Waverley Mayor rides polarised wave

Tensions are mounting over this week’s Waverley Mayoral ballot, with Councillor Sally Betts expected to win the Mayoralty for a fourth year, taking over from Labor’s John Wakefield.

The signs look promising for the Liberals, who were elected to seven from 12 seats at the Waverley local government elections on September 8. Mr Wakefield, a Labor Councillor for Bondi Ward, said two interesting outcomes had emerged from the elections.

“One was the Greens’ party vote collapsed,” he said. “And there was a small but significant increase in the number of people who voted.”

According to Mr Wakefield, this year’s elections saw the demise of the Greens’ base and heralded a large number of voters who did not want to see the Greens elected, with both Liberal and Labor improving political mobility.

“The polarisation of the electorate means that now the onus is on those councillors that are there to represent a wider spectrum of ideas,” he said.

Mr Wakefield said it was difficult to explain the determination against the Greens, saying it may have arisen from changing public perceptions state-wide.

“I think people are perceiving the Greens to be good enough to make a fine lobby group, but have developed too far … and not having the wide ranged capacities that the other parties have.”

Liberal Councillor Sally Betts said voters increasingly chose to vote Liberal because of financial security.

“Under Labor, the budget went from $31 million to $90 million in 20 years, at the end of which our director of corporate services said that Waverley Council was unsustainable in the future,” she said. “Tell me, how do you triple the budget and still have no money? It’s because their priorities are wrong in the way that they spend their money.”

Gabrielle Upton, State Liberal member for Vaucluse, said monetary planning was crucial for Council to achieve its long-term spending targets and priorities.

“We know that government at every level is under financial pressure,” she said. “I think at the end of the day it’s a bit like sitting round the family table … working out that we can’t just plan for this week, we have to plan for the whole year.”

Liberal Councillor Leon Goltsman said the six-six deadlocks of past elections were destabilising for Council and its attempts to plan financially for the future.

“In the past, one of our biggest problems was that we had a hung Council … it was very difficult to plan for the long-term because you never knew what was going to happen in the next 12 months.”

For Mr Wakefield, the focus now is on significantly increasing childcare provision by Council and introducing 15 minute ‘Pop-In’ spaces to curb the issue of parking in Waverley. The Liberals, however, will concentrate on the management of Council finances, looking at what they can and can’t afford with expenses.

Ms Betts expressed her concern over staff costs, which have remained the same while the need to add staff members has become an increasing priority. If elected, Ms Betts said she will evaluate the  present system to make it more efficient in Council operations.

By Daniel Paperny