Susie O’Brien: Maybe Sam Newman can win Melbourne lord mayoral election
SAM Newman is an unlikely candidate for any office in our current #MeToo era of public accountability, yet stranger things have happened — just look at Donald Trump, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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I HAVE called The Footy Show regular Sam Newman many names over the years. But I would never have expected to call him lord mayor.
On the face of it, Newman is an unlikely candidate for any office in our current #MeToo era of public accountability. His list of misdemeanours is long and well documented. Newman caused an outcry when he put journalist Caroline Wilson’s head on a bikini-clad mannequin.
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He’s made disparaging comments about transgender people and AFL gay pride week.
He defended an NRL player who pretended to have sex with a dog. Newman is an unlikely lord mayoral candidate, that’s for sure.
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And yet, Newman insists his tilt at Melbourne’s top job is for real.
He says he lives in the city and pays a lot of rates, so has a vested interest in how the place is run.
Stranger things have happened.
If Donald Trump can be elected to the White House, then surely Newman can make it to Town Hall. There is a list of successful “celebrity” politicians like Trump, including former Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons, as well as Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Newman’s status as a brash, outspoken, anti-political correctness crusader will play right into the hands of disaffected, older, white, male voters. But it might get him into trouble once he’s in office because such a divisive leadership style rarely works.
There is no doubt the time is right for non-politicians to step up.
When conventional politicians fail to live up to community standards, voters are free to consider more left-field options.
Voters are sick of the hypocrisy of Green candidates who ban balloons but print thousands of paper newsletters no one reads.
Voters are sick of politicians who preach about family values, but treat their own families like they don’t count. And voters are sick of career politicians who go from university to working for a political party to running for office.
Newman has had a varied and interesting working life. He said he was motivated to run because the council was not doing enough to tackle homelessness.
He said homeless people living in city streets and doorways were “not aesthetically pleasing”, although he did acknowledge it’s “not ideal for the people who find themselves in those circumstances who have to do it”.
The latter comment is encouraging, but if he thinks the inability of the council to fix such a complex and serious problem is little more than “political correctness”, then he’s delusional.
Newman said he was also interested in addressing graffiti, security and scrapping the 30kmh speed zones in the city. These are likely to be popular issues.
Newman’s controversial past and celebrity status — not to mention his $750,000 Lamborghini — shouldn’t automatically discount him from public office. However, he must do things properly once he’s there.
If he did get into office, he’d have to respect the process, play by the rules and make sure he was accountable and transparent.
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This is where Lyons came undone. A flashy international paparazzo with pink hair and fake abs, he tried to run the Geelong council like he ran his company.
Of course, the downfall of former lord mayor Robert Doyle is a further cautionary tale for Newman. Doyle faced allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct and resigned amid a controversial investigation process.
Newman says he’d take steps to ensure no such issues arose in his case.
“First thing I would do is take out an advertisement: ‘If anyone has any claim against me that I have acted improperly with them, come forward now and we can get it out of the way and we’ll move on from there’,” Newman said. “I can be very confident that I’ve done some ordinary things in my life but none of them have been non-consensual.”
I wouldn’t vote for him, but many disaffected people would. Who knows? It might just make him grow up and start acting his age for once.
Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist
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