By-election frontrunners reveal Darwin vision ahead of final vote count

The two frontrunners in the Lyons Ward by-election have revealed how they would transform the city if elected. Here’s when the final count will happen.

Sam Weston and Suki Dorras-Walker are the frontrunners to claim a seat on the Darwin city council. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The two frontrunners in the race to claim a seat on the Darwin City Council have revealed how they would transform the city if elected on Friday.

Suki Dorras-Walker and Sam Weston led the pool of 12 candidates in the Lyons Ward by-election with 21 per cent and 18 per cent respectively of primary votes.

Preferences will be counted on Friday afternoon to determine the winner, which could be anyone’s guess with only a couple of hundred votes between candidates.

While Greens NT-endorsed Ms Dorras-Walker ran on a climate action campaign and Mr Weston spruiked the importance of supporting small businesses, both candidates agree on greening the city and consulting the community ahead of council decisions.

“I’ve been in the city for six years now and not one alderman has ever stepped foot in my cafe (Mad Snake Cafe) to talk to me about what I need for small business,” Mr Weston said.

“One of the points is people feel like they’re not listened to … they feel like these guys in council are making decisions without talking to any of us.”
Mr Weston pointed to the introduction of Saturday parking fees as one example, which he said had forced him to close his CBD cafe on Saturdays as the customer base was no longer there.

“The mall’s losing a shop every week … we need to have more activities, I like the idea of having our own markets,” he said.
Mr Weston also said more lighting and security cameras across the city could help prevent crime.

Ms Dorras-Walker said council had a role to play in greening and cooling the city while making streets pedestrian and cyclist-friendly.

Both candidates agreed Darwin city needed to be cooler, greener and more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. Picture: Glenn Campbell

She said this would also help support businesses by bringing more foot traffic to the CBD and business centres.

“Council’s job is really very clear, it’s about mitigating heat impact,” she said.

“We have a flat city, we’ve got electric bikes.

“If we made our city the city of bikes and really promoted bikes, bike lanes, public bubblers … even helping businesses set up showers so people can shower on either end during the build-up … there’s lots of ways in which low emissions transport could be promoted.”

If elected, Ms Dorras-Walker also said she would push council to oppose the NT government’s gas expansion and Middle Arm plans.

“Even though things like fracking are not within (council’s) remit, it’s a direct risk to their population … they need to be speaking out,” she said.

Mr Weston said as a councillor he would “sit down” with small business owners every three months and bring their ideas to council.

“There is a recurring theme of people who have got great ideas, go to the council and nothing comes of it,” he said.