news, latest-news,

Stay with us throughout the weekend as we keep you up to date with the latest results in the Wollongong and Shellharbour council elections. Join the conversation using #WollongongVotes and #ShellharbourVotes on social media. Monday, 3pm: ‘Huge swing’ at Wollongong council Meet the two young women, Mithra Cox and Cath Blakey, set to become Wollongong’s two new Greens councillors. Read more here. Liberal vote hit across the Illawarra The Liberal Party could lose one councillor position in both Wollongong and Shellhabour, after the party’s primary voted dipped well below 2011 levels. Read more here. 1.20pm Bradbery cops a dunking 1.10pm What could Wollongong council look like 1pm The Mercury’s Wollongong councillor predictions based on election night count Ward 1 – two Labor, one Liberal, one Green There’ll be two new faces representing the northern suburbs, and they’re both mums in their 30s – quite a change for Wollongong council. Corrimal resident Mithra Cox, from the Greens, got a quota of 1.1 in the election night count. And Jenelle Rimmer is looking almost certain to get across the line. Labor has a quota of 1.95 at the moment, so only needs a little bump from preferences and she’ll be elected. Mithra and Jenelle are both staffers to state MPs, and live close to each other in the southern northern suburbs – so it will be interesting to see what their election brings to the council. Re-election for the well-liked Stanwell Park artist Leigh Colacino will mean he can continue to push for his tourism projects, and Labor’s Janice Kershaw brings more than 20 years of experience on the council. Ward 2 – two Labor, one Liberal, one Green We’re predicting the same make-up in Ward 2 as Ward 1. Labor has a quota of 1.7 at the moment, which is enough to ensure David Brown will be elected (although we’re still keeping a close eye on that mayoral vote). The Liberals have a quota of 1.63 – so just below the Labor quota – which means John Dorahy is elected. The Greens have just tipped over a quota, which is a much better result for them than in 2011 when they ended up with a quota of 0.7 on the day after election day, so Cath Blakey will be elected too. The fourth spot is a bit iffy (and still narrowing with pre-poll votes, there’s about 300 votes in it at the moment). But with 0.7 of a quota left over, we think party stalwart Tania Brown (known for her high profile job at the UOW SMART Infrastructure facility and position of the board of Destination Wollongong) is most likely to be the fourth Labor candidate. That will mean incumbent Liberal councillor Michelle Blicavs – who will have a leftover quota of around 0.6 – is not re-elected. We’ll check in with her later on to see how she’s feeling about that prediction – and who knows, things could still change. The two independent candidates in Ward 2 have not fared well. Andrew Anthony got 0.38 of a quota, and Vicki Curran’s group received just six per cent of the vote. Ward 3 – Two Labor, one independent and probably one Liberal We thought this would be the most straightforward of the three wards, but a strong result from Labor (more than 50 per cent of the primary vote!) and a tight mayoral contest has left some question marks. *This will be dependent on the mayoral vote. 12.15pm The first pre-polls are in The 10,000 votes from the Wollongong pre-poll office have dropped in. Gordon Bradbery gained almost 50% of the vote here, and that’s pushed out his margin over Labor to almost eight per cent overall. Is that enough for him to hold? And what will the Dapto pre-poll results bring? 12pm Greens candidate Mithra Cox in celebratory mood 11.50am Bradbery confident polls are pointing to a win 11.20am Shellharbour predictions Labor could very well have a majority on Shellharbour council, and that would likely mean mayor Marianne Saliba will be returned as mayor. A reminder that there’s no popular mayoral vote (yet – although based on the referendum votes, it looks like there will be in 2020) in the southern city. That means councillors will have to vote for their preferred mayor on September 26. As I keep saying, preferences and pre-polls will be key. But here are our predictions for the seven Shellharbour councillors: Definite: Probable: Marianne Saliba – whose ticket got more than a third of the overall vote – told us: “I’m very happy. It certainly puts paid to a lot of negatively we’ve read about on social media. “People were saying ‘everyone was against the hub’ but of course, if that was the case, then they wouldn’t have voted for me. “It’s a possibility we could end up with a majority. Although I would have been happy to work with whoever gets elected.” “I hope that the new council will elect me mayor – I’ve started a lot of good things in the city and I would like the opportunity to continue that work.” Asked about the Liberal’s vote, which is down on 2011, Cr Saliba said voters had sent her rival party a message. “[Kiama MP Gareth Ward] may find a backlash in his own state election,” she said. She noted that about 70 per cent of voters in the Shellharbour referendum had voted to popularly elect the mayor at the 2020 election. Kellie Marsh, who quit the Liberal Party and decided to run as an independent candidate is also celebrating this morning. “This is one for the single mums and the underdogs,” she told the Mercury. Cr Marsh’s campaign has been very much a family affair, with her son and daughter – and even her grandson – out at the polling booths. With a quota of 1.25 on the election night count, she will definitely be on the next council. 