Local elections in the ACT are hard to get your head around, partly because of the preferential voting system but also because the result doesn’t much matter to anyone outside the Territory’s borders.
Local elections in the ACT are hard to get your head around, partly because of the preferential voting system but also because the result doesn’t much matter to anyone living outside the Territory’s borders.
The ACT has had a Labor coalition running it for 23 years. That’s seven terms. Last weekend’s election swapped out the Greens for a block of Independents to share power with Labor.
That shouldn’t be a surprise. Almost four-in-ten Australian Public Service members call the ACT home and building a bigger public sector is what Labor governments do. Plus, the Liberal Opposition didn’t present a convincing case for change.
I briefly lived in the ACT in the 1990s when the population was a touch over 300,000 people. It’s about to hit the half million mark, but the populace’s fondness for being governed by an interventionist, left-of-centre elected body remains in place.
It was a different story in one of the three by-elections in NSW last weekend. The contest in Pittwater will result in Jacqui Scruby becoming the first Teal Member in a State Parliament.
The by-election was triggered by Liberal Rory Amon quitting parliament in August after being charged with child sex offences (which he denies.)
Libs Monica Tudehope took former Premier Dominic Perrottet’s seat of Epping, while James Wallace won ex-Treasurer Matt Kean’s Hornsby spot in a canter. Labor did not contest either seat.
The implications for the Government and Opposition alike are minimal.
Scruby says she wants to work with both sides but will likely vote with Labor. The Liberal brand is on the nose after the local government nominations farce but the number of contenders wanting to knock off Opposition Leader Mark Speakman will fit in a phone box. For now.
Craig Regan, Senior Account Director, Primary Communication
