Liberal candidates off the ticket for Wollongong, Shoalhaven local government elections

No Liberal Party candidates will appear on local government election ballots in the Illawarra or Shoalhaven, after the party failed to meet the deadline for lodging nominations on Wednesday (14 August).

The debacle has left more than 100 potential candidates across the state unable to stand.

Wollongong mayoral hopeful, and current councillor, John Dorahy is among those caught up in the disaster.

Despite declaring his intention to stand for the role of Wollongong Lord Mayor weeks ago, his name does not appear on the NSW Electoral Commission’s online list of registered candidates.

Cr Dorahy has said publicly he submitted his paperwork to the party over the weekend, and that no-one from the party had informed him of the mistake before nominations were published on the NSW Electoral Commision website.

He’s not the only affected councillor in Wollongong.

Ward 1 Councillor Cameron Walters and Ward 2 Councillor Elisha Aitken were both elected on the Liberal Party ticket in the 2021 election, and both planned to run again this election.

Cr Aitken said she was incredibly disappointed when she found out her campaign for re-election in 2024 was dead in the water.

“We worked really hard to get everything in on time, to be organised and had policies we wanted to run on,” she said.

“Wollongong is a large council, a heap of great people work there and we were looking forward to building on that before we were scuppered by our own party.

“We had big plans to put before the electorate and it would have been much better if they had decided whether they wanted us to represent them rather than have our own party take that decision away.

“It’s not the NSW Electoral Commission’s fault; their rules are there for a reason. They have a schedule to stick to and they have to organise all the things that go into running an election.”

Cr Walters said the failure was “catastrophic” and that candidates had offered to help lodge the paperwork.

He said calls and messages to the party’s secretariat went unanswered.

“The NSW Liberal Party has not only let its members down but has also failed the community in ensuring fair representation for our loyal Liberal Party supporters,” he said.

“I would like to take this moment to express my gratitude to the hundreds of people from all walks of life, within my community and across the state, from all sides of politics, who have contacted me over the past 24 hours.

“I am truly humbled that they reached out.”

In the Shoalhaven, former Liberal Party member and independent mayoral candidate Jemma Tribe said she felt for affected would-be candidates.

“It must be gut-wrenching to get this news,” she said.

“I feel for the workers as well, people have been busy campaigning and putting up signs already.

“I know there are voters who are feeling a bit ripped off today because local democracy has been affected.

“I hope people look at the candidates who are running, look at their backgrounds and find someone to turn to.

“This is a great example of why we don’t need party politics involved in local government; I’ve heard the community say they think local government should be independent people on the ground making the best decisions for the community without interference from head office.

“What has happened is a great example of why we don’t need Sydney involved in our business.”

Ms Tribe said the expectations around nomination paperwork were clear and candidates and their parties had ample time to make their submissions.

“We’ve had a month so far to get all our paperwork together,” she said.

“The NSW Electoral Commission do encourage you to submit the forms early so any issues can be identified and rectified.

“Our team went in and did that face-to-face, spent about eight hours with them lodging those forms one by one, making sure every i was dotted and t crossed.

“We know candidates have been prevented from running in the past because of issues with paperwork.”

NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman has called for the resignation of the party’s state director Richard Shields following the stuff-up.

“It is the worst act of mismanagement I can think of in the organisation’s history,” Mr Speakman said in an email to all Liberal NSW Members of Parliament.

“I have told the state director his position is no longer tenable and he should now resign.

“I have informed the state president and federal leader of my position.”

Mr Speakman is not alone.

On Thursday morning NSW Liberal deputy leader Natalie Ward told 2GB Radio she backed Mr Speakman’s call for Mr Shields’ resignation.

“This is unacceptable for our members; it’s unacceptable for our candidates,” she said.

“It’s unacceptable for the voting public who support our party.”

Region Illawarra contacted Cr John Dorahy for comment, but he had not responded at the time of publication.