Libs eye Waverley victory
While counting was ongoing at the time of going to press, incumbent Liberal Will Nemesh said initial tallying "indicates very large swings to the Liberals across all the wards ..."
A backlash against the Greens in Waverley looks set to deliver control of the council to the Liberal party following last weekend’s local government elections.
While counting was ongoing at the time of going to press, incumbent Liberal Will Nemesh said initial tallying “indicates very large swings to the Liberals across all the wards, which if the trends continue, will give us at least seven Liberal councillors”.
In addition to a backlash against the Greens, Nemesh said Labor has also paid the price in a Greens preference deal that “clearly backfired”.
The two-term councillor looked set to be joined by fellow members of the Jewish community Dov Frazer, Josh Spicer and possibly Kate Boskovitz on the new-look council.
Should Boskovitz be elected in Hunter Ward, it would be the first time one party has swept a ward and all its councillors would be Jewish.
Labor councillor-turned-independent candidate Steven Lewis was polling at 16.5 per cent of the vote in Hunter Ward on Tuesday afternoon.
But with below-the-line ballots still to be counted and preferences yet to be distributed, he declined to speculate on his re-election chances.
“It’s too early to tell what the outcome will be. It looks like it will come to preferences and I’ll continue to work for our community whatever the outcome,” he said.
In Randwick’s Central Ward, meanwhile, Liberal councillor Daniel Rosenfeld was celebrating his re-election.
“Every election is hard work and certainly it was great to communicate with the community during the campaign and basically get out there,” he said.
“I’m very appreciative about being re-elected.”
At the time of going to press, Rosenfeld said it was looking like all the current Liberal and Labor councillors would be re-elected, as well as three Greens – down from four – and an independent.
“Like it has been the last few terms, no one will have a clear majority,” he said, adding that council should focus on local issues and “it’s important to still stand up and call out any bad behaviour”.
“As well as representing the local residents, I’ll also continue to represent the Jewish community and especially in these troubling times,” he said.
In Woollahra, the Liberal Party looked set to retain control of a council of which Jewish councillor Sarah Swan has been deputy mayor.
Meanwhile, in Ku-ring-gai’s Wahroongra Ward, Jewish candidate Jack Abadee’s ticket was polling at just under 20 per cent of the vote on Tuesday afternoon.
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