10am How the Lord Mayoral vote ended up on election night… Votes counted: 92,076 In 2011, there were about 106,000 formal votes cast for the mayoral ballot – but that includes postal and pre-polls. By 11.59pm last night, Gordon Bradbery ended up with 29,153 votes. That’s 33.5% of the primary vote – and could just be enough to get him over the line. But Labor’s David Brown had 24,348 votes (4805 behind Bradbery) – or 28 per cent of the primaries. That means this is a much closer race than the 2011 mayoral contest. Back then, rival John Dorahy got 22.5 per cent of the primary vote – and Bradbery was more than 11,000 votes ahead. Interestingly – or maybe not so interesting if you’re the Liberal candidate – the party’s primary mayoral vote is about six percentage points down on last night. But they’ve still done better than in decades past in the Illawarra vote overall. Like Labor, the Greens are celebrating today, and with good reason. Mayoral candidate Mithra Cox is up about 5 percentage points on 2011 in the primary count. She’s received 11.08% of the vote so far. For the rest of the independents, their primaries are below four per cent. In the election night count, Dapto pharmacist John Mullan got 3.29 per cent of the vote. Incumbent councillor Vicki Curran (who is not predicted to be re-elected as a councillor, more on that later) got 2.8 per cent of the vote. That’s about the same percentage she got for the mayoral contest in 2011. Conservative former councillor Andrew Anthony got 1.55 per cent of the vote, just pipped by northern suburb’s community advocate Warwick Erwin on 1.57 per cent and incumbent councillor Greg Petty got 1.45 per cent. 9.30am Good morning election watchers. Our website tells us there are still quite a lot of you reading our election results blog. Who knew there were so many election nerds like us out there! We’ll crunch some numbers and bring you a final election night analysis for Shellharbour and Wollongong soon. Things to watch today: 10.54pm – Goodnight! Righto, as 11pm approaches, it’s time for us to get to bed. Still plenty of questions about the council elections, and hopefully we can bring you some answers in the morning. Well done to all the candidates – it’s been a hard slog for lots of them in the past few weeks. And whether you agree with them or not – and whether they’re elected or not – everyone who puts their hand up to run for local government deserves respect for being willing to have a go. 10.45pm Shellharbour referendum 70.27 per cent of 17,778 formal votes counted are in favour of popularly-elected mayor and extra councillor. In the second question about implementing a ward structure, just 29 votes split 'yes' and 'no' - 50.09 per cent of voters don't want wards, 49.91 per cent do. Interestingly, 20.86 per cent (4271 votes of the 20,474 votes counted) for the ward question are informal - it seems people either didn't understand or don't care. 10.37pm – Mayoral contests stays close We’re going to call it a night for the mayoral vote at least – only two booths are left to report. BUT – we’re also waiting on pre-poll votes. The turnout for pre-poll was quite high, and could make a big difference to these percentages. Hopefully they’ll be in tomorrow, and we’ll have a clearer idea about this very close Lord Mayoral contest. Election night count With 90,349 votes counted, the mayoral tally is as follows That puts Labor’s primary vote almost 10 points higher than in 2011, Gordon Bradbery’s primary vote was 35 per cent six years ago. Gordon is about 4500 votes ahead of Labor at this point – will that be enough? The Liberals have got to be disappointed – they are a distant third in the mayoral contest. We’ll check in with John Dorahy in the morning. 10.30pm Labor celebrates Andrew Pearson reports: The mood among Labor Party faithful was upbeat on Saturday night as Wollongong lord mayoral candidate David Brown moved within a few hundred votes of favourite Gordon Bradbery. 