NSW council elections 2021: Results and what it means for you
Hundreds of thousands of votes have been tallied and while the outcome of polls across the state is becoming clearer, a result for many will be unlikely before Christmas. Here’s what we know.
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Millions of people across NSW, who took to the polling booths across 126 local government areas on December 4 to cast their ballots, may not know the outcome of the election before Christmas.
With hundreds of thousands of votes already counted, it is becoming clearer how each local council could potentially shape up for the next three years.
First preferences votes have now closed, but second preferences continue to be tallied and will stretch well into the month given postal votes close on December 17. Results are not officially declared until December 23.
“It’s a slow process and then with all the postal votes and referendums and mayoral votes there’s a level of complexity with local elections that you don’t get with state or federals,’’ a NSW Electoral Commission spokeswoman said.
It follows a snag in online voting, with the counting deadline pushed back to Wednesday night.
Errors also plagued the electronic system on Saturday when technical issues prevented electors casting their votes.
Constituents who live more than 20km from a polling booth, silent voters, people with low vision and those who were not in their local government area on polling day were eligible to use iVote.
It comes as large numbers of informal votes will begin to be added to the final count in a move that could determine some of the tightest election battles in councils across the state.
Follow the rolling coverage below:
CITY
– by David Barwell, Jake McCallum and Emily Macdonald
Clover Moore will return as City of Sydney Lord Mayor for a record fifth term, leading the polls with almost 44 per cent of the vote for mayor.
Almost 114,000 of a possible 175,000 votes had been counted.
Final results could potentially be weeks away, but Cr Moore has claimed victory, with 30,000 more votes than either Liberal Candidate Shauna Jarrett or Labor’s Linda Scott.
“It’s been challenging because the campaign has gone on for two years (due to delays),” Ms Moore said.
“We’re going to continue to provide a strong, independent, progressive leadership of the city.”
The council will have at elast four members of Cr Moore’s team with more than 44,000 of the 113,000 votes counted.
Labor and The Greens have secured five seats each on the 15-member Inner West Council, with results from preference counts to decide who will be assured of nabbing one of the remaining spots.
Current results from Saturday’s local government election show both Labor and the Greens have each secured five of the 15 councillor positions on the council as well as boosting their first preference vote with respective swings of 5 and 6.6 per cent. Of the five remaining seats, two have been called for sitting councillors and independents Pauline Lockie and John Stamolis.
Former Labor mayor Darcy Byrne, who was ousted for the final three months of the previous council term, is set to have another term on council and said he believed there was a real chance for Labor to boost their numbers from five to seven.
Mr Byrne was critical of the Greens campaign platform of de-merging the Inner West Council and was hopeful he would be re-elected as mayor by his fellow councillors.
“I want to make sure the new council gets off on the right foot with mainstream priorities, a focus on local issues and that foreign policy, extremist sentiment and fixation on de-merging the council is put aside,” he said.
The former mayor said he didn’t think it was good enough that the Greens didn’t identify a mayoral candidate during the campaign.
“I transparently put myself forward to the community as the Labor mayoral candidate,” he said.
“I will be seeking the support of other councillors to be re-elected as mayor and given that any alternate candidates kept their candidacy a secret from the community throughout the election campaign, I think it’d be pretty cynical to put their hand up now.”
Controversial former Liberal councillor-turned independent Julie Passas has been booted from the council after she attracted just 0.27 per cent of the vote.
Ms Passas was found, by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, to have vilified her neighbour because of his sexuality after she demanded he remove a rainbow flag from his balcony.
She said she “probably” lost votes because she had been depicted as a “homophobe”, but she denied making the remark about breastfeeding and said the flag comparison was one she made to highlight how offended some residents felt.
“I know what I said … I stand by what happened, I don’t regret saying it because I didn’t say it,” Ms Passas said of the breastfeeding remark the court heard she made.
“I would regret it if it was the truth.”
In the city’s eastern suburbs, the fiercely contested Waverley and Woollahra council elections are coming in with some parties recording sizeable swings.
