Port Macquarie councillor resignation leaves mayor Peta Pinson with deciding vote option

A Mid-North Coast mayor who challenged the sitting MP at the recent state election will have a deciding vote following the resignation of a fellow councillor.

A Mid-North Coast mayor who challenged the sitting MP at the state election will now have the option of a deciding vote following the resignation of a fellow councillor last week.

After 11 years of service Port Macquarie-Hastings Councillor Sharon Griffiths said it was the “right time to step away to focus on life away from the chamber” leaving eight councillors and the potential for tied votes.

At an extraordinary meeting on July 27, it took less that 15 minutes for councillors to vote unanimously to proceed with the reduced number until the 2024 election - avoiding a by-election estimated to cost in the order of $500,000.

It means mayor Peta Pinson will have the option of a casting vote to decide matters if votes are split.

Deputy Mayor Adam Roberts, Cr Josh Slade, Mayor Peta Pinson, Cr Sharon Griffiths who recently resigned and Cr Danielle Maltman were elected in 2021 as ‘Tema Pinson’. Picture: Team Pinson 2021

It is a situation reminiscent of a number of tied votes on the controversial $80 million-plus civic building in Coffs Harbour in recent years.

The resignation of a Coffs Harbour City Councillor due to illness meant mayor Denise Knight, an avid supporter of the project, used her vote to proceed at points where councillors were locked in a bitter divide.

The building which will house a new library, museum and art gallery along with council chambers and offices is nearing completion but some sections of the community were bitterly opposed to the cost, lack of an entertainment centre and the use of the mayor’s casting vote.

The interior lights are on at Yarrila Place, Coffs Harbour, a building which will house council, an art gallery and museum. May 2023. Picture: Chris Knight

Protesters at a 2021 Coffs Harbour City Council meeting proclaiming ‘local democracy is dead - killed my the casting vote’.

At one council meetings protesters carried a coffin claiming ‘local democracy is dead - killed by the casting vote’.

As with the Coffs Harbour situation, Cr Griffiths’ resignation fell outside the 18-month period from the previous election for a countback, meaning previous candidates who stood for the 2021 local government election could not be considered for the vacancy.

Here to ‘use our own brains’

Resigning Cr Griffiths was re-elected in 2021 as part of ‘team Pinson’ a term still referred to in chambers and which angered Lisa Intemann at their recent July 20 council meeting.

“The reference to ‘team Pinson’ is political - we are here to use our own brains,” Ms Intemann said.

At one stage during the meeting Ms Pinson had to remind councillors “we have our community here watching”.

Port Macquarie mayor Peta Pinson announces she will run for the Nationals at the state government election.

In December 2022 in the lead up to the state election Ms Pinson took the bold move of announcing she would be running against the long-serving Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams.

The revelation she was making a tilt at state politics was not unexpected, but she took some by surprise making the announcement at a rally against state government plans for the upgrade of the town’s main breakwall.

It also surprised many that not long before her announcement she had joined The Nationals to help give her the “firepower” required to challenge sitting member and coalition partner Leslie Williams.

Traditionally The Liberal – National Coalition partners don’t pit candidates against one another.

Williams who has been Member for Port Macquarie since 2011, quit The Nationals in 2020 largely due to their koala policies and defected to The Liberal Party.

She was re-elected at the state election in March this year.