Will the NSW Liberals' local election blunder impact Wagga ratepayers?

Councils across NSW have gone into caretaker mode, ballot positions are locked in, candidates are ramping up their social media game and it seems that the legal uncertainty at the margins has dissolved ahead of the 14 September local government elections.

The NSW Liberals have dropped their quest to find a legal avenue for a do-over after disastrously missing the deadline and failing to nominate dozens of party-aligned candidates.

More than 130 aspiring candidates, including 38 sitting councillors, missed the ballot and the Electoral Commission flatly refused to extend the deadline for nominations.

But what, if anything, does it mean for local government in our neck of the woods? And what do party politics have to do with local government anyway?

There are no Liberal Party candidates standing in the Griffith or Wagga local government areas and Region has confirmed there was no intention by local branches to nominate any.

However, former Wagga Liberals branch president Rob Sinclair is standing as an independent and apparently had no trouble getting his paperwork through in time.

“I prefer to run as an independent even though my core policies are Liberal policies,” he said.

“I’m all about looking after small business, looking after people, trying to make things run more efficiently, and that’s all Liberal Party stuff, but in council you should work with everybody there, whether they’re the Greens, Labor or other independents and judge every single issue on its merits.”

Independent Wagga councillor Richard Foley has a similar view of party politics at the local government level and was outspoken in his opposition to potential legal proceedings by the NSW Liberals.

“It’s been a very convoluted application process to nominate, there’s no doubt about that, but we all battle through it,” said Cr Foley.

“Personally, I find party politics an anathema to the grassroots, community spirit of council and I really wish it was prohibited.

“You end up with policy objectives on behalf of party machines coming from city centres and trying to inject itself across the regional and rural cities like Wagga.”

Two sitting Wagga councillors, Tim Koschel and Mick Henderson have placed their lack of political affiliation at the core of their reelection campaign.

“People before politics is exactly what we’re running on,” Cr Koschel explained.

“It’s my strong belief that people who run for local government should be running for the best interests of the community, not the best interest of the party.

“I found in previous terms that sometimes councillors put notice of motions in that you can just stick in Google, and see that same thing come up all across the state.

“For me, that’s not putting the community first.”

While the majority of Wagga’s 61 candidates are standing as independents, there are three party-aligned tickets with the Greens, Labor and the relatively unknown Australian Christians in the mix.

Greens Cr Jenny McKinnon makes no secret of her ideological leanings, proudly driving an electric vehicle and advocating for environmental initiatives across the local government area.

The Australian Christians is a WA-based political movement that aims to be a “bold voice for faith, families and freedom” and the local Wagga ticket has been keen to point out its conservative bona fides to voters.

Deputy Mayor Amelia Parkins heads up the Labor For Wagga ticket and expressed sympathy for the Liberal candidates who had missed the cut.

“It takes a lot for a person to put their hand up and it must have been really upsetting to do all that work and then to miss out,” she said.

“I think it’s also a real shame for local government and making sure that we’ve got a diverse range of people and views representing our communities.”

Cr Parkins said her own values “align very strongly with the Labor Party values” but said she was not beholden to party politics while serving on council.

“I do think a lot of the community are nervous about political parties and local government and whether, as politically aligned councillors, we will be directed to do things by the party, but fundamentally, my experience has been the opposite of that,” she said.

“I think the important thing for me about Labor is that it’s a ‘people-up’ party, so it’s a really great opportunity for me to be able to feed information back up to the party so that we get good outcomes for our community.

“I come to council with an independent mindset and have worked positively and collaboratively with everyone.”

Outspoken former Wagga councillor Paul Funnell weighed in on the NSW Liberals’ nomination debacle on Sydney radio this week and said it was damaging to democracy.

While personally against party politics at a local level, Mr Funnell acknowledged the advantages of having the resources of a major party behind you.

“As much as I can’t stand [party politics] in council, the reality is they are there, and with the Liberal Party playing their games and failing, it will now impact the ratepayer,” he said, adding that it was unhealthy for either party to establish an unchallenged majority.

“You’ve now got Labor government in both state and federal, then you’ve got local Labor as a majority in local councils and they are likely to control the Local Government Association and the various boards.

“This means the so-called independents will struggle against a Labor majority and the unions, which are already very strong in local government, and we know that it could take up to three cycles to get Liberal or any conservative party members back into a position where they can do something.”

Wagga ratepayers will get the chance to question their candidates at a public forum next Wednesday 28 August.

Hosted by the Wagga Residents & Ratepayers Association, the Meet the Candidates Forum will be held in the Mirage Room of the Wagga RSL from 6:30 pm.

To view each of the 12 tickets and the 61 candidates running in the Wagga Wagga City Council local election, click here.