In Waverley so far the Liberals have gained a 4.3 per cent swing and The Greens 1.5 per cent.
However it is likely, despite a 0.7 per cent swing against them, Labor will still control the balance of power.
It is likely Labor will hold four seats, The Greens three and Liberals five – the same distribution as under the previous administration which had a Labor mayor and Greens deputy.
While all five of the Liberals – Sally Betts, Tony Kay, Leon Goltsman, Angela Burrill and Will Nemesh -are experienced councillors, both Labor and The Greens are on track to welcome fresh blood.
Incumbent Labor councillors Paula Masselos and Steven Lewis will likely be joined by Tamarama Surf Club president Tim Murray and lawyer Michelle Gray.Meanwhile veteran Greens councillors Elaine Keenan and Dominic WY Kanak are set to be joined by local identity Ludovico Fabiano.
Meanwhile in Woollahra the independent candidates in Residents First have gained an impressive 10.5 per cent swing while the Liberals appear to have picked up a one per cent swing and the Greens have lost an 8.9 per cent swing.
So far it appears Liberals will hold eight seats, Residents First will take five, the Greens one and there is still one seat too close to call.
Incumbent Liberal councillors Isabelle Shapiro, Susan Wynne, Mary-Lou Jarvis, Sean Carmichael, Toni Zeltzer, Richard Shields and Peter Cavanagh will be joined by newcomer solicitor Sarah Swan.
Experienced Residents First councillors Harriet Price, Luise Elsing, Mark Silcocks and Lucinda Regan are set to be joined by marketing guru Merrill Halkerston Witt.
Long term Greens councillor Matthew Robertson looks set to comfortably retain his seat but in Cooper ward it is not yet clear if fellow Green Nicola Grieve will get up or if Liberal Dixie Coulton will snare the seat.
In Randwick four seats hang in the balance as counting from the weekend’s local government election goes down to the wire.
A mix of familiar faces and first time candidates have secured seats from Saturday’s polling day with Labor leading the field with 31 per cent of the vote.
A total of 15 councillors will be elected on the council, with five seats already called for Labor, three for the Liberals, two for the Greens and one independent.
Councillors retaining their seats include Dylan Parker (Lab), Christine Hamilton (Lib), Kathy Neilson (Lab), Noel D’Souza (ind), Danny Said (Lab) and Alexandra Luxford (Lab).They will join new councillors Daniel Rosenfeld (Lib), Marea Wilson (Lab), Michael Olive (Grn), Joanne McCafferty (Lib) and Rafaela Pandolfini (Grn).
All eyes are now on the four remaining seats in the highly competitive central, south and west wards.
A nail biting contest is unfolding in the central ward where two popular sitting councillors are fighting it out for the coveted third and final seat.
Current results show Labor has already secured a seat and Liberals are on track for the second, while just 84 votes separates Philipa Veitch (Greens) and Harry Stavrinos (Our Local Community).
Mr Stavrinos, a former Liberal, believes a recount could be on the cards.
MORE: City of Sydney, Inner West council elections
Southern Sydney
— By Eliza Barr
The make-up of southern Sydney’s local councils was slowly coming into view as vote counting continues in the 2021 Local Government Election.
The rise of powerful independent groups has shaken up the status quo across the Sutherland Shire and St George, while a major party declining to endorse any candidates – even existing councillors seeking another term – has caused uncertainty in one particular council.
One council is all but decided with only three of 15 seats left to be determined, while two others still have almost half up in the air.
Several Sutherland Shire Council stalwarts appear to have already secured their spots on the new council, including Liberals Carmelo Pesce and Carol Provan and Labor’s Diedree Steinwall and Jack Boyd.
Newcomers including Labor’s Jen Armstrong – formerly a candidate for the state seat of Miranda – along with Liberals Stephen Nikolovski, Louise Sullivan and returning former councillor Hassan Awada are also thought to have made it past the post.Existing councillors taking another tilt who are yet to learn their fate include Liberal Kent Johns and Labor’s Peter Scaysbrook, Greg McLean and Michael Forshaw – signalling uncertainty and a possible power shift against the Shire’s Labor team.
