NSW local council election results : far left and far right

Update : Steve the National Socialist has done the White thing and documented his support for Australia First (NSW) in the ding-dong battle for a seat in Sutherland Shire Council Ward A; a minor skirmish inspired by the “growing resistance to the politics of New World Order liberal-globalist-capitalism throughout Australia”. Take it away Steve:

Right

First, the far right (Australia First and Australian Protectionist Party).

In the shire of Sutherland, former admirer of Hitler and member of the Stormfront forum Darrin Hodges — the Nationalist Anarchist Protectionist — wanted a seat in Council Ward D. Unfortunately for Darrin, despite considerable media exposure — and a very handsome face — he came last, garnering just 333 votes or 2% of the total. In Council Ward A, the dynamic team of racists belonging to Australia First (AF) fared a little better; John, Karl and Marleen gaining 867 votes, or 4% of the total. They too, however, came last.

Outside of Sutherland shire, it was a mixed bag for AF. In Blacktown (Fifth Ward), the terrible trio of Tony Pettitt, Terry Cooksley and George Atkinson managed to assemble 1,229 votes between them, or 5% of the total. Congratulations Tony, Terry and George! (The racists also managed to beat Gavin Robinson, with just 139 votes.) In Coffs Harbour, despite being led by the remarkably talented clown Darrell Wallbridge — weddings, parties, anything — AF gained just 436 votes. Again, just 2% of the total. On the plus side, Darrell, Alex Parker, Greg Bailey, Richard Hedditch, and Kevin Baldwin did manage to defeat John Hearne, who received a measly 161 votes. Another plus for AF — or rather, Richard Hedditch — is the one vote he personally received, thus making him a very lucky man. For as Richard noted in his ‘Candidate Information Statement’ (CIS):

My observations of the way humanity is gives me the willies. I’m bored, I want to fail dismally. Electorally, I have no chance whatsoever. I’ll be lucky to pull a single vote, but I’m nominating to run so that my ticket will have the minimum 5 candidates. The ticket I’m associated with has very many good and profoundly brilliant policies. So much so, that if Australia First got a candidate elected I’m sure that I’d push for a 30 percent rates reduction for this electee.

Finally, in Newcastle (Second Ward), the Jew-hating real estate agent Nathan Clarke and his racialist comrades Ian McBryde and Jim Smith failed to sell their anti-Semitic schtick to the voting public. The AF ticket received just 302 votes in total; again, 2%. (Poor old John Sunol came last, however, with just 21 votes.)

Left

Secondly, the far left (Socialist Alliance).

In Newcastle (Third Ward), Socialist Alliance candidates Zane Alcorn, Laura Ealing and Thomas Cameron got 575 votes (2%). In the tense race for Mayor, MC Doc Fruit also came last, with 1,507 votes (2%). In summary then, for the voters of Newcastle, Leninism is more popular than white nationalism, by a margin of 273 votes.

SA, like AF, also stood candidates in Blacktown (Third Ward). Unfortunately for SA (Rachel Evans, Soubhi Iskander and Hassan Abaid), AF (1,229) more than doubled the Leninist vote of just 451 (2%). Finally, in Marrickville Council (North Ward), SA (Pip Hinman, Jill Hickson and Howard Byrnes) fared a little better. Despite coming last, the Leninists gained 4% of the total vote (368 votes).

Now: grab your calculators.

Q. Which comes first? A Bolshevik state? Or a White Australia?

About @ndy

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I like anarchy. I don't like nazis. I enjoy eating pizza and drinking beer. I barrack for the greatest football team on Earth: Collingwood Magpies. The 2024 premiership's a cakewalk for the good old Collingwood.
This entry was posted in Anti-fascism, State / Politics, Trot Guide. Bookmark the permalink.

