Kim Farrar wins Waters Ward by-election

By Saturday night there was a clear winner in the Waters Ward by-election, with the leading candidate skyrocketing to a win. SEE THE VOTE NUMBERS.

KIM Farrar will become the new councillor for the Waters Ward after skyrocketing her way into the lead.

At the end of counting on August 27, Ms Farrar led with 3008 votes. Gary Haslett followed with 1438 and Robin Lawrence at 1435.

According to the NT Electoral Commission, all early, election day and returned postal votes were counted.

Long-time Territorian Kim Farrar will become the next Alderman for Waters Ward. Picture: Floss Adams.

There were 6187 votes from an enrolment of 12,814 eligible electors in this by-election, representing 48.3 per cent of the electorate.

Electoral Commissoner Iian Loganathan said the turnout was disappointing, following low numbers at the Fannie Bay by-election.

A recheck of Saturday’s count will be held on Monday.

Waters Ward head to the polls

RESIDENTS in the northern suburbs division of Waters Ward have taken to the polls to vote for a new leader.

A position was left vacant after councillor Justine Glover stepped down in April.

Three potential candidates are vying for the majority vote, including Kim Farrar, Gary Haslett and Robin Lawrence.

Residents from Eaton, Moil, Wulagi, Wagaman, Anula, Malak, Marrara, Karama, Coonawarra, Berrimah and Winnellie were in the hot seat of the latest by-election.

The voting centre at Sanderson Middle School was abuzz with voters during the lunch rush, with residents enjoying a side of democracy sausage with their democratic duties.

It was anticipated about 1500 people would come through the school on Saturday.

Local couple Timothy and Rebecca Peters headed down to the booth together and said they were voting for a more engaging area for their children.

“There’s nothing for kids to do up here, and kids need that outlet,” Mrs Peters said.

She also recognised crime as being a big issue in her area, although knew the other side of the equation being the mother of a child who recently got into trouble.

Paula Hawthorne brought her daughter Lauren Ebzery down to the centre to witness

She said she was also voting for Kim Farrar because her campaign focused on increasing accessibility.

“My sister who had a stroke and has been confined to a wheelchair had trouble voting in the Federal Election because accessibility is terrible anywhere around Darwin,” she said.

“No one thinks about it.”

Trevor Dugdell was tight-lipped about who it was he voted for, but had high hopes for the by-election bringing change to the region, especially when it came to crime.

“Crime around the Malak market is probably the biggest issue,” he said.

“It’s always a work in progress and you can’t expect change in one term but it’s a start.”

As of 4pm voter turnout was about 45 per cent, or a grand total of 5850 votes.

NT Electoral Commissioner Ian Loganathan said the number of votes seen was lower than expectations.

“Obviously it’s a disappointing turnout again but we’ll have more to say once we get the final numbers in after all the postals come in.”

It comes after concerns were raised about the low voter turnout at the Fannie Bay by-election last week.