The one swing vote that delivered a Liberal lord mayor in Sydney

A progressive independent councillor who holds the balance of power on the new City of Parramatta council is adamant she did not get anything in return for her vote that led to a Liberal being elected lord mayor.

Martin Zaiter, a Liberal elected to the council in last month’s elections, won a vote among his colleagues 8-7 to become mayor at an extraordinary council meeting on Monday night. With colleagues instead voting for Labor councillor Patricia Prociv, the deciding vote fell to Kellie Darley, who ran under her new local party Community Champions.

Parramatta’s new lord mayor Martin Zaiter.Credit: City of Parramatta/Ben Williams

The vote cements the Liberals’ resurgence on the local council after they did not run any candidates in the previous term – but both Labor and the Liberals hold six seats each, with one Green and two local party councillors. It also arguably makes Zaiter the highest office-holding Liberal in the state.

Darley, the progressive independent, said she expected backlash for supporting a Liberal but she “didn’t vote for him as a Liberal”.

“I voted for him as Martin Zaiter and the skills he brought to the role. It was a choice between two people, I thought he was more capable of doing the role,” she told the Herald on Tuesday.

When asked why she backed Zaiter over Labor’s Prociv, she said: “She’s a lovely person, we get along, we’ve voted together. But I just didn’t see that she was the leader of the city. I think Martin is just more capable of the role right now.”

“I took a very pragmatic approach, in terms of what is needed right now for the organisation, with no fear or favour. I didn’t get anything in return.”

Zaiter, a chartered accountant who lives in Blacktown outside the Parramatta council boundary, said he was “born and bred in Parramatta”, having grown up in Harris Park. He has served on the council previously and ran for the federal seat of Parramatta in 2013.

“I offered my hand out to the opposition,” he said on Tuesday. “I do want to have a grown-up council fit for a growing city. And it’s important we collaborate.”

He said he was focused on the suburbs of the city, not just the CBD. He said he is amenable to increasing high-density housing in the LGA, but only if the surrounding infrastructure keeps up.

“On council you have to worry about the three Rs – roads, rates and rubbish – but I believe being a forward-thinking city, we do need to advocate for a fair share of funding from the state and federal government. The Metro link between the airport and Western Sydney is very high on my agenda. The people of Parramatta deserve that link.”

Zaiter’s three children, in the audience of the meeting, cried as he won the vote.

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