In Georges River, there is far more certainty – with a new independent outfit muscling in on the previously Labor and Liberal-dominated council.
The Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party picked up a significant 21.8 per cent of the vote to Labor’s 32.3 and the Liberals’ 29.2.
WESTERN SYDNEY
– By Joanne Vella and Ben Talintyre
Labor has secured eight of the 11 decided seats at Blacktown Council following the weekend’s election.
Four seats hang in the balance but Labor is looking good to secure more.
Current Mayor and Deputy Mayor Tony Bleasdale and Julie Griffiths have retained their seats and all but one of the current councillors running for re-election have already secured their position.
Parramatta’s leaders are no longer ‘male, male, male’, with an influx of new women likely to be elected.
After serving Parramatta Council for more than 40 years, former mayors Bob Dwyer and Andrew Wilson are out of the race to be re-elected to the chamber, which is seeing a shift in women representing the rapidly developing city.
Councillor and The Small Business Party candidate Andrew Wilson failed to muster enough votes in the Rosehill ward while North Rocks ward hopeful Mr Dwyer has graciously conceded defeat as an independent.
Mr Dwyer, who led the city from 2019 until September when Steven Issa was elected mayor for a brief stint, conceded defeat to rookie councillors Ange Humphries (Labor) and Donna Wang from the Our Local Community.
Mr Dwyer, a former Liberal, ran second on the North Rocks independent ticket and endorsed Georgina Valjak, who was planning to run for the Liberals before the state executive failed to endorse candidates from multiple local government areas including Parramatta and Cumberland.
Votes are still being counted but nine women are on course to securing a spot on the chamber: Donna Davis (Epping, Labor), Lorraine Wearne (Epping, independent), Patricia Prociv (Rosehill, Labor), Michelle Garrard (Dundas, Our Local Community) have secured votes along with newcomers Ange Humphries, (Epping, Labor), Ms Wang (North Rocks, Our Local Community), Ms Valjak (North Rocks, independent), Kellie Darley (Dundas, independent) and potentially Franceska Strano (Rosehill, Greens).
It means the second-city is poised to transform from a Liberal-dominated council into one with more ALP influence and growing Greens power.
Phil Bradley, who became the first Greens councillor to be elected in 2017, is set to re-elected into the Parramatta ward while newcomer Franceska Strano will bolster the party’s influence in the Rosehill ward, with figures so far stating she has 16.73 per cent of the vote.
Counting continues but it appears there will be five Labor representatives, four from Our Local Community, four independents and two Greens.
Each of the five Parramatta wards allows three councillors to be elected.
At Epping, Labor’s Donna Davis has so far claimed 49.07 per cent of the vote, followed by seasoned independent councillor Lorraine Wearne (40.36 per cent) and former Liberal councillor turned independent contender Jean Pierre Abood (10.57 per cent).
In Blacktown, Labor appears likely to return in a majority with eight councillors effectively across the line following counting on Saturday night.
Incumbent mayor Tony Bleasdale will return as councillor, along with Carol Israel, Julie Griffiths and Susai Benjamin.
Other councillors on track to return is former Liberal councillor, now running as an independent, Jess Diaz and Michael Stubley of the Blacktown Coalition party.
MORE: Parramatta Council election
SOUTH WEST SYDNEY
– by Adelaide Lang and Joanne Vella
Labor is set to dominate the state’s largest council by population, wining the majority of votes in all five wards for the 15-person Canterbury-Bankstown Council.
In the Bankstown ward Labor dominated the count with an almost 35,000 or a possible 45,000 votes counted the party had 59 per cent, which would see two councillors – incumbent mayor Khal Asfour and Bilal El-Hayek – elected. The Liberals received just over 30 per cent of the vote, which will likely see George Zakhia installed.
Labor took 52 per cent of the count, as of Friday, in Bass Hill ward, meaning it is likely top of the party’s ticket Rachelle Harika and the second place on the ticket Christopher Cahill will earn a place on the council. The Liberal Party’s Charlia Ishac is expected to gain a seat with the party recording just over 30 per cent of the first-preference votes.
