Ballina Shire’s mayoral race this September looks to be a competition between two women, one progressive, the other conservative, after both candidates announced campaigns last week.
Current independent mayor Sharon Cadwallader, a former member of The Nationals, issued a media release saying she wanted a second term in the local leadership role, while Greens Councillor Kiri Dicker said she had her party’s endorsement to stand for the job.
Cr Cadwaller has served on the council for the past twenty years, making her the current council’s longest-serving member.
She won the mayoral role by popular vote in 2021, as opposed to councillor-only vote, after twice losing to former Cr David Wright.
Cr Wright’s retirement from the position and decision not to run again proved a turning point in Cr Cadwallader’s political service, with the East Ballina based part-time civil celebrant successfully claiming the vacated spot.
Cr Dicker, by contrast, declined to run for mayor in 2021, owing to it being her first time standing for local government.
More candidates promised for Cadwallader team
Cr Cadwallader last week announced changes to her running team compared to those listed on her electoral ticket in 2021.
The mayor’s team three years ago featured six candidates, more than enough to have formed a majority on the nine-seat council had all managed to win enough votes.
A ‘vote 1’ mayoral campaign strategy for Lismore City Councillor Steve Krieg, for example, worked to get all six candidates on his team into the neighbouring local government area, where the Krieg team has often but not always voted as a majority block on an eleven-seat council.
The Byron Shire Council is also relatively famous for its one-time close majority in the form of four Greens members and collaboration with retiring independent Cr Cate Coorey.
But the Ballina Shire is divided into wards, creating a slightly more complex system of voting where candidates must represent a specific geographical area within the shire.
Cr Cadwallader’s 2021 team won votes for a representative on each of the three wards, plus Cr Cadwallader’s seat as mayor and second B Ward representative, while two of the six members failed to win enough votes.
This time, the experienced local politician appears to be planning for a much larger field of candidates across the three wards, most new to local government.
Bruem backs Cadwallader for mayor again
Cr Rodney Bruem, also a former Nationals member turned Independent, is to again run for a seat in Ballina’s A Ward on Cr Cadwallader’s ticket.
Another three, new, candidates were announced for the same ward: former police officer Damian Loone; Cumbalum Residents Association member and A Ward committee member Kay Oxley; and Ballina community radio Paradise FM presenter and computer technician Mark Paterson*.
Cr Bruem also has a long history with Paradise FM.
But the mayor is yet to announce her fellow candidates for the other two wards and it’s unclear whether her other two successful 2021 running mates, Crs Eva Ramsey and Nigel Buchannan, will be on the list.
She looked forward to introducing ‘more formidable, well-known candidates for other wards over coming weeks’, her media release last week read.
‘As independents I know they can truly put the needs of local people first, rather than simply focus on the policy interests of the major political parties,’ Cr Cadwallader said.
The mayor launched her campaign at an in-person event at the Cherry Street Sports Cub in Ballina, featuring her listed A Ward candidates only.
Social housing call yet to reappear in Ballina mayor’s campaign
The mayor’s 2021 campaign could be said to have largely focussed on two significant local issues: water security and housing.
Cr Cadwallader has long been in favour of the controversial proposal for a new dam near the hinterland village of Dunoon and three years ago spoke out against recycled water as ‘toilet-to-tap’ water and desalination as ‘ridiculous’.
Her language on the matters appears to have somewhat watered down since, perhaps a reflection of her continued time on the Rous County Council, the local body in charge of water security for much of the region.
As for social housing, the 2022 floods and landslides led to hundreds, if not thousands, of survivors eventually accommodated in temporary emergency housing pod villages in the Ballina Shire but only one of them requires local government approval and residents there recently learned they’ll need to vacate by end of year.
Plans for the council to prioritise key workers for new housing in the same area of Wollongbar have been abandoned under Cr Cadwaller’s mayoral leadership.
No changing the date or imposed conservation zones for Cadwallader
The mayor’s media release last week unsurprisingly referred to the ongoing regional disaster recovery and also again to water security, while the declared housing crisis wasn’t mentioned.
‘It has been an honour to serve as mayor of Ballina Shire Council and to deliver for the community this term, including leading the re-build after the flood, overseeing record $78 million investment in new infrastructure through the shire’s biggest capital works program on record,’ Cr Cadwallader said.
‘We kept our promise to re-start planning for a new water supply dam so we don’t run out of water,’ she said.
This time, the mayor’s campaign appears to include what some may see as a culture war reference.
‘We pushed back against the worst Greens Party excesses, like changing the date of Australia Day,’ Cr Cadwallader said.
The mayor also accused the Greens of wanting to ‘dictate to rural landholders what they can and can’t do on their properties,’ presumably a reference to prolonged debate over the inclusion of C2 Conservation Zones in the Ballina Shire.
The regulatory zoning system is in place across most of the state and was introduced by a former coalition government.
But the Ballina mayor has said she’d prefer an ‘opt-in’ model as controversially adopted by the Kyogle Shire Council further inland.
‘These are just some of the significant achievements we’ve made this short term, all while keeping our rates the lowest on the coast,’ Mayor Cadwallader said last week.
‘It takes a good team to make it happen, which is why I have supported and will continue encouraging independent candidates with outstanding professional experience and a strong commitment to the community to serve with me.’
*Mr Paterson emailed Echo Publications after this article was first published to say his name was misspelled and that beyond his volunteer community radio station role: ‘I am “The Computer Guru” and have been involved in the ICT sector for almost 50 years now. I own and operate a business here in the Northern Rivers under that name’. The original version of this article had spelled his name as ‘Mark Patterson’ in accordance with spelling in Cr Cadwallader’s campaign release and has since been corrected.
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