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Byron Shire
March 28, 2024

Rejected Byron mayoral candidate vows to fight on

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Tom Barnett

While the NSW Electoral Commission have rejected Tom Barnett’s nomination for Byron Shire Mayor in the upcoming Council elections, he has vowed to fight on, saying he intends to sue the NSW Electoral Commission, the NSW Electoral Commissioner and the individual who initially confirmed his nomination.

He told The Echo, ‘I will give the damages I’m awarded back to the community’.

An email on October 29 confirmed that his nomination for mayor had been accepted, yet it was later rejected, which prompted a complaint around due process.

A ‘paperwork glitch in his application’ is what was described as the cause for the rejection.

Mr Barnett said his campaign slogan, ‘Sack The Status Quo’ took on a ‘whole new meaning’. and the EC decision to reject his nomination ‘is based on [their] incompetence’.

‘Their appeals process is a farce’, he added.

Tom says he is planning to run for the September 2024 local government elections.


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15 COMMENTS

  1. They can’t do that !
    …..or if it was democratic, they couldn’t and wouldn’t.
    I’ve never laid eyes on this unfortunate and follicaly challenged young man but his ambitions seem appropriate amd obviously there has never been a quality barrier for election candidates before, so why has he been blackballed (with due apologies) ?
    Cheers, G”)

    • Nothing wrong with the baldy heads Ken old chap, as long as they don’t shave. They then resemble spermatozoa. Unless of course that’s the desired result, but that is for mental health experts, one of whom I am not. Suffice to say: I’ll not vote for him.

  2. Why not stop pussyfooting around, and just rename Australia a southern outpost of North Korea? I vote for Dan Andrews as our first leader.

    • Too much sky news for you Martin. Ai do think we are along way from being like North Korea when people are making decisions like vaxxed/ non vaxxed. Actually though not a great fan, Jacque lambie nails it on the head with her reply to that weird red headed person from Queensland. I’ll be sick if I say her name or party.

  3. The “man” doesn’t like honest people running for positions in govt. Especially ones that offer to give their wages and benefits to charity.

  4. The AEC have acted despicably and illegally towards Tom Barnett but already he has a pack of Trolls ready to attack him!! Why am I not surprised by the above comments?! Thank goodness for men like Tom Barnett who will stand up for our community and face corruption as he sees it! I’m bitterly disappointed that the AEC have contrived to have you ‘rejected’ but you’ll be back!!

  5. If it was an error leaving him out then let them reprint the list with him included, how can I vote if the one person I was keen to vote for has been deliberately left out!

  6. I’ve met the last 2 majors – at best I’d rate them as quirky – Tom is level headed, looks you in the eye when he talks and has experience in many fields of trade.

    Folks here judging a man via ones ability to fill out a form right are missing the point. For too long we’ve had professional bureaucrats waste our time, money & mismanage our resources due to the fact that none of them have ever done an honest days work in their life.

    Live a life – stand up – vote for tom

  7. It should be easy to change data for the Electoral Commission, if there was a technical issue with the application. The fact that they didn’t is probably political.

  8. He’s upset because he was about to cash in on the antivax vote. By the next Council election if will be long forgotten, and he will have even less chance of being voted in.

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