10.15pm Which Wollongong councillors will be re-elected? We’ve got quite a bit of the count for Wollongong’s three wards in now, so we can see which councillors are likely to be elected. Council wards use proportional voting like the Senate, which means candidates have to get to a quota to be elected. The quota to elect four people is 20 per cent (plus one vote). If they’re running on a ticket (which most candidates are) and they get two quotas, the top two candidates on that ticket get elected. Got it? Keep in mind we’re writers, not mathematicians, but here goes. Ward 1 – northern suburbs With 26,000 votes in, Labor is at 38.77 per cent of the vote. That’s 1.94 quotas – which means long-serving councillor Janice Kershaw is a shoo-in and Ryan Park staffer Jenelle Rimmer is looking likely too. The Liberals have 25.34 per cent of the vote (1.27 quotas) which will get incumbent Leigh Colacino over the line. The Greens Mithra Cox will also be elected if votes stay the same, with a primary vote of 22.58 per cent. Ward 2 – central suburbs Labor has also done well here. Insiders are tipping that there’ll be six councillors from the party elected to Wollongong council (and could be a majority of seven, if David Brown wins the mayoral contest). With 16,000 ballots counted, Labor has 34.71 per cent of the vote (1.73 quotas), which means David Brown is a definite and Tania Brown is likely to be elected too. Will that be confusing, with Councillor Brown and Councillor Brown? The Liberals were looking to hold on to two spots in the central ward, but that is not looking as likely right now. They’ve to 30 per cent of the vote, and 1.5 quotas. That would mean John Dorahy is elected, and Michelle Blicavs is a question mark. Once preferences are distributed, we’ll see these quotas change – but the closer you can get to a full quota, the more likely you are to be elected. The Greens’ Cath Blakey is a probable at the moment in Ward 2, with 19.7 per cent of the vote – or 0.98 of a quota. Ward 3 Wow, Labor has done VERY well in the southern Wollongong suburbs. With just under 20,000 votes counted, they’ve got 48 per cent of the primary votes. What a change from 2011. That’s a 2.4 quotas – which means Vicky King and Chris Connor will easily get over the line. Third-listed Labor candidate Ann Martin, who was not hopeful about her re-election chances, is unlikely to be elected. Gordon Bradbery was also running as a candidate in Ward 3, and he’s done well here. He’s got 1.09 quotas, so enough to be elected as a councillor for sure. The big question will be whether he is elected mayor – in which case his votes will flow to former Port Kembla Port Corporation CEO Dom Figliomeni, who is second on his ticket. As for the Liberals, it’s not looking great for them, but they are likely to get elected if votes stay the same. They’ve got a quota of 0.91 per cent, or 18.26 per cent of the vote. That would mean Cameron Walters would take the spot held by young retiring councillor Bede Crasnich. 9.45pm Marianne Saliba to be re-elected as a councillor Alright, there’s about 12000 votes counted in our southern city now, so here’s a rough look at what’s happening. To be elected in Shellharbour, candidates need to get to a quota, which is 12.5 per cent of the vote. Right now, Labor is sitting on 33.56 per cent of the vote, which is 2.68 quotas – so if the votes stick to a similar trend, we’re likely to see Marianne Saliba and Robert Petreski elected, and possible Moira Hamilton as well. The Liberals have got 21 per cent of the vote, or a quota of 1.68. So that means lead candidate Nathan Cattel will likely get over the line, and there’s a question mark about Zachary Fitzpatrick. (Edit, 10.49pm: Former Liberal Kellie Marsh will also be elected. She has a quota of 1.16 per cent.) After that – and this is only if nothing changes, and it’s early days – it’s really going to be about preferences. The group for incumbent Labor councillor John Murray (running as an independent) has got 6.47 per cent (half a quota), and incumbent Peter Moran has got 5.9 per cent of the vote (0.47 quota) So, looks like Marianne Saliba, Nathan Cattell and Robert Petreski will get up, and the rest is up in the air. 9.20pm Wollongong Town Hall The mayoral votes for Wollongong Town Hall – the city’s biggest booth (we think?!) – have just come in. Gordon Bradbery nabbed nearly 46 per cent – or about 1200 votes. He’s now about 4 percentage points up on Labor overall. Still very close. 9.10pm “I’m still nervous, it’s too early to tell” Greens lead candidate Mithra Cox doesn’t want to say much just yet, and is waiting for the primary votes to come in before she draws any conclusions. But, she says the environmental party has had “amazing support from all different areas” and notes they’ve done better than expected in some not-traditionally-Green booths, like Smiths Hill High. In the mayoral count, Mithra is sitting on 11.48% at the moment, and the early Ward 1 results look good for her too: she’s got 20 per cent of the primary vote with 10,151 votes counted. In the central suburbs, Greens candidate Cath Blakey has 15.4 per cent of the vote, but only 3,600 total ballots have been counted. Not looking so good for Jamie Dixon in the southern Wollongong wards – with 6000 votes in he’s on 9.1 per cent of the vote. (Candidates need at least 20 per cent of the primary vote to be elected as a ward councillors in Wollongong) 9pm Waiting waiting waiting There’s only 683 votes counted from Shellharbour. Hopefully some more will drop in soon so we can give you an idea of how the Illawarra’s southern suburbs have voted this time. 8.50pm How your suburb voted With 29 polling places reporting, the count for mayor is still close. Gordon Bradbery has won 17 booths and David Brown has won nine. The Greens won Austinmer and Coledale, and the Liberals have only gained the most votes in one booth so far. Stanwell Park – where well-liked councillor Leigh Colacino lives – gave the Liberals five more votes than the Greens. 