by Shane Sody
Results from the City Council election have sent a strong message to the State Government.
At a time when the State Government is relentlessly attacking your Park Lands, it is Park Lands advocates and protectors who have been endorsed by voters.
Lord Mayoral candidates Jane Lomax-Smith and Rex Patrick both made Park Lands protection a key feature of their campaigns. Between them, they secured 63% of first preference votes. After distribution of preferences, Jane Lomax-Smith was declared the provisional winner late on Saturday 12 November, over Rex Patrick, by a margin of only 52 votes.
Here’s how Jane Lomax Smith spoke about your Park Lands in her allotted 2-and-a-half minute speech at our candidates forum on 28 September:
Given the very tight margin, there have been calls for the Electoral Commissioner to investigate irregularities.
However, based on the provisional results declared so far by the Electoral Commissioner, there is no doubt that Park Lands defenders will play a key role in City Council over the next four years.
In particular, Park Lands champions Phillip Martin in North Ward, and Keiran Snape in South Ward were comfortably re-elected with huge personal votes; neither needing to rely on preferences from any other candidate.
Park Lands advocates, re-elected Councillors Keiran Snape (left) and Phillip Martin (right) the biggest winners in the City Council election.
Only three members of the previously-dominant so-called ‘Team Adelaide’ faction in the previous City Council have been re-elected.
Simon Hou returns, to represent Central Ward, Arman Abrahimzadeh returns as an Area Councillor and Mary Couros has been returned in North Ward.
On the other hand, ‘Team Adelaide’ losses were Alex Hyde (the former leader of the faction) and his colleague Franz Knoll, who were both defeated in Central Ward.
Newcomers to the City Council include Carmel Noon, David Elliott and Jing Li in Central Ward, Henry Davis and Mark Siebentritt in South Ward, and Janet Giles as Area Councillor who narrowly edged out Anne Moran.
Councillor Moran had been subject to blatant editorial campaigning against her by a prominent newspaper - an unfortunate end to her 27 years on the City Council.
Two members of the Adelaide Park Lands Association managing committee have become Councillors. Henry Davis will represent the City Council’s South Ward, while Ted Jennings has been elected to the Eastwood and Glenunga Ward of the City of Burnside.
Lessons for the State Government
The Labor Party of SA went to the State election in March 2022 promising to protect your tree canopy, and not to destroy your heritage. Yet their actions since have been the opposite, with five massive Park Lands attacks.
The City Council election result will be a shock to Labor's Lucy Hood who won the marginal seat of Adelaide last March after speaking up about the need to "value and protect" natural and built heritage, but has since turned out to be an apologist for the State Government's ongoing campaign of Park Lands attacks.
The huge vote for Park Lands advocates Jane Lomax Smith, Keiran Snape and Phillip Martin (as well as the very competitive Park Lands campaign by Rex Patrick) and the success of other candidates who spoke up for your Park Lands has shown that there is a large, and growing Park Lands vote.
Message for the State Government: Those who Love Your Park Lands will VOTE to protect them.
Not in the City of Adelaide? Check results for your local government area here: https://result.ecsa.sa.gov.au/lgeresults
