Newcastle Council finalised, as women outweigh men nine to four

It’s a new-look Council for Newcastle, with more women and more Liberal representatives and a whole bunch of fresh faces ready to take on 2022.

After 18 days of counting, the votes were finally finalised on Wednesday with a new look Newcastle Council - a mix of old and new - set to hit 2022 with a refreshed approach.

A clear winner in the mayoral stakes early, Labor’s Nuatali Nelmes romped it in with almost 42 per cent of the vote, the closest being Independent John Church with 27 per cent.

Nuatali Nelmes - Lord Mayor of Newcastle - on election day, December 4 - Labor was strong in polling for Newcastle. Supplied.

And the notable difference, women were the word, with nine elected to four men, setting somewhat of a precedent for more females in local government roles.

“It’s historic, a great council for a new future, it’s positive with such diversity, “ new comer Jenny Barrie said.

Cr Barrie said it was great to have such a balance representing Newcastle residents and welcomed a boost of Liberal councillors, from one to now three - all new including nurse Katrina Wark and student Callum Pull - after the exit of Cr Brad Luke.

“I’m really excited, proud that there are three good Liberal representations,” she said.

Cr Pull will also become the youngest ever councillor elected on Newcastle Council at just 20-years-old.

The University of Newcastle student big on addressing the cost of living and lowering rates.

New Liberal councillor for Newcastle Jenny Barrie. Supplied.

One of three Liberal councillors elected, Callum Pull, the youngest ever on Newcastle councillor at 21. Supplied.

“He’s a great voice. He’ll make a great councillor and I think as long as he looks for guidance, and can be directed, I think that will be positive,” Cr Barrie said.

“He’s someone that will be a good representative of the younger demographic across the city.

“I think it is a good idea to see how young people are managing what they’re doing, whether it’s housing, or lifestyle, a lot of young people have been impacted by Covid in hospitality jobs and he will have a good indication of where people are at.”

Labor were strong in the local polls, with seven representatives elected, including Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen. Supplied.

In the mix there will be six new councillors in total finding their feet in 2022, which also includes Greens Charlotte McCabe in Ward 2, as well as Labor’s Margaret Wood, and Deahnna Richardson and Elizabeth Morris in Ward 4.

Incumbent councillors Labor’s Declan Clausen, Carol Duncan, and Peta Winney-Baartz also retained their seat - making up a Labor majority - as well as Greens John MacKenzie in Ward 1, while John Church will fly a solo flag for the Independents, also in Ward 1.

And for the newbies, it looks like they’ll have some guidance stepping into their new roles with a mentoring program on the agenda.

“Speaking with Nuatali, they are going to introduce a mentoring program and at this point I feel that is a great thing for the new councillors no matter what age, it will be good to have a mentor a bit like a school buddy,” Cr Barrie added.

“I think it is really valuable to learn from other councillors regardless of age or gender, we really need to try and make decisions for the benefit of the city so the quicker you can do that with some guidance, I think is a great idea.”

The first Council meeting is booked in for January 18.

Muswellbrook Election
Big changes are on the horizon in Muswellbrook, with seven fresh new faces set to represent the local community.

12 councillors have now been elected, of the 17 candidates who ran, with a diverse mix of old and new.

No surprise after an early lead, Jeff Drayton romped it in, to become the most popular new candidate, with 1,364 votes, gathering more than 15 per cent of the vote.

Close behind was local business owner Rohit Mahajan - who runs the Southside Newsagency and Aah Pizza Belle restaurant - with more than a thousand votes.

Jeff Drayton was popular with voters to become a Muswellbrook councillor. Picture by Peter Lorimer

Rohit Mahajan, another new candidate who polled well. Supplied.

A popular incumbent councillor with almost 10 per cent of the vote was Independent Steve Reynolds who said a new-look Council would be “exciting times” for the shire.

“Given the prolonged last term due to Covid, the community sediment has been we need change and we want to be heard,” he told The Newcastle News.

Steve Reynolds retained his seat as the most popularly voted Incumbent councillor for Muswellbrook. Supplied.

“After the final results and flow of preferences, that has been echoed.

“I take my hat off to all candidates that put their hand up to represent their communities.”

He said for Muswellbrook moving forward, it’s a fresh change.

“A great group of councillors with passion for the community,” he added.

“The newly elected councillors will bring an upbeat, enthusiastic approach so it’s time to get to work.”

Councillors Mark Bowditch, Mayor Rod Scholes, Brett Woodruff and Graeme McNeill all retained their seats.

New comers also included Jennifer Lecky, Darryl Marshall, Amanda Barry, Louise Dunn and De-Anne Douglas, a popular candidate among voters.