The Liberals and independents took the fight to Labor in Canterbury ward. Labor still claimed the most first preference votes, with 11,061 of a total of 37,934 counted. Clare Raffan is likely to be installed on the council for Labor, with the Liberal Party (24 per cent) candidate Jessie Nguyen, and an independent team (23 per cent) lead Barbara Coorey in third position. As of Friday, 37,934 of a possible 46, 536 votes had been counted.
In Revesby ward Labor had the most first preference votes with 13,443 of the 26,768 counted, placing David Walsh in the box seat for a seat on council. The Liberal Party received 11,715 votes meaning Charbel Abouraad will likely be on the council. The third seat may need to wait for postal votes and distribution of preferences.
In Roselands ward, Labor grabbed almost 54 per cent of the vote and Liberal 28. It means the likely make up of the ward will be Labor’s Khodr Saleh and Bhadra Waiba and Liberal Sazeda Akter.
A former Labor representative, Frank Carbone has wiped the floor with his old party in Fairfield, where the ALP suffered a 20 per cent swing, with Mr Carbone’s team picking up much of that.
In the mayor’s race, he won nearly 74 per cent of the vote, beating Labor’s George Barcha.
Mr Carbone’s ticket could end up with six seats, plus him as mayor.
His team is aligned with Dai Le’s group of independents, which is set to claim three seats.
Mr Carbone told The Daily Telegraph such a result “has never happened before” in Fairfield.
In the Macarthur region, early polls have indicated there will be little change in the make up of Campbelltown and Camden councils for the next council term.
With just over 18 per cent of the votes tallied, Incumbent Campbelltown mayor George Brticevic and his fellow Labor candidates are carrying 43.9 per cent of the total number of votes tallied.
The Liberal party is the closest competitor with 25.2 per cent of the votes tallied.
In Camden, Liberal candidates are leading all three wards with incumbent Liberal mayor Therese Fedeli the frontrunner to keep her seat in Central ward with 42 per cent of the votes, former Liberal mayor Lara Symkowiak pocketing almost half the votes in North Ward and new Liberal candidate Russell Zammit at the top of South ward with 39 per cent of the vote.
Labor’s incumbent councillors – Paul Farrow, Cindy Cagney, and Ashleigh Cagney – along with long-serving independent Eva Campbell appear likely to return which could challenge the longheld Liberal majority.
For the first time in Wollondilly Council, locals have had their say on the area’s mayor with two incumbent councillors neck and neck.
Judy Hannan, a former mayor who has previously contested for a state seat, and former deputy mayor Matthew Gould are the two frontrunners with more than 57 per cent of the ballots counted.
Mr Gould is narrowly ahead with 4274 votes (21.9 per cent) with Ms Hannan receiving 4039 votes (20.7 per cent). Behind the pair are former councillor Ray Law and former mayor Matthew Deeth.
In Liverpool, the decision of longtime Labor councillor and incumbent mayor Wendy Waller to step away from local politics has opened the door for Liberal mayoral candidate Ned Mannoun to take the top job.
Despite having images of his face splashed in manure in an overnight attack on Friday, Mr Mannoun looks to be having the last laugh and is on track to return to the top job after a five-year hiatus.
As a victory to Liverpool’s Liberal mayoral candidate looks likely, despondent Labor hopeful Nathan Hagarty has almost conceded defeat in the race to lead the southwest council.
As of Monday afternoon, Mr Mannoun has so far secured 42.3 per cent of the vote, followed by Cr Hagarty (37.65 per cent), independent Michael Andjelkovic (8.46 per cent), Liverpool Community Independents Team’s Peter Harle (7.11 per cent) and Greens Asm Morshed who picked up 3.94 per cent as votes continue to be counted.
“Probably disappointed is the best word on a campaign of hard work, integrity, trust and it would appear that’s not enough,’’ Cr Hagarty said on Monday.
“Perhaps the demographics of the area are changing and we need to be aware of that.’’
