One of the empowering aspects of democracy is that every few years we, the people, are given the opportunity to change government at any level if there is dissatisfaction in the community with its decision-making.
This is a precious safeguard for our democracy when the ruling party has a majority and the power to do what it likes without consulting other political groups or the community.
This level of power can become a curse, as former prime minister John Howard found when, for two years (2005-07), he had a rare majority in both houses of parliament. With the checks and balances gone, Howard seized his chance. He introduced WorkChoices legislation, where the abolition of the No Disadvantage Test outraged the community and was a significant contributing factor to his government's defeat in November 2007.
In my 14 years as a Liberal senator (1991-2005), when we were in government, we never had a majority, and the only way to pass our legislation was through skilful and time-consuming negotiations with the opposition and the crossbench.
This process led to compromises and usually better outcomes, because a more comprehensive group was consulted and other viewpoints considered.
The unravelling of the City of Newcastle Nelmes administration occurred for precisely the same reason. The ALP had an absolute majority from 2021-24 and did not need to consult with any other councillors to have its caucus decisions implemented.
Over these years, without any checks and balances, the consequences were profound for the City of Newcastle because they led to higher council rates and expenditure, some of which was unwise.
This includes the now abandoned inner-city SuperCars race, the removal of swathes of inner-city car parking, bizarre decisions such as the costly relocation of the council chambers and administration to rented premises, and over-budget glamour projects, such as the Newcastle Beach $20 million skate park.
Most of these decisions have annoyed the citizens so much that, the voters have removed the Nelmes administration ALP majority and the lord mayor herself.
This might have been avoided if each City of Newcastle decision had been made after genuine community consultation and thoughtful negotiation with the other elected members of the NCC.
The outgoing lord mayor has complained about personal attacks when community critics were just expressing their frustration with CN policies and priorities. These include spending on building expensive monuments, rather than attending to basics, such as fixing Newcastle's decaying infrastructure.
The change of the guard in 2024 has occurred because the voters became fed up with the CN's wrong priorities, paid for by ever-increasing rates. When the people's will has been ignored in the past, the citizens of Newcastle have shown themselves quite capable of electing independent lord mayors such as Frank Purdue (1953-55, 1959-65), Douglas McDougall (1965-73), John Tate (1999-2012) and Jeff McCloy (2012-14).
The latest addition to this honour roll is Ross Kerridge, as the new lord mayor. He is a highly respected medical specialist and a former keynote speaker at the Hunter Community Forum. His contribution there revealed a deep thinker who understood what was needed to make local government accountable and reflect the people's will.
As a former life member of the ALP, Kerridge had tried to bring about change by challenging the lord mayor for ALP preselection last February. He then formed the Our Newcastle independent group, hoping to bring about the urgently needed reforms that the City of Newcastle needs.
Kerridge said in support of his challenge: "I no longer have any faith in the leadership in our city under the Lord Mayor and her team of councillors. Our city has witnessed scandal after scandal, embarrassment after embarrassment. We need fresh leadership that will actually listen to the community."
The Newcastle local government election result shows that the community heard this message and has acted to embrace fresh leadership and a new direction for the city.