After a well-earned break Council will kick off early next year, before the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are voted for by councillors.

Cessnock Election

It was known early that Labor’s Jay Suvaal was elected in at Mayor, with almost 43 per cent of the vote, ahead of Independent Ian Olsen who only gathered 27 per cent of the vote.

The election of 12 councillors were finalised on Wednesday with a big list of fresh faces to represent residents from 2022, with four independents, five Labor and three Liberal councillors to take seats.

In Ward A, Independent Jessica Jurd and Labor’s James Hawkins were the new comers, alongside incumbent Paul Dunn from the Liberals.

In Ward B, one of Cessnock’s longest serving councillors, in Independent Ian Olsen, retained his seat with fellow councillor, Labor’s Anthony Burke, while Liberal John Moores was welcomed to the mix.

In Ward C, Liberal Karen Jackson and Independent Daniel Watton were successful new councillors, as well as Labor’s Anne-Marie Sander.

Finally in Ward D, it was in with the new, Labor victorious in seeing Rosa Grine and Mitchell Hill gain a seat, while Independent Paul Paynter was also voted in.

Singleton Election

Popular Singleton Mayor Sue Moore will continue in the top job for a second consecutive term, gathering more than 55 per cent of the vote after preferences.

First elected to Council in 1999, and serving as a Council-elected Mayor in 2008-2012, Ms Moore is “keen to get back to work”.

“I had a lot of conversations during the election period including answering questions and listening to concerns from ratepayers and I’m very keen to get moving on those issues,” she said.

Sue Moore, elected Singleton Mayor for a second consecutive term. Supplied.

“Also, working through all the feedback from the review of the Singleton Community Strategic Plan so we can really see what our community wants for the next 10 years and how we go about making that happen.

“I’ll be as working as hard as I can to deliver the best outcomes for all of the people of Singleton.”

But after the year had, with the Covid-19 pandemic and unprecedented bushfires, she believes we all deserve a well earned break, to return refreshed for 2022.

“I’m very keen to see who our new team will be, and to get everyone up to speed so we can get to working for the community,” she added.

Final results for elected Singleton councillors came in on Wednesday, with Independent Danny Thompson with more than 17 per cent of the vote, and Labor’s Tony Jarrett at 12.5 per cent.

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party candidate Mel McLachlan will be a fresh face on Council, alongside new comers Godfrey Adamthwaite, Hollee Jenkins, and Belinda Charlton.

Incumbent councillors Sue George, Tony McNamara and Val Scott retained their seats.

The new Council will come together for the first time in mid-January, with the first meeting scheduled for February 1.

Lake Macquarie Election

It was known early Labor’s Kay Fraser was voted in again as Mayor in a landslide 53 per cent of the vote and more than 69,000 votes.

Now it can be revealed the Lake Macquarie councillors that will represent the region, with 12 councillor positions filled in three wards, North, East and West.

New face Katie Warner from the Lake Mac Independents has been elected on Lake Macquarie Council. Picture: supplied

Eight of the nine incumbent councillors who put their hand up to lead the residents were voted back in including Nicholas Jones and Jason Pauling for the Liberals, Brian Adamwaite, David Belcher, Adam Schultz and Christine Buckley for Labor, and Colin Grigg and Luke Cubis for the Lake Mac Independents.

But there was some new blood injected into council with Lake Mac Independent Katie Warner gaining a spot in the East ward, Liberal Jack Antcliff and Labor’s Keara Conroy in North Ward and Madeline Bishop in West ward.

Upper Hunter Election

There will be some fresh faces on Upper Hunter Council starting 2022, with well-known Scone journalist Elizabeth Flaherty the most popular new comer, gathering 641 votes.

Teacher Allison McPhee, Adam Williamson and wool farmer Tayah Clout will also be new comers to the mix.

Elizabeth Flaherty, Scone journalist has been elected to Upper Hunter Council. Supplied.

Lee Watts polled most votes in Upper Hunter Council election. Supplied.

Lee Watts was the clear standout with the highest amount of votes, at 2,335, while popular Mayor Maurice Collison polled well with more than 20 per cent of the vote.

Incumbent councillors, Greens Sue Abbott, and Independents Ron Campbell and James Burns also retained their seats.

There will be a vote for mayor and deputy mayor by the newly elected councillors next year.

EARLIER

Port Stephens incumbent keeps top job, new mayor for Maitland

After a long and arduous count of thousands of vote, winners are now being revealed in the mayoral races across the Hunter.

In a tight contest to the very end, incumbent Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer has retained the top job by the smallest of margins.

Labor’s Leah Anderson rang Mr Palmer on Monday to personally congratulate him on his local government election win, with Palmer taking more than 24,000 votes.