8.40pm Too early to say for Shellharbour Moving on from the Wollongong mayoral vote for a minute... We’ve got some numbers from Shellharbour, and Labor is well ahead with 45 per cent. BUT – this is just one booth at Warilla North, so really too early to draw any conclusions. Same story in the Wollongong Wards, but we should be able to draw some conclusions soon. 8.25pm A quarter of votes counted More than a quarter of the total number of formal votes (based on 2011 formal vote) for mayor in Wollongong are now counted. It looks like this: 8.14pm Labor closing in It’s a very different story for Labor in this council election compared to the poll in 2011. With 27,000 votes counted, their primary vote is 10 percentage points up on 2011. Right now, just over one per cent separates Labor and Gordon Bradbery. 7.54pm “We won’t know the result ‘til Tuesday” Illawarra Parliamentary Secretary Gareth Ward has phoned in with his thoughts on the mayoral count. With just under 20,000 votes counted, Gordon Bradbery is on 32 per cent and Labor’s David Brown is on 27 per cent. The Greens have preferenced Labor above Bradbery on their how to vote cards, so if voters follow that, there’s a decent chance Labor could overtake the incumbent Lord Mayor. “I’ve been watching elections for a long time and this will absolutely come down to preferences,” Mr Ward said. “We won’t know the result until Monday or Tuesday.” While Mr Ward was reluctant to count his candidate, John Dorahy, out of the count just yet, it looks to us like Gordon Bradbery or David Brown will be the next Wollongong Lord Mayor. 7.36pm It could come down to preferences Initial count results are in for several polling places for Wollongong’s mayoral vote now, with just over 10000 votes counted. Gordon Bradbery is ahead, but doesn’t look like anyone is going to get a clear majority. 7.25pm Results are filtering through We’ve still only got votes for Wollongong lord mayor votes, and it’s all over the place. Favourite, Gordon Bradbery has won two booths, Mount Kembla and St Michael’s in Thirroul. But he only got seven per cent of the vote at Helenburgh Public, which was won by Labor’s David Brown. Labor is marginally ahead overall at 22 per cent. No results from wards or Shellharbour yet. 7.02pm First results The very first mayoral results have come through from Mount Kembla. Only 544 votes are counted – so anything could happen from here – but Gordon Bradbery has got 40 per cent of the votes, followed by Labor’s David Brown (22 per cent), the Liberals John Dorahy (15 per cent) and the Greens’ Mithra Cox (11 per cent). 6.45pm Waiting, waiting, waiting We should have some of the early results soon, but for now it’s a blank slate on the Electoral Commission website. Here are some of the spots to watch across both council areas. 6.30pm: What should you do if you didn’t vote in council elections on Saturday? It’s a question many of you might be asking. Find some advice here. 6.15pm: So, the polls have closed. What now? Here’s a breakdown of what the 2017 council elections will determine in the Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas. WOLLONGONG Lord mayor – One lord mayor will be elected from nine candidates. The total number of residential and non-residential electors enrolled in the Wollongong City Council area on July 31 was 150,746. Ward 1 – ​Four councillors will be elected from 16 candidates. The total number of residential and non-residential electors enrolled in Ward 1 as of July 31 was 51,591. Ward 2 – Four councillors will be elected from 20 candidates. The total number of residential and non-residential electors enrolled in Ward 2 as of July 31 was 52,202. Ward 3 – Four councillors will be elected from 17 candidates. The total number of residential and non-residential electors enrolled in Ward 3 as of July 31 was 46,953. SHELLHARBOUR The total number of residential and non-residential electors enrolled in the Shellharbour City Council area on July 31 was 51,942. Shellharbour City is an undivided local government area and has no wards. Seven councillors will be elected from 45 candidates. Shellharbour voters also answered two referendum questions. Question 1 – The mayor of City of Shellharbour Council is currently elected annually by the seven councillors. Do you favour the election of the mayor by the voters of City of Shellharbour for a four year term which necessitates an increase in the number of councillors by one? This will result in a total of nine elected representatives made up of one mayor and eight councillors. Yes/No Question 2 – Currently the City of Shellharbour Local Government Area has no ward structure. Do you favour the City of Shellharbour Local Government Area being comprised of wards? Yes/No 6pm: Polls have now closed. Stay will us, we’ll bring you the count as it happens. 5.30pm: The sun is setting on council election day. Thirty minutes until polls close! 