MidCoast Council elect Claire Pontin mayor, Libertarian Michael Graham defeated
A Libertarian mayoral candidate who romped it in to one of the largest LGA’s in coastal NSW refused to stand for the welcome to country prior to the vote for the top job. See how it panned out.
Mid-North Coast
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Libertarian mayoral candidate Michael Graham, who romped it in to one of the largest Local Government Areas in coastal NSW, refused to stand for a welcome to country prior to the vote for the top job on Wednesday afternoon.
Support for The Libertarian Party in the MidCoast Council elections was strong with their top three candidates securing seats on the 11-person council.
Mr Graham, a farm worker from Mooral Creek, is joined on council by Phillip Beazley from Smiths Lake and Mal McKenzie from Langley Vale.
Mr McKenzie also refused to stand for the welcome to country while Mr Beazley appeared on screen for the meeting as he was overseas.
Unlike many other councils in the region including Port Macquarie, Nambucca, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen where voters elect both councillors and the mayor, MidCoast Councillors determine who will take the top job.
Putting their hand up for mayor on Wednesday afternoon was Mr Graham, previous mayor Claire Pontin and previous deputy mayor Allan Tickle.
In the lead up to the vote returning councillor and local cinema operator Peter Howard took to Facebook inviting everyone to tune in.
“The Libertarians ran on a campaign that all of the existing councillors were all a bunch of plonkers without a clue.
“That would be Crs Pontin, Tickle, Miller, Smith and me.”
Out of the 11 new councillors elected, including the three from The Libertarians, six are completely new to the role.
When voting got underway via a show of hands it was a close call, with Ms Pontin and Mr Graham on four votes each and Mr Tickle knocked out of the race.
Eventually Ms Pontin was the winner with seven votes to Mr Graham’s three.
Mr Thomas O’Keefe abstained from the vote for mayor. He is a local journalist and when asked by this publication about the potential conflict of interest he had this to say:
“Regarding my role with the NOTA (News Of The Area) - as the election got underway, I was limited in what I could write about; namely anything related to council was considered a conflict of interest.
“Going forward from here, I cannot see that situation changing.”
Deputy mayor nominees were Mr Tickle, Jeremy Miller and Mr Beazley with Mr Miller taking the role.
Mr Miller has managed the Manning Entertainment Centre and currently runs two small businesses, a bakery and a cafe, in Taree and was elected to MidCoast Council in 2021.
MidCoast Council was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of the former Taree, Great Lakes and Gloucester shires.
It covers a diverse area from Hawks Nest often associated with the Port Stephens region to the villages and surrounds of Gloucester with links to the Upper Hunter in addition to the main town centres of Taree and Forster.
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