MORE: Campbelltown, Camden elections
THE HUNTER
– by Fiona Killman, Richard Noone, Amy Ziniak and Daniel McGookin
He was sensationally defeated in the state Upper Hunter by-election in May earlier this year and hinted at a possible stab at federal politics, but it looks like local government will be where it’s at for Jeff Drayton. The former Labor candidate – who just recently announced his resignation as the Northern Mining and NSW Energy Vice President due to ill health – has impressed early at the local government elections, as he makes a bid to become a Muswellbrook councillor.
Out of all 17 candidates – with 12 to be elected – the well-known and popular now-independent candidate is sitting pretty with the highest percentage of votes, at more than 15 per cent, as recorded on Monday afternoon.
City of Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes has claimed her third consecutive term in the top job as counting continues.
IN a social media statement, she said the result: “Has seen the people of Newcastle strongly support our positive and progressive policies to continue to deliver for our city. “Novocastrians have backed our vision for Newcastle, and supported our approach to create and sustain more local jobs while delivering the infrastructure upgrades our community deserves.
In Port Stephens it’s as close as you can get between the two mayoral candidates with incumbent mayor Ryan Palmer just ahead with 50.4 per cent of the votes, while Labor candidate Leah Anderson has 49.5 per cent.
Close to 23,000 of a possible 57,000 votes have been counted.
It’s a 12 horse race in the Upper Hunter Shire councillor election with three of the incumbent councillors set for another term with more than 4000 votes already counted.
Independent Lee Watts is leading the pack with 27 per cent of the votes, followed by Maurice Collison on 19 per cent along with Ron Campbell on 8.7 per cent. Independent Elizabeth Flaherty, keen for her first stint on council, is next in line on 7.5 per cent.
Incumbent Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser has taken to social media to celebrate her return to the top job in a landslide vote.
The Labor politician, who celebrated her 39th wedding anniversary on polling day, thanked her “amazing family” and political supporters for their work during the election campaign.
“I’m humbled and honoured to be voted in as mayor of Lake Macquarie for another term,” she said.
With more than three quarters of the votes counted, Cessnock will see a new mayor in Labor’s Jay Suvaal.
The Cessnock born and bred father-of-two will take over from mentor and Labor colleague Bob Pysent, who is retiring after being on council for more than 20 years and two stints at mayor.
“Bob is a fantastic guy and great mayor for our city, definitely have big shoes to fill,” Mr Suvaal said.
Suvaal, 36, who has offered a “fresh approach” to Cessnock, polled well early and as of Thursday afternoon had almost 43 per cent of the vote, his nearest competitor Independent Ian OIsen with 27 per cent.
The council is shaping to be Labor dominated, with ALP candidates leading the polling in each of the four wards.
For Singleton Council, incumbent mayor Sue Moore is on track to retain the position for the next term of council after attracting 37.6 per cent of the vote when counting stopped on Saturday night.
The incumbent MaitlandCouncil mayor Loretta Baker is under threat with a strong challenge by experienced independent councillor Phillip Penfold.
With almost half of the votes counted, Ms Baker is narrowly ahead of Mr Penfold with 9773 votes (33.16 per cent) to 9407 (33.16 per cent).
MORE: Newcastle, Port Stephens and Upper Hunter elections
NORTHERN SYDNEY
– by Jim O’Rourke and David Barwell
The Liberal Party is set to remain a dominant force in Sydney’s Hills.
Liberal Dr Peter Gangemi has garnered more than 53 per cent of the vote, securing him the position of Hills Shire Mayor with postal votes still to come in.
He took to Facebook the day after the election to claim victory.
“It is an incredible honour to have been elected as the Mayor of The Hills Shire Council,” he said.
“Throughout this campaign, I have been completely overwhelmed by the well wishes and the level of support for myself and the entire Liberal team.
“The Hills is the greatest part of the world and myself and the Liberal team are so thankful to have this opportunity to serve you in the upcoming term of council.
“The community have elected the Liberal team to at least 9 out of the 13 spots on the council and we are very grateful for that. The Hills community have put a high level of trust in the Liberal team and we will not let them down.”