19 Responses to NSW local council election results : far left and far right

  1. Another election, another smashing endorsement of the status quo 😛

  2. grumpy cat says:

    Now that Barricade is open you can finally start putting up comparisons of book sales with, say, Peter Costello’s memoirs – or even books sold by SA!
    @ndy I just don’t get why you continue down this apolitical line of critique.
    rebel love
    Dave

  3. @ndy says:

    Kieran: I’m not so sure. While I haven’t had the time or the inclination to examine the results closely, it appears that Labor is losing ground to the Greens and independents. Larvatus Prodeo and The Poll Bludger (among other blogs) will presumably be the place to look for such analysis. In the meantime:

    Swings against Labor in early count
    ABC
    September 13, 2008

    The New South Wales Government’s recent problems appear to have impacted on today’s local government elections. With counting underway, there have been swings against Labor in many areas, with the Greens and independents benefitting the most. Some of the biggest swings against Labor have come in the Hunter Valley, where the State Government’s failed electricity privatisation attempt would have had an impact. In the battle for Lord Mayor of Sydney, incumbent Clover Moore looks set to retain her position comfortably.

    ALP set to lose control of NSW councils
    SMH
    September 13, 2008

    Labor is preparing to lose control of councils throughout NSW with local government election results expected to begin trickling in after polls closed at 6pm (AEST). Early anecdotal results suggest voters have turned on Labor following a tumultuous week in state politics during which premier Morris Iemma, his deputy John Watkins, four cabinet ministers and a parliamentary secretary departed…

    Labor poll-axed in council elections
    The Daily Terror
    Linda Silmalis and Nick Leys
    September 14, 2008

    ANGRY council voters across Sydney gave Labor candidates a kicking yesterday in an ominous warning to new Premier Nathan Rees. Despite efforts to hide the Labor brand on how-to-vote material, the ALP experienced solid swings against candidates in traditional council strongholds, particularly in western Sydney…

    Dave: I could do that. But then again, I won’t. The explanation lies in the fact that I’m a trainspotter. In that sense, this is not ‘critique’; or at least, it’s not intended to be read in that manner. Beyond this, regarding the rationale for ‘socialist’ participation in electoral politics, I was informed by an SA member that I should look to Engels. I did, and his writings on the subject, on my reading, tended to suggest the reverse of the course SA has taken. With regards AF and the APP, it falls under a more general activity, which is monitoring political expressions of the far right. Incidentally, the APP is attempting to model itself on the BNP, and as part of this effort is allegedly arranging for Nick Griffin to tour…

  4. grumpy cat says:

    So some trains are not to be spotted then?

    My point is that laughing at the small number of votes for non-mainstream political forces makes neither a good argument against Leninism nor a political challenge to the far Right. But if that isn’t your aim, oh well…

    rebel love
    Dave

  5. @ndy says:

    Trainspotting:

    Trot Guide | Trot Guide
    Francis De Groot Brigade
    Attack of the Anarchoids from Neptune!

    Also:

    Leftist Trainspotters – website and joining
    January 26, 2008

    Leftist Trainspotters, or ’spotters, as it is known to its members, is an international email list with members from socialist groups all over the world. The list concentrates on “leftist trainspotting”, or “spotting”, which is like the original trainspotting, but for leftist groups and sectariana.

    Despite over a thousand subscribers and tens of posts every day, the list is still pretty unknown on the World Wide Web.

    Leftist Trainspotters website, at Yahoo! Groups, is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/leftist_trainspotters/, and in order to subscribe to it, send a blank email to [email protected]

    Any trains can be spotted — that’s up to the spotter.

    Leaving aside the fact that I enjoy a laugh, and appreciate absurdity — both in the standard sense of the term and in the sense that Camus employed it — I understand that merely laughing at Leninism is insufficient to demonstrate its political futility. Regarding the challenge to the far right… I think in order to challenge it requires, first of all, understanding and analysis. Presenting the results of a local council election forms one small part of a larger, collective project, and if I can do that — and, at the same time, examine the meagre results enjoyed by the far left — in a somewhat comical fashion, I don’t see that it’s particularly harmful, and it may even be somewhat useful.

