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Sydney

Inside the chaotic city council that decides the future of Parramatta’s main mayor election

Residents of Parramatta will have to wait almost a decade before they get a chance to directly elect a lord mayor after city council members rejected plans for a referendum on the issue in a heated city council meeting full of references to Macbeth and denunciations of Trump-style political policies.

In an hour-long debate Monday night, Parramatta city councilors rejected a plan to ask residents to elect a leader for a four-year term or to continue electing a leader from among themselves within the council for two years. The question would have been asked during the September 2024 city council elections and, if successful, would have been implemented by the 2028 elections.

Six city council members voted in favor of the referendum motion, while nine voted against it.credit: Parramatta City Council

However, with the decision not to hold a referendum, the earliest year residents can elect their own mayor is 2032, making Parramatta an outlier in Greater Sydney’s CBD. Major cities such as Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and smaller city councils such as Burwood, Canada Bay and Fairfield all have popularly elected mayors. Ryde, which covers Macquarie Park CBD, will also join in 2024.

Parramatta Deputy Mayor Cameron McLean (ALP) introduced a motion condemning the deal taking place under the current system.

“In a mature city … I can’t imagine that the best way to elect our city’s leaders is to experience the immoral spectacle of horse racing,” he said. “Currently, due to the mayoral election of this city, Macbeth and King Lear It’s like a children’s bedtime story. “

But veteran independent city council member Lorraine Waren described the motion as “extreme Trumpism” and argued for the community. The city council polled 3,800 lawmakers. And while 64 percent were in favor of the referendum, they weren’t well informed about the potential consequences.

Former Parramatta Mayor Donna Davis and current Mayor Samir Pandey both supported the referendum.

Former Parramatta Mayor Donna Davis and current Mayor Samir Pandey both supported the referendum.credit: Parramatta Council

“Despicable haste [are] It’s the only word I can use to describe what’s going on across the hall tonight,” she said.

But as Ms Waren finished her speech and MPs grew more and more exhausted, Labour MP Angela Humphries accused Donna Davis, a former mayor and parramatta new MP, of yelling at her in the chamber.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/trumpish-in-its-extreme-inside-the-chaotic-meeting-that-decided-the-future-of-parramatta-s-council-20230725-p5dr04.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_national_nsw Inside the chaotic city council that decides the future of Parramatta’s main mayor election

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