So far almost 97,000 of a possible 121,336 votes have been counted.
Cr Gangemi (51,812) has more than double the first preference votes of his nearest competitor, Labor’s Ryan Tracey (22,931).
He will replace outgoing mayor Dr Michelle Byrne, who chose not to contest the election after she was not endorsed by the Liberal Party’s State Executive.
The Liberal Party picked up 60 per cent of the votes in central ward meaning as it stands Jessica Brazier and Mark Hodges would be joined by Labor’s Tony Hay, with his party getting 23 per cent of the vote.
The Liberals also appear set to have two spots on east ward for Jerome Cox and Reena Jethi, with Labor mayoral candidate Ryan Tracey also gaining a position.
In the north ward the Greens (25 per cent of first preference votes) have entered the fold, with a possibility taking one spot away from the Liberals.
It could well come down to postal votes, with the Liberals (72 per cent) — Cr Gangemi, Virginia Ellis and Mitchell Blue — possibly claiming all three spots.
Labor did not contest the ward.
In the west ward the Liberal Party gained 56 per cent of first preferences, and Labor 29.
As it stands, Liberals Rosemarie Boneham and Frank De Masi will be joined by Labor’s Barbara Burton.
Meanwhile, swings, tight contests and a large percentage of informal votes have emerged during early counting from council elections on Sydney’s north shore.
Candidates in the Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney and Willoughby Council regions have offered early insights into how they think local politics could play out over the next three years as results from Saturday’s local government elections continue to trickle in.
In Ku-ring-gai there was plenty of drama in the lead up to election day and the early count from the poll has thrown up some surprises.
At least five sitting councillors are not expected to return including Jennifer Anderson who served on the council for 15 years and last year became the longest serving mayor in its 104-year-old history.
The early results from Willoughby show sitting councillors Nic Wright, Hugh Eriksson, Craig Campbell and Brendon Zhu are all expected to return alongside new candidates Georgie Roussac and John Moratelli. A total of 13 councillors will be elected.
Counting in North Sydney is meanwhile progressing at a snail’s pace with just 37 per cent of the vote counted as of Tuesday morning. Early results are looking promising for sitting mayor Jilly Gibson, two Labor candidates Godfrey Santer and Shannon Welch, sitting councillors Zoe Baker and Maryann Beregi and new candidate James Spencer. The five remaining spots on the council are too close to call.
The early results also show strong support for the Sustainable Australia Party – Stop Overdevelopment which has attracted between nine and 12 per cent of the vote in the council’s two wards.
Meanwhile in Mosman, current mayor Carolyn Corrigan looks to have cruised to victory with 42 per cent of the vote in the mayoral contest as of Tuesday morning. With 40 per cent of ballots counted, Ms Corrigan said she was feeling hopeful but was waiting for more votes to be tallied before making an official statement.
In Hornsby, the council looks set to be Liberal dominated, with Phillip Ruddock reinstated as mayor and the possibility of seven Liberals on the 10-person council.
Mr Ruddock said he had always tried to work collaboratively on council.
“I will still endeavour to do so,” he said.
The other promise he made was that the council would not go “into debt to achieve new outcomes”.
On the northern beaches, incumbent Mayor Michael Regan has confirmed he’ll put his hand up again to take on the top job after the team of independents he fronts attracted a strong swing at Saturday’s local council election.
And it’s likely he will court what is expected to be two new Greens councillors for their mayoral votes when the new council first meets early next year.
This could see the council, as a whole, look a slightly darker shade of green for the next three years.
With about 50 per cent of the first preference votes counted, it looks clear that the Your Northern Beaches Independent Team (YNB), with Mr Regan as its figurehead, is on track to grab six seats on the 15-member council.
The Greens, who picked up a swing to them of about 6.7pc, could increase their presence on the council from one to two seats. A swing to the Liberals of 3.6pc should see them with five seats.