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  7. Steve says:

    I went out to support Australia First NSW in my local council elections. For some reason, the Australia First volunteers weren’t that happy to see me. One warned me off, another ripped my poster, and another told me to piss off before he ‘shoved my camera up my arse’. He was otherwise quite helpful though, particularly with relation to which race was the worst. I documented my day in this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnYTl-8YMe4 . Feel free to spread it around 😉

  8. @ndy says:

    Thanks Steve. While I generally do not appreciate the efforts of National Socialists to intervene in the ‘cultural-ideological’ / ‘ideological-cultural’ / ‘ideological-political’ struggle (as Herr Doktor Saleam terms it), I can see that your intervention may be — an exception. Below is the response of Herr Doktor to Saturday’s polling successes. It’s followed by a poem by Ben, titled ‘Cronulla Says “Eureka” (The Story Untold)’, which I hope you will enjoy as much as I did.

    Ideological-Political Analysis of the Growing Resistance to the Politics of New World Order Liberal-Globalist-Capitalism As Evidenced by the Success of Australia First Party in Sutherland Shire: Opposition Grows To Chorus Of Media And Multiculti Industry Attacks by Dr James Saleam

    Australia First Party Cliams Success In 2008 New South Wales Councils’ Poll

    The Australia First Party has much to be pleased about in the recent Councils’ poll in New South Wales.

    Counting will continue this week in yesterday’s poll. We expect pre-poll and postal votes to be counted by Wednesday…

    In Sutherland Shire Ward A, once counting resumes, we expect to just get over the 4% line and win back our deposit (as in Blacktown). We have improved on John Moffat’s 2.7% in 2007, but of course, the former AAFI won 2.8% then – and we have not yet regrouped all those votes. A wide field and the campaigning by others on the desalination plant issue may have cost us a little there. Nonetheless, we are a fixture now in Shire politics. We are currently on 897 votes and should reach a thousand.

    Australia First Initiatives Will See Party Grow Over The Next Few Months:

    There are several initiatives Australia First will undertake over the next few months that will not only see us grow in numbers and professional, but improve our overall political presentation.

    Poem. By Ben.

    Cronulla Says “Eureka” (The Story Untold)

    Wheels of momentum steel and fire,
    Caged in a prison of time,
    Unknown to the day in Jesus,
    In clothes not worth a crime;
    Conforming the world of a rotten law,
    Primitive and outdated in time,
    Confused in the might and power of war.

    Eternally dammed under a haunting
    Written hand – in a manual before born,
    Cursed to live a wasteful life untold,
    Bowing heads of a thorn.
    Ordered by belief, no feelings of thought,
    With freedoms of a slave,
    Brought about by altered wisdom,
    Lonely and confused unworthy to save.

    Mohammed’s men amounted fifteen,
    Armed a march to Cronulla’s Beach,
    In the new land travelled, all must
    Perish and burn in dieing blood of a leach,
    It was a planned conquest to
    Weaken the Australian sole,
    Force us in to a shell of fear,
    Shattering dreams of a whole.

    Will we fall or will we rise –
    A choice of life and death,
    We must stay together firm and strong,
    Squeezing lives for breath;
    For the soil in which inherited,
    Will be stolen by Satan’s believers,
    Preaching peace and wisdom, acting another,
    These are the true deceivers.

    An army waited upon the beach,
    Judged by them to be their’s,
    Victims were targeted for termination,
    As it was scanned for icon wears,
    Between the flags cheerful faces were
    Enjoying a day in the sun,
    Kids playing like Bradmen and Bowling like
    Warne was all so bright and fun.

    Three Lifesavers young and pure at heart,
    Just finishing their work hours,
    Patrolled the beach with honour,
    In their yellow and red powers;
    The flags flew safe and secure,
    Towards the paradise it knew,
    Belittled by the worries of the
    Nightmare near to brew.

    A blooded sword was followed by path,
    By Lifesavers chainless and free,
    Waves crash and roared surging louder
    And stronger to give warning of the three;
    And of the bloodshed on the rise,
    To stab ones heart and nation –
    As a sleeping enemy left awakened,
    I fear of all in relation.

