Randwick and Bayside Council 2024 elections: Labor dominates as Better Council group lobbies against Greens

A lobby group has revealed why it urged voters to “keep the Greens’ garbage out of council” on polling day, as more results trickle in for Randwick.

A flyer urging voters to "keep the Greens' garbage out of council" in Randwick. Picture: Tileah Dobson

A lobby group has urged voters in Randwick to “keep the Greens’ garbage out of council”, urging constituents to put the party last in preference voting.

“Put Greens last because they aren’t putting you first,” a Better Council flyer handed out by volunteers during Saturday’s local government elections stated.

“Number all the boxes above the line and send a message by putting the Greens last. Keep the Greens’ garbage out of council.”

A spokesman for the group told this masthead the group was advocating for “local representatives to prioritise local issues”.

“In Waverley, Woollahra, Inner West, and Randwick councillors and candidates from the Greens party were fixated on other issues, including Middle Eastern politics,” they said.

A flyer urging voters to "keep the Greens' garbage out of council" in Randwick. Picture: Tileah Dobson

More signs from the Better Council group. Picture: Tileah Dobson

“They were more than happy to sow the seeds of community disharmony (rather) than focus on the services which councils should provide.

“Better Council remains committed to local council issues.

“We hope our grassroots success encourages others to stand up against harassment and intimidation tactics.

“Our campaign has demonstrated that standing firm against such behaviour still works.”

This follows tensions within the Randwick community, who were unhappy with a few Greens councillors and their actions, particularly the Jewish community.

Over in Randwick’s Central Ward, Labor’s Dylan Parker will be returning to the council and expressed his gratitude for the community’s decision.

Former mayor and returning councillor Dylan Parker in front of South Sydney High School. Picture: Tileah Dobson

“(It’s a) strong endorsement of Labor’s positive plan for Randwick, including action on housing affordability, cost-of-living relief and protecting our environment,” Mr Parker said.

In the other wards across Randwick, it appeared to be a two-party race between Labor and Liberals.

In the West Ward, Liberal councillor Andrew Hay will also be returning and has thanked his community for their support.

“I thank the kind people of West Ward for giving me the opportunity to serve for another 4 years,” Mr Hay said in a Facebook post.

“I’ve increased my vote from 27 (per cent) in 2021 to at least 39 (per cent) in 2024.”

Noel D’Souza, an independent who is neck and neck with Labor and the Liberals in the polls, confirmed with this masthead he was also returning in the South Ward.

Independent Noel D’Souza has been re-elected for council.

“Life is best when you build bridges between people rather than walls,” Mr D’Souza said.

“I have an opportunity this term to do just that, to build bridges, mend fences and bring the community together.

“In the last four years in the last council, as the only independent, I felt like a motherless child, like an opening batsman that goes to the crease, and after facing the first ball, realises that his bat has been broken by some anonymous person.

“But today, I am not afraid because I have my community’s support.

“I know with my re-election and support of the residents of the South Ward I can continue to do the right thing and help my community that I have been elected to serve.”

Confusion had reigned outside the Matraville Public School polling station, with voters rocking up to the sight of volunteers working for candidates of two different councils. The school was open to voters in both the Bayside and Randwick local government areas.

Peaceful Bayside volunteer Mel Travis outside Matraville Public School. Picture: Tileah Dobson

Mel Travis, who volunteered for Peaceful Bayside candidate, Maria Poulos, confirmed some voters had been confused about which election they needed to vote in.

“Some people aren’t sure where they’re from or which council they’re from,” she said.

“So, we’ve got to ask what suburb and, in some cases (ask) the street, because one side of the street is Randwick and the other is Bayside. So we’ve had to get specific and ask ‘which side of the street are you on?’

“That’s why you’ll hear me say ‘Bayside’, so people can say ‘oh no, Randwick’.”

South Sydney local Anthony Fajwul, who voted in the Randwick Council election, says the biggest issue he wants to see addressed is traffic.

“In our area here, it’s traffic management,” he said.

“There’s a lot of bottlenecks and danger zones with intersections, very tight streets particularly around our school. (Car) mirrors have been knocked off. There’s been some close calls with students crossing the road.”

Anthony Fajwul raised money for the South Sydney High School's dance troupe on 2024 local government election day. Picture: Tileah Dobson

The 52-year-old is among members of the South Sydney High School’s P & C, which used Saturday’s election as a way to raise money for the school’s dance troupe.

Mr Fajwul said it had been a group effort and he was pleased with how much had been raised so far.

“It’s been going well. (It’s) a bit different from state and federal barbecue days, but we’re still happy with the outcome and the turnout today,” Mr Fajwul said.

“We’ve taken in close to $2000, but the day is not over and hopefully we’ll still get a bit more.”

Bayside

In the Bayside area, drama unfolded as all five wards had a quarter of their votes recorded as informal.

The Bayside Council is split into five different wards.

Live results from the NSW Electoral Commission showed that, as of 9pm on Saturday, five of Bayside’s wards had an informal vote count between 20 to 25 per cent.

This meant out of the 47,792 votes recorded at the time of writing, 11,010 votes had been declared informal.

This didn’t stop the Labor ticket in Ward 1 as it dominated the votes, leaving candidate Christina Curry set to make a return and represent Botany.

Returning councillor Christie Curry (right) and Scott Morrissey (left), who could potentially join her.

With their large lead over the other five candidates, number two on Ms Curry’s ticket Scott Morrissey could potentially join her as well.

The party with the next highest number of votes is the Liberals, with Ron Bezic and his team getting 21.86 per cent of the votes.

With the counting having stopped at 10pm on Saturday night and won’t resume until Monday, many candidates are left waiting to see if they’ve managed to snatch a seat.