Councillors embrace technology in election battle

BY MICK ROBERTS

In a first for council elections, regular updates will be available on the internet through a virtual tally room come September.
The virtual space will bring local government elections on September 13 into line with state elections by providing first preference results to 148 councils on election night.
While the NSW Electoral Commission has adopted the technology for council elections for the first time, City of Sydney councillors have long embraced websites like Facebook, Wikipedia and Myspace to reach their constituents.
The City News asked three sitting councillors, and one hopeful, how the internet featured in their local government roles, and in their campaigns.
Most were big users of email, e-newsletters and websites, and all agreed it was a fast and effective way of reaching the public.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the internet has been important in keeping the community informed.
‘When my website first went online in 1999, with the help of volunteers, it was the first MP website in NSW,’ Ms Moore said.
‘My weekly e-newsletter recently reached its 400th edition, marking over eight years of regular information on inner-city issues.’
Liberal councillor and mayoral contender Shayne Mallard said he was an early ‘IT adopter’.
‘In 2001 I started an email newsletter in my role as a councillor on South Sydney Council,’ Cr Mallard told The City News.
He said he posted bi-weekly newsletters in the lead-up to the election to over 10,000 email addresses, and also used it to secure fundraising.
Labor Councillor Verity Firth said although she used the internet in her dual role as councillor and state member for Balmain she did not have a website, Facebook or Myspace page.
‘I have been known to look things up on Wikipedia, but I always take the information with a grain of salt,’ Cr Firth said.
‘I don’t have a Facebook or MySpace site, as I prefer to keep in contact with residents in different ways – including email, flyers and letters and in person through street stalls, meetings, phone calls and door knocking,’ she said.
‘I believe that the internet and sites such as Facebook and MySpace do have great potential to connect with people – particularly younger people who are often disengaged with the political process – but at this stage, I don’t have my own pages.’
However, Cr Firth said she was about to launch a website.
‘At the end of the day, I believe that personal contact is the most meaningful, and this is what I prioritise,’ she said.
Labor’s Lord Mayoral challenger, Meredith Burgmann, said she had a Facebook profile and uses email regularly to keep in touch with the community.
‘Facebook is one way residents can get to know me – to learn about my community involvement, my local activism, interests and passions,’ she said.
‘I’ve even put up photos from years ago and from my ASIO file which should take some residents down memory lane or give them a laugh.’
None of the four City of Sydney candidates said they had not experienced any interference or tampering with their internet sites, as was recently highlighted in media reports. Although Cr Mallard said he had been the victim of ‘flaming’.
‘Opponents have left hundreds of rude personal and hate filled messages in comment areas of my blog,’ Cr Mallard said.
‘This has stopped since comments required approval moderating before being posted.’
A spokesperson from the NSW Electoral Commission said the internet will be used extensively to support internal management systems and email during the elections.
The Commission will dispatch 1500 portable electronic electoral rolls across the state to assist electoral staff.
‘They will not replace the traditional paper roll entirely, but they will reduce thousands of pages of paper normally used for supplementary rolls,’ he said.
Also, an online survey to obtain feedback will also be provided on the Commission’s website.
The local government election results (www.elections.nsw.gov.au) will be available from 7pm on Saturday September 13 and will be updated as the count continues.