King Island councillor Sabrina Laidler re-elected after being forced to leave council months earlier

Following her re-election, a councillor says she will campaign to change the laws that saw her kicked out of her role initially. How she plans to do it.

Martha Lavinia Beach, King Island

A King Island councillor who was forced to leave because she missed three meetings in a row has been re-elected unopposed in a by-election.

On Wednesday, Tasmanian Electoral Commissioner Andrew Hawkey confirmed that Sarina Laidler was the only person nominated for the King Island Council by-election.

Ms Laidler had missed three meetings in a row after her husband Kevin’s health deteriorated, and she had to take care of him.

Because she had not submitted a formal leave of absence, under the Local Government Act, Ms Laidler lost her position on the King Island Council around the same time her husband died from a brain tumour.

A countback following Ms Laidler’s departure was not possible because during the last local government elections the council only had nine people nominate to fill the same number of positions.

Former King Island councillor Sabrina Laidler. Picture: Supplied.

Following her by-election win, Ms Laidler said she was “relieved and excited”.

“I’ve had many community members stop me in the street to commiserate about the loss of my husband and my position on council within a matter of days,” she said.

“The win has certainly boosted my morale.

“As I’ve said before, my position on the council kept me going during the years as Kevin’s carer and being able to support the community and retaining my skills.”

She said it had been a challenging time for her.

“It’s quite emotionally draining when you are going through grief,” she said.

“Having two things at once hit me, and its certainly taken a while to get back into the swing of things.”

In honour of her husband, Ms Laidler said she would campaign to see local government regulations change regarding the rules around missing consecutive meetings.

“I want to see the laws become more compassionate, clear and modernised with video conferencing for meetings being allowed and giving councillors compassionate leave.

“I’m planning to write to other councils and ask that they write to the minister and Local Government Association of Tasmania requesting changes.

“It’s never easy, but not impossible.”

Ms Laidler said she was planning to get on with the job of being a councillor.

“I’m keen to continue representing the many groups that I’m already engaged with.

“I’m the council representative on a number of committees such as King Island Landcare Group and the King Island Regional Development Organisation.

“They’re all very keen for me, too, to be able to get back in.”