By ERWIN CHLANDA
Kylie Bonanni (pictured), with 4223 first preference votes, has a convincing lead over Matty Day (2253) at the close of primary votes counting for the Alice Springs Town Council by-election yesterday.
That leaves Ms Bonanni, the only woman in the field of five candidates, just short of an absolute majority with 48.8%. Mr Day’s slice of the vote so far is 26%.
The other scores to date are John Bridgefoot (1078 votes; 12.5%); Edan Baxter (708; 8.2%) and Colin Furphy (392; 4.5%).
A recheck of the polling night count and a further small count of postal ballot papers and declaration votes will take place during the coming days, says NT Electoral Commission spokesman Steven Klose.
“The deadline for receipt of postal ballot papers is 6pm on Friday, November 29.
“The number of formal ballot papers is then finalised, the quota calculated and the distribution of preferences can then take place.
Sunday, November 17, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
As reported elsewhere in these posts, Kylie’s views on alcohol in the Alice Springs Community Open Forum Facebook page are in line with the those of the NTG, viz., “I made personal comment on the radio yesterday that l do not wish to put forward any new restrictions on the community of Alice Springs – I believe we have enough, Darwin do not have the restrictions we have!”
A few years ago, a former colleague of mine made the observation that the NT should change its name to ‘Liquor Land’, because “we already have the signs.”
The point about restrictions is to legislate a lifestyle that is sustainable.
The present alcohol supply levels deliver a lifestyle to central Australia that is socially toxic and personally so for many who live under its stigma. Should Kylie accept the position of Councillor, she takes up her position as another rubber stamp provider for the burghers of Liquor Land.
I won’t be having a Cellarbration.
Russell I agree with you, we don’t need anymore alcohol restrictions they should be put back to the way they were as there not working at all !!!!!!!
The results of this by-election were as predictable as night follows day. It wasn’t surprising that there was a low voter turnout (about 64%) nor that Ms Bonanni topped the poll.
An interesting feature of Alice Springs council by-elections historically is that female candidates invariably poll well.
Previous female by-election winners are Frances Smith (the first by-election in March 1973), Leslie Oldfield and Rosalie McDonald (May 1978), Carole Frost, Fran Kilgariff and Meredith Campbell (twice – in 1997 and 2005). Sue Jefford was runner-up in two by-elections before eventually becoming an alderman.
But, given the obvious public disinterest in by-election campaigns, are they actually worth having? Perhaps one option to consider is the approach used by the Alice Springs Town Council in July 1973, following the resignation of Alderman Paul Everingham: “Because the next ordinary Council election was less than twelve months away, the Council’s General Purpose Committee passed a resolution to recommend that Council make an approach to the Administrator to appoint Dennis Haddon who was the highest-polling unsuccessful candidate in the March, 1973, Council by-election. Haddon was duly appointed as an Alderman” (http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/alice-springs-town-council/council-history-1).
Some food for thought.
And yet today if Council has less than 12 months to run, neither a by-election nor an appointment to the casual vacancy is necessary as Council merely makes do with one less elected member. In practice this 12 months can extend to 14 if the retiring Councillor is an apology for two (or three?) meetings before formally pulling the plug.
So we’re down from 10 to eight Councillors already, and potentially seven, and if two were to go could we get down to six?
In other places I have advocated the use of the previous election to find a replacement when a casual vacancy occurs on our councils.
Originally I had thought to offer the position to the last person standing but not elected, and then to continue down the list of unsuccessful candidates in reverse order of their exclusion.
But after speaking at a Council Forum a week ago with Mayor Ryan and Councillors Brown and Douglas, I take their point that to go all the way through the list would not be right as those at the bottom polled too few primary votes to be in any serious consideration.
So I looked at the results of the last three municipal elections and found that by applying a cut-off point of 3.5% of the primary votes cast, in 2004 there was one candidate available for the offer, in 2008 there were two and in 2012 there were four.
In all three Councils, there was a by-election, and by making this offer, we could have possibly spared ourselves the costly tedium of a by-election. (No disrespect intended to the winning candidates in each case.)
I have submitted this proposal to LGANT and asked that it be discussed at their next meeting.
I know from correspondence with the NT Minister for Local Government and the Regions that the NT Government is willing to consider changing the Local Government Act if they receive a concerted approach from LGANT.