Three Darwin councillors tell why they want Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis’ job

Three current Darwin councillors have their sights set on booting Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis’ out of his job at the Northern Territory’s local government elections next month, believing it’s time for a change in leadership. Read the details.

Less than six weeks out from the Northern Territory local government elections on August 23, and three Darwin councillors have announced they want Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis’ job.

Three sitting Darwin councillors have told why they think they are the better choice to be Darwin Lord Mayor ahead of the incumbent, Kon Vatskalis’.

The three have announced their intentions to compete for the Lord Mayor’s job at the Northern Territory local government elections on August 23.

The councillors – Sylvia Klonaris of Waters Ward, Amye Un of Lyons Ward and Sam Weston of Lyons Ward all say they want to focus on bringing the City of Darwin back to its main role of fixing footpaths, roads and other amenities.

The NT News understands that Darwin councillors are gagged from letting media know about their opinions on Mr Vatskalis’ leadership until August 2, when councillors are officially relinquished of their council duties.

Until then, councillors are forced to abide by the City of Darwin’s ‘Communications and Media Policy’, which states that the Lord Mayor is the official spokesman for the City of Darwin and elected members cannot “bring the City of Darwin into disrepute”.

Councillors are forbidden from speaking about the internal council affairs until August 2. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Councillors could face disciplinary action – such as a code of conduct complaint, for example – for breaching this policy.

But even Ms Un, an often outspoken critic of the lord mayor who already has 23 code of conduct complaints against her, unusually declined to speak about Mr Vatskalis and the council when given the opportunity.

For years the East Timorese-born councillor has accused the Lord Mayor of bullying and argued that he had “selectively” misrepresented her comments because of a language barrier.

But this time around she told the NT News that she instead wanted to continue the work the City of Darwin had started, put the past behind her, and run a positive campaign.

Ms Klonaris told the NT News she was “not interested in comparing myself to others” and wanted to focus on bringing the City of Darwin back to its main role of fixing footpaths and roads and planting more trees.

She also said she wanted to push for initiatives that helped older residents — such as developing a seniors hub in Waters Ward — as well as championing the establishment of a Women’s Shed and more youth hubs.

City of Darwin councillor Sylvia Klonaris is standing for Lord Mayor. Picture: Facebook

Most recently she announced her commitment to a grant program, dubbed ‘The Local Sporting Champions Sponsorship Program’, that would have City of Darwin Council offer financial support to young athletes selected to compete at state, national or international levels.

While she did not specifically refer to Mr Vatskalis’ historical ties to the Labor Party, Ms Klonaris told the NT News she was “not aligned with any political party” and council should not be a “loudspeaker for … individual ambitions”.

Mr Vatskalis was first elected to the NT parliament in 2001 as the Labor MLA for Casuarina, and he later retired from his post in 2014.

Also limited in what he could say, Mr Weston told the NT News that he thought it was time Darwin had a new leader “who works with council and keeps it together”.

It was similar to what he said after he was elected in 2023, when the Lord Mayor and council was caught in a bitter dispute with Ms Un.

Mr Weston also said the City of Darwin should return to the basics of local government — which included fixing footpaths and roads.

Mr Vatskalis — now deep in campaign mode — did not respond to the NT News’ offer to comment on this story.

Originally published as Three Darwin councillors tell why they want Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis’ job