The NSW Liberal Party’s monumental failure to lodge local government candidate nominations on time will see around 50 councillors lose their seats and up to 140 candidates unable to contest next month’s council elections.
In a letter to MPs, the Party’s state parliamentary leader, Mark Speakman, described the deadline bungle as “probably the worst act of mismanagement” in Liberal history after its head office failed to meet Wednesday’s crucial candidate nomination deadline.
An apologetic NSW Liberal Party State Director, who is also Mayor of Woollahra, Richard Shields, has blamed the error on “limited resources”.
“With the Secretariat resources that we had available unfortunately we were unable to nominate in all of the local government areas that were put forward by the State Executive,” Mr Shields said in a statement.
“Close to 300 Liberal candidates were nominated with the NSW Electoral Commission, including in areas like Parramatta, Strathfield, Blacktown, Inner West and Bayside where we did not run in 2021.
“The status of nominated Liberal candidates will be communicated upon confirmation from the NSW Electoral Commission.
“On behalf of the Secretariat, I would like to apologise to Liberal endorsed councillors that were not nominated and to the Party membership more broadly.”
Mr Speakman described Mr Shields’ position with the Party as being “no longer tenable” following the lodgement failure. He says he offered the Woollahra Mayor the opportunity to explain the debacle to Liberal MPs in a briefing, but it was declined.
It’s understood Liberal candidates will be completely absent from elections in the LGAs of Blue Mountains, Campbelltown, Cessnock, Lane Cove, Maitland, Northern Beaches, Shoalhaven, Wollongong and Camden.
Maitland Labor Councillor, Ben Whiting, blasted the failure in an online post.
“They haven’t just failed their own representatives. They have failed the entire community. It should be up to voters to elect or vote them out,” Cr Whiting wrote.
The predicament leaves the Maitland LGA with no Liberal Mayoral candidate or Councilors for Ward 3 and 4.
Also affected in the region are Cessnock Councillors Paul Dunn, John Moores, Karen Jackson and Paul Paynter.
In Sydney’s Northern Beaches LGA, Deputy Mayor, Georgia Ryburn and Councillor David Walton out in the cold as a result of the mistake.
In a radio interview, Cr Ryburn said she and her five-member Liberal council team were “in disbelief”.
“We’d submitted [our forms] correctly to head office. And then up until as late as yesterday morning, they confirmed with me on the phone multiple times that they had received it and they would submit it by the deadline,” she told ABC Radio Sydney.
“We’ve not received any comms, but I think we’re just all trying to figure out what actually happened.”
Preselected Lord Mayoral Candidate for Wollongong, John Dorahy – a 13-year veteran of the Council – has told local media he’s “devastated” at being robbed of the opportunity to continue to represent the city.
Liberal candidate for Shoalhaven City Council mayoral preselection, Paul Ell (pictured, below), said he believes the “incredibly cumbersome” nature of the electoral system was a factor in the failure.
“There were so many steps involved, and different forms had to be signed and witnessed … and uploaded into a portal as candidates for a registered political party,” he said.
“It’s obviously upsetting and devastating for us personally, but most of all, it’s bad for local democracy in the community.”
In a statement, the Shoalhaven Liberals said they were “bitterly disappointed that due to circumstances beyond our control it appears based on current information that our local Liberal team will not be able to stand in next month’s election”.
“As a result of these events it also appears that Paul Ell and Serena Copley unfortunately won’t be able to stand again to continue serving as Councillors. We are very sorry to all of our passionate candidates for what has happened.
“Whilst this is personally devastating for our team, we are disappointed most of all on behalf of our community who have been denied the opportunity to vote Liberal in this election.
“It is clear to us from the response we have received so far, that our message was resonating with people right across the Shoalhaven.”
Shoalhaven Councillor, Serena Copley said she was “heartbroken” for the Shoalhaven community, “who have been denied a choice that offered a chance to get the Shoalhaven back on track”.
“Thank you to our teams, volunteers and supporters… Unfortunately we are now left with limited options and potentially more of the same lack of vision and solutions,” she said.
“To everyone that has reached out with support and kind words I sincerely thank you all.”
In a statement, the NSW Electoral Commission has declared it is bound by legislation which “does not allow the Commission to accept a late nomination form or allow changes to forms that were submitted once the deadline has passed”.