    Their innocent eyes and steps were clearly monitored,
    As a battle ground had been chosen;
    Enemy eyes locked on burning hatred and disgust,
    Awaited the coming war standing frozen –
    Confused of a blood stained track,
    Suddenly the guards were surrounded,
    With no where to run but back.

    Enemy movements were of machines, rattling
    Gold chains to the beat of the drum of war,
    The great wall of Islam was raised,
    As cold shadows cast to the floor,
    Exits now blocked, choices were
    Made to kill or to be killed;
    Funeral cheques were written,
    And to mother they be billed.

    In English hacked and broken,
    Like a tree by lightning struck,
    These periods of custom spitting,
    Were sure to make one duck.
    “Get off our beach, this is our beach,
    We own it!” the Lifesavers were told;
    This sacred sand, sells for a price not sold,
    And can never be bought to hold.

    For even the most capable of men,
    Were sure to meet their days end,
    With odds stacked against five to one,
    Outnumbered and unarmed to make amend.
    With each fateful blow and knock, a knife
    Sharper then the gates of hell ripped through,
    Poisoning patriotic hearts and minds,
    Hunting for vital organs lurking deeper true.

  9. @ Steve, there is a small error in your otherwise excellent moving picture film. That being near the end where you state that Cronulla was “D” ward when in fact it should have said “A” ward.

  10. Jim QLD says:

    Not real smart @ndy blowing your cover at ANN now is it. Talk about taking the bait. Cheers.

  11. Thomas says:

    Haha, I was one of the candidates for Socialist Alliance. Can’t say we ever expected much, if you noticed the focus of our campaign was on climate change – it was more of a protest vote to put the issue out there. Also I do believe our campaign managed to save the local skatepark and Newcastle’s only graffiti wall.

    What scares me is that these neo-nazis call themselves socialists…?!

    Cheers.

  12. @ndy says:

    Darrin is correct. He (APP) stood in Ward D. John, Karl and Marleen (AFP) stood in Ward A. I also wrote that AFP gained 867 votes, which is what the Group ticket received. AFP gained 897 votes in total, including 27 votes for John, 2 votes for Karl, and 1 vote for Marleen.

    Jim: You’re an idiot.

    Thomas: Skate! Graff! Skate! Graff!

    Revised totals (Group tickets plus individual tallies) THUS FAR (not final):

    LEFT

    Socialist Alliance:

    Blacktown (Third Ward)

    D Group Votes 451
    EVANS, Rachel 40
    ISKANDER, Soubhi 9
    ABAID, Hassan 10

    Total votes: 510 // 4%

    Marrickville (North Ward)

    A Group Votes 368
    HINMAN, Pip 65
    HICKSON, Jill 5
    BYRNES, Howard 4

    Total votes: 482 // 2%

    Newcastle (Third Ward)

    B Group Votes 575
    ALCORN, Zane 64
    EALING, Laura 4
    CAMERON, Thomas 2

    Total votes: 645 // 3%

    (Zane Alcorn 4 Mayor: 1,490 votes // 2%)

    RIGHT

    Australia First Party:

    Blacktown (Fifth Ward)

    B Group Votes 1,229
    PETTITT, Tony 33
    COOKSLEY, Terry 11
    ATKINSON, George 8

    Total votes: 1,281 // 5%

    Coffs Harbour

    G Group Votes 482
    WALLBRIDGE, Darrell 51
    PARKER, Alex 4
    BAILEY, Greg 10
    HEDDITCH, Richard 1
    BALDWIN, Kevin 0

    Total votes: 548 // 2%

    Newcastle (Second Ward)

    B Group Votes 302
    CLARKE, Nathan 21
    McBRYDE, Ian 3
    SMITH, Jim 2

    Total votes: 328 // 2%

    Sutherland (A Ward)

    F Group Votes 867
    NEWTON, John 27
    GLAS, Karl 2
    RAPP, Marleen 1

    Total votes: 897 // 4%

    Australian Protectionist Party (D Ward):

    HODGES, Darrin 333 (2%)

    *For some reason, Tony Pettitt ran simultaneously in both Blacktown and Hawkesbury. He received 29 votes.

  13. @ndy says:

    Stop laughing, Labor, you’re about to be massacred
    Wendy Frew, Alexandra Smith and Linton Besser
    SMH
    September 15, 2008

    …The ALP’s performance was so disastrous it lost councillors in areas once thought impregnable.

    As of last night, it looked certain the party had failed to win even one council spot in Leichhardt‘s Balmain ward, the birthplace of NSW Labor.

    Its failure in the once blue-collar heart of Sydney spells almost-certain disaster for the party in the seat of Balmain when the Government goes to the polls.

    “Twenty years ago, the ALP had all the councillors in the Balmain ward, and now they have got none,” said Greens Leichhardt councillor Jamie Parker.

    “They say that Balmain boys don’t cry, well today they certainly do. On these numbers [ALP member and Education Minister] Verity Firth is in real trouble.”

      Birrabirragal/Balmain

      B Group Votes (ALP) 16% 848
      COBLEY-FINCH, Damian 2% 113
      DUFFY, Anita 0% 10
      McDOUGALL, Garry 0% 7

      C Group Votes (Greens) 35% 1,828
      PARKER, Jamie 5% 237
      CHANNELLS, Craig 0% 7
      LEEDHAM, Steffi 0% 14

    The swing against Labor was not confined to its former stronghold in Sydney’s inner-west. Voters delivered a stinging rebuke to the Government across the state, including in the Hunter and Parramatta.

    The next state election should not be seen as a contest between Labor and Liberal, said the ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green. He said recent polls showed Labor’s primary vote falling to the low 30s, and votes for the Greens and “Others” at about 25 per cent.

    “If those votes were repeated at the next state election, the result would look like Saturday’s local government polls, Labor hemorrhaging support in its own safe seats … as it tries to fend off the Coalition in traditional marginal seats,” he said.

    “Saturday’s local government elections may be dismissed as sideshows, but if Labor’s primary vote continues to hover around 30 per cent, the sideshow may return as the main feature in 2011.”

    The Greens and the Liberal Party fielded record numbers of candidates on Saturday, hoping to cash in on voter discontent.

    Having already made strong inroads in once tightly held Labor areas such as the inner-west, the Greens representation on councils increased 25 per cent, including 10 which have a Greens presence for the first time.

    “We attribute this not simply to a backlash against Labor, although that has undoubtedly been severe, particularly in Labor’s heartland, but also to the Greens’ consistent policies relating to a ban on developer donations, consistent opposition to the changes to the planning laws … a commitment to climate change and to working on that at the local level,” said Greens MLC Sylvia Hale.

    She said there had been significant swings in councils such as Byron Bay where the popularly elected mayor Jan Barham won more than 50 per cent of the vote and where the Greens achieved 46 per cent of the primary vote.

    The Greens took more than 40 per cent of the primary vote in Leichhardt and Marrickville, and expects its first councillors in Canterbury, Burwood, Wyong, Yass and Armidale.

    One of its surprise wins was in ALP-dominated Hurstville. A local resident, Anne Wagstaff, had battled for years to draw attention to what she believed was serious overdevelopment in the south-western suburbs. Out of frustration, she decided to stand as a Greens candidate.

    “I thought no one was listening but I was wrong about people being apathetic,” said Ms Wagstaff, whose Greens group had at last count won 20 per cent of the vote in the Peakhurst ward, giving her a seat on the council…

    Labor vote collapses in key areas – Greens boost numbers in NSW local govt elections (The Greens media release, 15/09/2008)

    “The Greens have identified six decisions by Minister Sartor and his department that have provided enormous financial benefit to generous ALP donors. Those developments include major residential developments proposed for Burwood in Sydney, Sandon Point near Wollongong, Catherine Hill Bay on the central coast, Branxton and Buckett’s Way in the Hunter Valley and Tralee near Queenbeyan.”

    “Nearly $900,000 has changed hands between these developers and the NSW ALP. All of them have received favourable decisions from Mr Sartor or his department, in at least three cases against independent advice.

    “Mr Sartor may be gone but the mess he made of [the] planning system remains behind and needs to be cleaned up,” said Ms Hale.

    Further, Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said “The Labor government will crash in coming by-elections if Premier Nathan Rees does not move quickly to change the damaging policies of his predecessors.

    “At the top of his agenda should be repealing pro-developer planning laws and banning corporate donations to political parties,” said Ms Rhiannon.

  14. Jim QLD says:

    Thanks @ndy I hope you and Darrin will be very happy together.

  15. Marlene says:

    4% not bad for limited cashed up Aussie battlers.

    Attacking your own people the Australians, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

    All your antics and gossip and mischief making on this issue, it’s a bit old hat isn’t it.

  16. Dr. Cam says:

    But Marlene, if their first allegiance is to a long-defunct foreign political movement, they are hardly real Australians, are they?

  17. @ndy says:

    G’day Marleen,

    Not bad? Perhaps. Not too good either. Since the ‘Revolution’ in Cronulla on December 10, 2005, the Australia First Party (in your terminology “Aussie battlers”), has been trying desperately to make political hay out of the racist outburst that occurred there. Your purpose: to deconstruct “the multiculti order” and to re-construct a White Australia. To this end, to rid Australia of people of Asian, Jewish and Middle Eastern descent (with the exception of Dr. Jim), and various other racial and ethnic undesireables. This has little to do with securing the interests of poor old Aussie battlers — what? can’t bear to use the term ‘working class’? — and a good deal more to do with realising the phantasies of a tiny group of racists led by a fascist ideologue.

    I’m not ashamed — as a white, working class, Australian-born male — to state that I oppose AF and reject its program as being the fascist nonsense that it is. If you wish to dispute any of the facts contained in the post above, feel free. Simply dismissing opposing views by way of referring to “gossip” and “mischief making” is indicative of nothing other than your own political shortcomings.

    Revolution in Cronulla
    Dr. Jim Saleam
    Nationalist News, #1
    December 11, 2005

    For the first time since 1966 when the White Australia Policy was abandoned and betrayed, there was a mass Australian peoples protest against the multiculti order. It was heartening and a sign of things to come.

    The events today in Cronulla were remarkable proof of the existence of a grassroots Australian nationalism… Over 5000 – and possibly as many as 7000 people gathered along the foreshore at Cronulla. The beach was alive with Australian youth and families, the sort of guts of the Aussie normality… The sausage stand was popular and free. The slogan on the board (photographed by media) read “No Tabouli”…

    I was told that the lunatic Darp and Resistance had indicated on the Internet that something would take place in Cronulla against racism (sic). Well, I didn’t see them, nor did any report come to me. For the first time in decades, Australians ruled their own streets. No Trotskyites, no “anti-racist” goons, no cranks like Darp. Nationalists were present and thousands of items of material were snapped up by the crowd…

    …for today, the multiculti thugs in government were on the losing team. If there was any proof needed that ultimately there were Australians ready to stand up and be counted it was duly provided.

    Stand up and be counted eh?

  18. Wow! Great to see all this electoral discussion.
    I was a Labor candidate for the Balmain area (third on the ticket I hasten to add, as I have no desire to become a councillor). My take on the election is similar, in that it was a kick-up-the-pants vote, encouraged by a relentless media campaign to use LOCAL elections to vote on the STATE government, ie sacrificing Local government interests to make a political point on state matters. The ALP believes local government is important enough to warrant local elections to be fought on local issues. It was not. And the result will soon be apparent, at least in Leichhardt. The great majority of councillors are totally inexperienced. I think there are only two or three out of 12 have ever before been councillors. That experience will be sorely missed over the next four years.

  19. Pingback: NSW local council election results : far left and far right (2012) | slackbastard

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