By XAVIER SMERDON
A FORMER Mayor of Wyndham has officially announced that she will not be filling a newly created vacancy to return to the council, even if she wins a countback.
Kim McAliney told a State Government initiated Local Government Electoral Review panel that unless changes were made to the council election system she would not stand in any future elections either.
Ms McAliney was one of a handful of people eligible to fill a vacancy created when long-term councillor Shane Bourke resigned earlier this month.
“I loved representing my community but given the current climate, my integrity and reputation is far more important, and with the council being put on notice this week (by Member for the Western Metropolitan Region Bernie Finn) to be honest why would anyone take up the seat,” Ms McAliney said.
“My decision to stand at any future election will be based solely on the outcomes of this review.”
Ms McAliney said her decision not to return to the council was not an indictment of Wyndham Council, but rather the overall system of council elections.
She said last year’s election was plagued by the circulation of unauthorised material, intimidation of candidates, breaches of privacy and bullying.
“Last year’s Wyndham City elections experienced in my opinion, behaviour unheard of, in the City’s history,” she said.
“Those involved in deceptive practice, whether they were successful or not, should be held accountable for their actions by the Local Government Inspectorate.”
Ms McAliney also said that a first past the post electoral style should be adopted to discourage people being elected on unfair preference deals.
Current Wyndham councillor Gautam Gupta also spoke at the hearing as an individual.
Mr Gupta told the panel that Mr Bourke’s vacant seat should be filled using a by-election, not just a countback.
He also defended the preferential voting system and said there should be a cap on council terms of a maximum of two or three terms so that people “can’t be there forever”.
