New South Wales, 15 August 2024 (TDI): More than 100 Liberal Party candidates will be unable to run for council in Australia’s most populous state, after the party miss an election nomination deadline.
New South Wales officials said they legally cannot accept late entries, with one of the country’s top election analysts estimating the party is expected to lose about fifty council seats as a result.
Many long-serving politicians will automatically be out of a job, and constituents of 8 councils will not have a single Liberal Party candidate to vote for.
State party director Richard Shields has apologised and blamed lack of resources for the failure to timely complete paperwork.
In a letter to MPs, the party’s state parliamentary leader Mark Speakman described the episode as potentially the worst act of mismanagement in the party’s history, saying Shields should have asked for more resources.
His position is untenable, Speakman added, and he has been asked to resign.
Election analyst Ben Raue said that the exact number contests affected is still to be confirmed, but he calculated the party is 136 candidates short of a full ticket.
In a post on his Tally Room blog, Raue said those who have missed the ballot include thirty eight sitting councillors.
Current councillor Paul Ell – who was intending to run for mayor of the Shoalhaven City Council, in the state’s south – is among those set to get out of the job.
It’s obviously disturbing and devastating for us personally, but most of all, it’s bad for local democracy in the community, he said.
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In Wollongong, about 90km south of Sydney, the error has effectively ended the thirteen-year council career of John Dorahy, but he said he is still hopeful authorities will consider leniency.
However, the NSW Electoral Commission said in a statement that it was bound by the law, which “does not allow it to accept a late nomination form or permit changes to papers that were submitted once the deadline has passed”.