MORE: Northern Beaches Council election
NORTH COAST
– by Janine Watson, Christ Knight, Jenna Thompson and Liana Boss
In Port Macquarie-Hastings Peta Pinson has been returned as Mayor.
She posted a video to social media saying “I am your mayor again”.
With 54,000 of a possible 66,000 votes counted she had gained 55 per cent of the count.
Cr Pinson said she was “really happy for my team”, but was awaiting the return of prepoll votes to know exactly how the council would be shaped.
“Thank you so much for believing in me and believing in our team,” she said in the video.
Rachel Sheppard, also an independent, was second with almost 12 per cent of the recorded vote.
As the results stand, the eight-person council could include four members on Cr Pinson’s ticket, with Adam Roberts and Sharon Griffiths expected to get seats and Danielle Maltman on the brink.
Lisa Intemann and Rachel Sheppard appear set to grab a spot on the council, while a number of seats are too close to call.
The fabled “Moose caboose” of Paul Amos is edging ahead in the mayoralty race for Coffs Harbour City Council.
Frontrunner Paul Amos is a certainty as a councillor for Coffs Harbour City, but may have to wait until the week of Christmas to see if he unwraps the top job.
Mr Amos – popularly known as ‘Moose’ – leads the mayoral race, but the chequered flag could be as far away as December 20.
“We’ve just got to sit it out, but it’s looking promising,” Mr Amos said.
“The councillor pre-poll at Coffs Harbour has been done and that was very strong – I will be a councillor.”
The pre-poll votes for mayor haven’t yet been processed, but there’s an informed assumption they would largely mirror the individual councillor votes.
On Thursday, Mr Amos led the mayoralty first preference tally with 7468 votes (21.98 per cent).
Also performing well were Rodger Pryce 5379 (15.83 per cent), Tegan Swan 4672 (13.75 per cent), George Cecato 3963 (11.67 per cent) and Sally Townley 3927 (11.56 per cent).
Outgoing mayor Denise Knight believes the greatest challenge for the next council will be working together given some of the “personalities” in the likely new order.
In the Clarence Valley Council election, independent candidate Jeff Smith says he is thrilled with the support he has received after about 43 per cent of formal votes had been counted.
“I was quietly hoping to get into the top nine but I’m leading; who’d have thought,” Mr Smith said.
He said there were only two votes to his name when he first started watching the numbers roll in.
“That was in the first 10 minutes, but then all of a sudden we’re rocking along at 20 per cent,” he said.
Mr Smith, who runs iScream, an ice creamery in Prince Street, Grafton, proved most popular in the Grafton area with a progressive total of 1951 votes.
In Kyogle Council, where there are three wards, things played out differently.
On three candidates nominated in A Ward, meaning Councillors Hayden Doolan from Kyogle, Kylie Thomas from Doubtful Creek, and Janet Wilson from Geneva were declared elected on December 4.
In B Ward, things were a bit tighter with five candidates awaiting the count.
Current Deputy Mayor John Burley is tailing Robert Cullen from Afterlee, who is leading with 30.53 per cent from a total of 1608 formal votes counted out of a respective 2197 registered voters.Mr Burley from Horse Station Creek is on 24.25 per cent, Maggie May from Eden Creek on 22.01 per cent, with Vicky Steward from Ettrick and Bob Dwyer from Geneva on 11.75 per cent and 11.44 per cent.
Current Mayor of Kyogle, Danielle Mulholland, an independent, has a strong lead in her Ward C with 49.11 per cent from a total of 1525 formal votes counted out of a respective 2240 registered voters.Tom Cooper from Gorge Creek is sitting at 26.62 per cent, with James Murray from Gradys Creek at 19.28 per cent and Simon Dejoux, also from Gradys Creek sitting on 4.98 per cent.
In Byron Shire, the incumbent mayor is cautiously hopeful about his prospects of leading the next council.
A total of 14,556 formal first preference (mayoral) votes had been counted for the Byron Shire by Monday afternoon.
That was more than half of the 25,414 people enrolled to vote in the shire this election.