“It‘s apparent that I’ve fallen just short in my bid to become the Mayor of Port Stephens, by just 0.59 per cent,” she said.

Port Stephens Mayor Ryan Palmer was elected again in the top job. Picture: Supplied.

Independent candidate Philip Penfold has been elected the new mayor of Maitland. Supplied.

In another hotly contested race, Maitland is looking at a new but well-known face as mayor, with Independent Philip Penfold taking the challenge to incumbent Loretta Baker and winning, with a six per cent swing.

Penfold gathered more than 18,500 votes to beat his Labor opponent, at more than 34 per cent of the vote.

“I’m heartened by the support of the community of Maitland and honoured by the trust they have put in me to move the city forward as mayor,” he said.

“I’d like to thank councillor Baker for her contribution to the city in the past term and look forward to working with her and all elected councillors in the coming term.”

Labor’s Leah Anderson conceded to Ryan Palmer as mayor in local government elections but was elected as a councillor. Supplied.

Port Stephens Election

Mr Palmer, who was a popularly elected mayor in 2017, always knew it would be an “extremely tight” race and said it was nice to come out on the other side.

He welcomed a good mix of councillors, new and old.

“Nice to have a balanced council across the wards, with some of the parties in there and the independents back there again,” he said.

But noted it was a shame deputy mayor Paul Le Mottee was not one of those names on the list, after a “muck-up” in his nomination.

“I think we would have seen him in west ward again because he has been a stalwart in that area for a long period of time,” Mr Palmer said.

“When he went to put in a nomination, it was a different set-up and he unloaded the wrong form, so when he got to the deadline his nomination didn’t count. It happened a lot across the state where they were undermanned and understaffed.

“But there is a spread across each ward, and it’s the feeling of the community, a bit of support for everyone.”

Independent Palmer was again elected as Port Stephens Mayor. With his family. Supplied.

Mayoral opponent Ms Anderson has been elected as a councillor for East ward, along with Labor colleagues Giacomo Arnott and new councillors Jason Wells in Central ward and Peter Francis in West ward.

It has seen Labor’s presence on Council grow from one representative to four.

In Central ward Independents Steve Tucker and Chris Doohan gained a spot, in East ward Liberal Matthew Bailey and Independent Glen Dunkley were elected through, while in West ward Independent Peter Francis was elected alongside two Labor representatives.

“For too long, our Council hasn’t been putting the interests of our community first. Given the tight race for mayor, it’s clear that locals are fed up,” Ms Anderson added.

“When almost half of the people of Port Stephens did not vote for Ryan Palmer, it should send him a strong message. Status quo isn’t good enough - our community wants leaders who will listen, care and act.”

But both Anderson and Palmer will be keen to work alongside each other.

“I’ve worked a lot with Leah in past, professionally, both worked in same branch at Westpac for a number of years, so had a long working relationship together in community and private world, so I’m sure it will be no different in council,” Mr Palmer commented.

The lack of women on Council was also a concern, with nine of the ten roles filled with men, although it was seemingly lack of nominations that led to the result.

“It is a shame not to see more women on council and we’ll be certainly advocating this term to get more on for the next one and doing anything we can,” Mr Palmer said.

The next Port Stephens Council meeting in 2022 will kick off on January 11.

Incumbent Mayor Loretta Baker was defeated by Philip Penfold for mayor. Picture by Peter Lorimer.

Maitland election

Ms Baker has thanked the community for supporting her as Maitland’s first ever female mayor after bowing out to her Independent counterpart in the mayoral race.

Elected as councillor in 2008 before becoming mayor in 2017, she said it’s been an honour and a privilege to serve the local community.

“I‘m immensely proud of what we’ve been able to achieve over the past four years,” she said on a Facebook post.

“New sports facilities, new community centres, new footpaths, new cycleways, fifteen-thousand new saplings and trees planted, and exciting new projects being delivered over the next twelve months.”

But Ms Baker will still be a loud voice on Council, returned to Central ward.

“I thank everyone who supported me as mayor. However, the people have spoken, and in a democracy, they never get it wrong,” she wrote.

“Building a better Maitland has always been my priority, and treating each other with dignity, decency and respect. That‘s what you can continue to expect of me.”

For 2022, Maitland Council has retained a number of incumbent councillors including Liberals Ben Mitchell, Kanchan Ranadive, Sally Halliday and Mitchell Griffin, Labor’s Ben Whiting and Robert Aitchison, as well as Independents Mike Yarrington and Peter Garnham.

New faces to the mix are Labor’s Stephanie Fisher, Kristy Ferguson and Bill Hackney on the Independent ticket.