5.20pm: Independent Wollongong Ward 2 candidate Vicki Curran casts her vote. 4.30pm: Only 90 minutes to go until polls close. If you haven’t voted yet, you’d better get a move on. 3.50pm: Mark McGrath hasn’t lived in Wollongong for long, but has already identified road and rail transport to Sydney as an issue of concern. Mr McGrath urged new councillors to continue to lobby the state and federal government for improvements. “I know they are at the moment and have been, but they just have to keep it up until something's done here,” he said. “Too much money’s been spent in Sydney on infrastructure and not enough outside of Sydney.” The 62-year-old moved to Wollongong from Sydney about a year ago. Meanwhile, Rui Feitosa, another Wollongong resident, didn’t have any concerns to take into account when he headed to the ballot box at the city’s Town Hall booth on Saturday. ‘I’m happy with Mr Bradbery [Wollongong lord mayor Gordon Bradbery],” Mr Feitosa, 41, said. “In terms of the council, I voted Liberal – I just think they can do a better job here. “There was no particular issue I was worried about.” 3.45pm: Labor’s Marianne Saliba has been making her way around the Shellharbour polling booths on Saturday. Meanwhile, state Member for Kiama Gareth Ward was also out campaigning in Shellharbour this morning. Cr Saliba and Mr Ward have been embroiled in a war of words in the lead-up to this election. 3.40pm: Voters waiting in line outside the Wollongong Town Hall polling booth are being treated to some music on Saturday afternoon. 3.30pm: Dogs often accompany their owners to polling booths. Did you take yours? #dogsatpollingstations 3pm: Trent’s making his vote count in Wollongong’s Ward 2 and encouraging others to do the same. If you haven’t voted yet, you’ve got three hours left before polling booths close at 6pm. 2.50pm: Age is no barrier when it comes to supporting council candidates. The Greens’ Wollongong lord mayoral candidate Mithra Cox posted this image, from a polling booth at Thirroul, on Facebook on Saturday morning. Labor’s Jenelle Rimmer (Wollongong Ward 1) also had some little supporters at Towradgi this morning. 2.40pm: Seen something we haven’t at a polling booth? Want to tell us about a particular issue that might have influenced your vote? Join the conversation, like Adam has (below), by using #WollongongVotes and #ShellharbourVotes on social media. 2.30pm: We’re getting a sense this election is very much about the simple things – footpaths, roads, rates and rubbish. One Wollongong voter, who chose to remain anonymous, said a key issue for him this election was council getting back to the basics; “general maintenance” of roads, footpaths and other facilities. “I think council have made quite a bit of an inroad into that in the city, but they’ve still got a long way to go,” the voter, from Wollongong, said. Asked if more money needed to be spent in suburban areas outside the CBD, he said: “Probably, yes”. “I’m certainly pleased to see the improvement on the CBD,” he said. The man said he voted below the line in order to avoid favouring a particular party or individual. “I mixed it up between Labor, Liberals, the Greens and independents,” he said after casting his ballot at the city’s Town Hall booth. “I like to have a mixed council.” 1pm: We’re at the halfway mark of election day – and, no doubt, the lunch rush has begun at polling places across Wollongong and Shellharbour. Polling places opened at 8am and close at 6pm, meaning there’s now just five hours left for you to have a say in the 2017 council elections.. 12.50pm: Don’t forget we’re on the hunt for the best sausage sizzle across the Illawarra. We’re building a ‘Where to get a sausage sandwich on Illawarra election day’ guide and would love your input. Had a good snag? Please let us know in the comments below. 12.45pm: One Shellharbour voter has told how they’re looking for their next council to focus on the basics, while another has called for change. “Just all the basics, you know, they’ve got to do better,” said Warilla resident Rudolf Stoeger. Another voter, Robert Wright, expressed the need for a move away from the status quo. “We do want a bit of change,” Mr Wright, from Warilla, said. The 59-year-old has voted the same way since his name was added to the electoral roll – but that changed on Saturday. Mr Wright said he was looking for a fresh face because as residents “you don’t get any say” and councillors “do exactly what they want”. “I’ve voted Labor ever since I’ve been of age to vote and that’s the first time I’ve ever gone against them,” he said outside the Warilla-Barrack Point surf club. “I feel pretty bad about it but you’ve got to make a stand, haven’t you.” Mr Wright gave his number-one vote to independent, and first-time council contender, Tony Pratt. 12.30pm: Voting is under way across the Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas on Saturday.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/rdPnbxNSt95RbDXSGgzrdz/2273bece-ba65-4400-a02c-05c19ba8c7cf.jpg/r4_0_1597_900_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg