Surfing Homer drops in on Saliba in Shellharbour mayor contest

Shellharbour is set for a council shake-up with political tyro Chris Homer catching a wave of support to become mayor. Find out how he wants to transform the region.

Surfer Chris Homer has splashed onto the political scene by claiming the mayoralty at this month’s Shellharbour local government elections.

The final numbers are still to be determined but with the business development manager leading incumbent Labor mayor Marianne Saliba by 2500 votes, ABC election guru Antony Green called the LGA in the Lake Illawarra resident’s favour on Wednesday.

The 54-year-old, who will take the oath of office next week, will be the first elected mayor in the city since the council was dumped in 2008.

Mr Homer, who is a prominent figure within the Shellharbour community due to his advocacy for Killalea State Park, admitted politics wasn’t second nature to him, but felt it was a sentiment which resonated with voters.

The keen surfer led the charge to save the Farm from development and stop plans for a holiday park and a function centre at Killalea State Park.

Surfer Chris Homer caused a political splash in becoming the new Independent mayor of Shellharbour City Council at the 2021 elections. Killalea State Park, Shell Cove, NSW. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“I would describe my political life as very minimal,” Mr Homer said.

“I said to people during the campaign that I am more of a leader and less of a politician.

“I knew the other side (Labor) was going to push their political nous, but all the way up, leadership right now is what the people want, they need it, they’re crying out for leadership and less political games.”

Shellharbour residents had a dearth of options when they reached the polling booths, with only Labor and Independent candidates on the ballot.

Liberal-turned-Independent Member for Kiama Gareth Ward tweeted on election night that the results in the Illawarra were a “rejection” of Labor and the Greens.

Mr Homer wouldn’t be drawn on the outcomes in neighbouring Wollongong and Kiama, but felt voters pushed back against the internal politics of Labor.

“This LGA has been a Labor stronghold for a very long time,” he said.

“Everyone knows it and everyone was pushing for fresh leadership. They didn’t want to be tied to a political party, especially one which may have decisions coming through from a higher level.

“There is a rise of people being tired of the major parties fighting among themselves and leaving the public interest to come second.”

Options were so scarce in Ward D that Independent Jacqueline Graf and Labor’s Rob Petreski ran unopposed.

“It’s a bit thin on the ground for candidates in this LGA,” Mr Homer said.

“People are a little bit over politics and the other side of that is because it’s such a massive

Labor stronghold I don’t think many people were willing to put their hand up and put their money where their mouth is, especially for the mayoral candidate, and go up against a political beast.”

Chris Homer campaigned for Killalea State Park to remain untouched. Picture: Richard Berndt  

Mr Homer will be working with an open-door policy while in Shellharbour’s top job, a stance he hopes will empower his councillors.

“I want to take care of a lot of the macro policy and the micro policy is what the councillors in each ward will bring to me,” he explained.

“I want to enable them, it’s not them dictating to me, it’s enabling them to do the work that needs to be done in each of these wards without blocking them, interfering or convoluting the situation.

“There’s going to be eight of them, so two experts in each ward, each of them will get equitable resources and attention so they can do their job for the people because that wasn’t happening in the past.”

Despite being frustrated by Labor’s management of Shellharbour, Mr Homer said he would not be sidelining them once he takes office.

“As an Independent mayor, one of my major policies is providing a nonpartisan, equitable and inclusive council, and that includes Labor councillors,” he said.

“(Labor) is still going to have a major presence. Everyone is going to get the attention they deserve and public interest is going to become number one. I am not going to be able to do that by freezing out councillors and letting others have the run of the mill.”

From the Farm to the council chamber ... Independent Chris Homer will need to adapt to his new normal at Shellharbour mayor. Picture: Dylan Arvela

The Killalea activist said some of the areas he wanted to prioritise in his first few months as mayor were sustainability policies, financial transparency and seeing the city bounce back from the Covid pandemic.

“I’ll be looking for council to ramp up sustainability initiatives and looking at whether the city is going to become climate resilient,” Mr Homer said.

“I campaigned on (ensuring) a financially sustainable council. I will bring my financial skills to council because I am qualified (in that field), not the incumbent, and I can find out if the council is working as efficiently as it should.

“I want to make sure the city comes back from Covid, especially economically. We all know how it’s affected small businesses.

“As a surfer, freedom is a bedrock of my lifestyle, so fostering freedom in my community is going to be one of the big things I will keep an eye on.

“Covid was a health issue and the state government has done what it’s had to do, but recovering from Covid and bringing the city’s economic health back and fostering that is something I will be keen on observing.”

The election brings an end to Ms Saliba’s decade-long tenure on council, nine years of which she was mayor, after the Scottish-born 61-year-old opted not contest the election as councillor.

Mr Homer’s upset victory means he needn’t worry about Ms Saliba’s political future, but he will still been checking the swell at the Farm.

“Surfing has been my life,” he said.

“I’ve got four brothers so there were five kids who surfed and our parents used to dump us into Little Lake.

“Everything has revolved around surfing and I’m still doing it. I am a surfboard shaper and designer, I have my own label and I still try to surf every day as well as I can.”