A total of 13,680 votes for councillors had been voted by the same time. The results so far have marked a big departure from the 2016 results where Greens mayor Simon Richardson claimed the top job with a whopping 49 per cent of first preference votes.
That council term – extended by 15 months due to two Covid-19 delays – involved the highest number of Greens councillors to date.
Mr Lyon and Jeanette Martin were among them but they ran together on an independent ticket while Mr Richardson stepped down from his job early to focus on fatherhood.
Independent incumbent mayor Michael Lyon has retained his position topping the race for the shire‘s leadership, with 23.05 per cent of the first preference votes counted so far.
Another independent but first-time council candidate Mark Swivel has held onto second position; he’s now holding 18.44 per cent of votes in the mayoral race.
Early counts are showing strong support for a new mayoral candidate for Bellingen Shire Council.
Current Greens mayor Dominic King was running for another term with the support of deputy mayor Jennie Fenton.
With first preference votes counted into the night on Saturday, new candidate Steve Allan from Urunga is looking likely to become the new mayor.
A total of 6850 primary votes have been counted and Mr Allan has claimed 4049 of those votes (59.11 per cent).
A total of 10,286 residential and non-residential electors were enrolled in the area on October 25.
He leads the team known as Waterfall Way Independents.
Counting for this year’s Tweed election is about a third of the way through with a number of frontrunners emerging from the polls.
Group E, the Liberals fronted by James Owen, has taken a clear lead with 22.87 per cent of Saturday’s vote with 5277 first preference votes.
Mr Owen said he believed clear, consistent messaging about looking after the community had resonated with voters.
“I was here for the community and wanted to see outcomes for the people of Tweed, particularly around things like the border issues we’ve had and the challenges we’ve had around Covid,” Mr Owen said.
He said avoiding playing politics and being responsive to the 100s of people who contacted him daily also helped his campaign.
Mr Owen now plans to run for mayor.
“I owe it to everyone who has supported me to put my hand up,” he said.
“I hope my fellow councillors recognise that and when it comes to voting for the mayor on merit and based on what the community have said.”
Lismore City Council Mayor Vanessa Ekins says the next three years will be interesting as she and fellow mayoral candidates Elly Bird and Darlene Cook look to serve with clear electoral frontrunner Steve Krieg.
Mr Krieg claimed victory just hours after the polls closed on Saturday after shooting ahead in the first preference vote count.
His commanding share of the votes, 53.8 per cent on Monday evening, meant he would take up to five or six candidates who ran on his ticket as councillors in the next council.
“I’m very relieved and very excited about the challenge ahead,” Mr Krieg said.
He added that he didn’t want to speculate on the number of councillor positions his ticket would achieve with the count not finished.
MORE: Byron Shire Council election
MORE: Clarence Valley Council election
MORE: Coffs Harbour City Council election
MORE: Bellingen Shire Council election
DUBBO
– by Ryan Young
After 22 years as a dominant force in Dubbo politics, former mayor Ben Shields has suffered a crushing defeat while another former leader has secured a thumping victory.
Voters went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new Dubbo Regional Council and initial counting shows Mr Shields is on track to be defeated by another former mayor Mathew Dickerson and Labor candidate Vicki Etheridge in the battle for Central Ward.
A popular small business owner, community fundraiser and volunteer, Mr Dickerson has secured more than 54 per cent of first preference votes while Labor candidate Vicki Etheridge has 29 per cent of votes. Mr Shields trails with 16 per cent of the vote.
“Once you get to 30 per cent counted and that’s where we are at basically all of the wards, things won’t change dramatically,” Mr Dickerson said.
“I was always hopeful and I thought I would be able to get on to council, I did actually still think Ben was always a chance of beating me … what did surprise me was the drop in Ben’s vote.
“Thank you to the people of Central Ward for having confidence and faith in me to go forward and try and get some confidence back in council, in the staff and the community overall.”
NEAR THE BORDER
In the Quenbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, 10 of the 11 candidates have been elected with a female majority set to reign near the border with the ACT.
Six out of ten 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.
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.
Coming second to Labor is Group F led by Kenrick Winchester, the Liberals.
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