clearly elected however, Mr Winchester has doubts a third councillor from his ticket would secure a seat on the council based on counted votes.

“It looks like we won’t get there with Peter Lindbeck,” he said.

“He would have been an outstanding councillor.”

Mr Winchester said he was ready to embrace the challenges faced by the new council, including financial issues, maintaining and upgrading rural roads and engaging with the community.

Liberal candidates Louise Burton and Jaqueline Ternouth have been elected to the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council

Following Group F is the Liberal Party with Louise Burton and Jacqueline Ternouth clearly elected.

Ms Burton said she and Ms Ternouth would focus on improving development application processes, push for more emergency service and police presence in Googong and Bungendore, and improve road quality.

“(Road maintenance) is a strongly voiced concern within this community, and council has been failing the country people in this area,” she said.

Ms Burton said she was watching counting eagerly to see if Mark Schweikert would be re-elected to the council.

“Obviously having Mark over the line would be great for this council … he is experienced and would bring an historical understanding of council business,” she said.

The Greens’ Katrina Willis has been elected to the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.

Mareeta Grundy said she was excited to hit the ground running in the new council.

The Greens and Group B are following the Liberals respectively with both tickets already securing one spot each on council.

Katrina Willis, the lead candidate for the Greens, was contacted for comment.

Group B lead candidate Mareeta Grundy said she was excited to “hit the ground running” in council.

She said she has “never been one for gender-equity quotas” and said it was “fantastic to see women have been elected to this council on their own merits and because of the skills intellect and experience.”

Two more councillors were declared elected on Thursday; Group G lead candidate and incumbent councillor Michele Biscotti, and Group D lead candidate and former Queanbeyan Council deputy mayor Steve Taskovski.

Mr Biscotti said if officially re-elected, his focus on council would be the delivery of schedule of works program detailed in the council’s Operational Plan 21-22.

“Given the next term of council is only a little over two and a half years it would be prudent for any newly-elected councillor to not overpromise and underdeliver, however deliver what has been promised to the community,” he said.

Group D Lead candidate Steve Taskovski said he is happy to get back into local politics to “do something more for the town and the area.”

He said investment into country roads was a top priority.

“When you have the money in the kitty you need to spend it where it needs to be spent,” he said.

Taskovski said he wanted to champion the Queanbeyan River by encouraging riverside development.

“The biggest asset in Queanbeyan is the river,” he said.

“If it was in Europe somewhere it would have cafes restaurants, shops, entertainment centres, and nightlife.”

Ungrouped independent candidate William ‘Wombat Bill’ Waterhouse says there was still a chance he'll be elected after receiving over 1100 first preference votes.

One more councillor position remains.

Meanwhile ungrouped independent candidate William “Wombat Bill” Waterhouse has the highest individual first preference vote with over 1100 votes recorded by Wednesday.

Mr Waterhouse said there was “still a chance” of being elected but expected it to be difficult.

He credited his high vote count to a “sense of abandonment” felt by the residents of Palerang

“There is widespread discontent, so much so, that many folks want to de-amalgamate because of the perceived neglect,” Waterhouse said.

When asked if he would run for the council again, Mr Waterhouse said he “never says never” and if he did he would put together a ticket rather than running as an ungrouped candidate.

“The people of Palerang need more voices on the council – it won’t hurt Queanbeyan but will be good for the rest of us,” he said.