FINAL RESULT OF COUNCILLOR ELECTION
On 22nd December 2021 the NSW Electoral Commission ran preference allocations for positions of Eurobodalla Councillors from the Local Government ballot held on the 4 December, with the following 8 candidates being declared successful:
Amber Schutz and Tanya Dannock (both from Advance Eurobodalla); Rob Pollock and Peter Diskon (both from Group A), Anthony Mayne (The Mayne Team), Tubby Harrison (A Better Council), David Grace (Eurobodalla Labor) and Alison Worthington (The Greens).
Mat Hatcher from Advance Eurobodalla had earlier been elected as Mayor on Monday 20th December.
ABE congratulates all successful candidates, and looks forward to a Council which delivers transparency and accountability in local government, and is committed to listening to the residents and ratepayers of Eurobodalla.
To help this process of transformation, we have listed further below under “Candidates Campaign Commitments” the responses to key governance questions put to candidates from all successful groups at a Meet the Candidate Forum held at Kyla Park, Tuross Head on 15th November. ABE looks forward to these undertakings being reflected in the direction of the new Eurobodalla Council elected on the 4th December 2021.
OUTCOME OF MAYORAL ELECTION
Mat Hatcher of the Advance Eurobodalla Team has been announced as the new Mayor of Eurobodalla by the NSW Electoral Office.
During the election campaign Advance Eurobodalla announced a number of policies consistent with the values supported by ABE (see their website at https://www.advanceeurobodalla.com/policies).
ABE congratulates Mat and will be following his progress as Mayor with much interest. We are looking forward to a Mayor who believes in transparency and accountability in local government and who is committed to listening to the residents and ratepayers of Eurobodalla.
The NSW Electoral Office announced the successful Councillors for Eurobodalla Shire Council on Wednesday 22 December.
ABE will publish the public commitments made by the Mayor and Councillors, focussing on governance and ABE values.
ABE Pre-ELECTION NEWSLETTER
EUROBODALLA CANDIDATES CLIMATE ACTION SURVEY RESULTS
Climate Action For Eurobodalla surveyed candidates in October 2021 to find out what they would do to tackle climate change and prepare Eurobodalla Shire to deal with future extreme weather events. Responses were received from the Mayne Team, Eurobodalla Labor, the Eurobodalla Greens and the Rob Pollock Group, while the James Thomson Group, Advance Eurobodalla and the Tubby Harrison Group did not respond.
Results of the survey are summarised in the flyer below (which you can also download), and you can go here to see the the candidates detailed responses.
CANDIDATES CAMPAIGN COMMITMENTS
On 15th November the Tuross Head Progress Association held a Meet the Candidates Forum for the 2021 Eurobodalla local government election. Bernie O’Neil from ABE facilitated the Forum.
It was attended by all 7 Mayoral candidates Alison Worthington (The Greens), David Grace (Eurobodalla Labor), Karyn Starmer (The Mayne Team), Tubby Harrison and Gary Smith (A Better Council), Mat Hatcher (Advance Eurobodalla), Rob Pollock (Prefer Pollock) plus James Thomson (who has a Group ticket but is not running for Mayor).
During the Forum the candidates were asked to indicate by a show of hands whether they supported action on a number of issues. The answers were taken to represent the position of the other councillor candidates on their group tickets. The issues chosen emerged for questions put by the Tuross residents and the broader Eurobodalla community.
There was wide-ranging and revealing discussion in response to many of the questions raised during the evening, including some qualifications on responses reported below. A full recording of the Forum can be heard here.
Candidates’ responses are important to help us choose who we should vote for. They also help us to hold those candidates elected as Mayor or Councillor to account against the commitments they have made during the election campaign.
Broadly the questions below are about how Councillors, and Council, should operate. They reflect peoples’ concerns about how the 2016-21 Council has operated and how that might be improved.
| QUESTIONS | CANDIDATES RESPONSES |
| Will you support live streaming of Public Forum and Public Access sessions? | Supported by all except James Thomson |
| Will you support Eurobodalla Shire Council rejoining the NSW Local Government Association? | Supported by all except Alison Worthington |
| Will you support the expanding the role and the resourcing of open Advisory Committees of Council as a way of improving community engagement and expert advice? | Supported by all |
| Will you support expanding the role of Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee of Council to include a formal review function? | Supported by all except Rob Pollock |
| Do you believe that Councillors should personally respond to calls and emails from residents and ratepayers? | Supported by all |
| Given community concerns about development in the shire, will you support Council developing a shire wide plan for sustainable development? | Supported by all |
| Councillors from neighbouring Councils have the opportunity to talk directly with their constituents through a series of scheduled community meetings. If elected, would you support a similar program of quarterly meetings between Councillors and the community to openly discuss issues relevant to them? | Supported by all |
| Currently the decision on material amendments to an old DA for the major housing development on the Coila Lake foreshore is delegated to Council staff. Some years ago, Council had made a commitment to the community of Tuross Head to present the DA to Council for determination. Will you support Councillors taking back this delegation and making decisions on all major development applications to ensure community, cultural and environmental impacts are rigorously assessed before proceeding? | Supported by all except Rob Pollock and James Thomson |
| Would you support commissioning an external local government consultant answering to Councillors to review Council’s strategic environment and its operational practices including: – applying a consistent definition for using ‘commercial in confidence’ and ‘legal privilege’ protocols with a view to maximising community access to information? | Supported by all except Tubby Harrison and James Thomson |
A Better Eurobodalla 