Newcastle's 2024 council election race has drawn parallels with the local government poll in 2021.
Both elections have involved an incumbent Labor majority trying to hold onto its power, and a group of Independent challengers fiercely opposed to them.
In 2021, it was former Liberal party member, independent councillor John Church running for lord mayor.
Now it is former Labor life member Ross Kerridge, who quit the party to run as an independent after trying to unseat lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes in Labor preselection.
Dr Kerridge is running a full ticket of candidates in each ward.
Also in the wards, the Greens have a chance of increasing their representation to three councillors, while the Liberals are hoping to maintain their three spots on council, despite the party not running candidates in ward three after an infamous bungle with registrations.
The two parties have put up first-term councillors as their lord mayoral candidates, the Greens with councillor Charlotte McCabe and councillor Callum Pull putting his hand up for the Liberals.
Cr McCabe has clashed with Labor at times throughout the term over various issues, but the two parties have preferenced each other in their how-to-vote information.
Returning Liberal candidates Cr Pull and councillor Jenny Barrie also appear to have unified after a rift developed in the party early in the term when Cr Pull accused Cr Barrie of ambushing him by not supporting one of his motions.
The third elected Liberal, Cr Katrina Wark, will recontest ward three as an independent after not receiving endorsement from the party.
Labor has had its own internal issues, with councillors in a bitter and public feud with Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery over issues including pool management and the letters to the editor saga.
The battle for lord mayor has turned personal at times, with Cr Nelmes comparing Dr Kerridge to Donald Trump, and Dr Kerridge running social media advertisements with pictures of Cr Nelmes, accusing her of "wasteful glamour projects", "undermining and wrecking for her own career ambitions" and "publicity stunts".
Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen has defended Cr Nelmes' leadership on spending and described the terms vanity and glamour projects as "gendered", while Dr Kerridge said he won't attack councillors and called the lord mayor's description of him "bizarre".
On a wider scale, Labor's rivals have pitched a "need for change" to voters while the party in power is focusing on "stability" and "experience".
Labor has pointed to its spending on infrastructure, renewable energy and housing, the Liberals have targeted rate relief, parking, the council's proposed affordable housing levy in their appeals to voters, the Greens have made pledges on cycleways, electric vehicle charging and housing and Dr Kerridge's Our Newcastle has committed to pool improvements and sporting upgrades.
Sporting upgrades have become a major issue in ward three, which has emerged as a key battleground in the election.
Newcastle council's involvement in selecting the site for the proposed relocation of Newcastle's basketball stadium has become a major talking point in the ward and some candidates have declared their opposition to the location.
Labor's most unsafe position on the council is the second position in ward three, so councillor Margaret Wood's re-election could be the deciding factor in the party retaining its majority.
The seven Labor councillors have voted together as a bloc on almost every single motion during the council term, meaning retaining a majority will be crucial to how decisions are made in the next four years.
THE MAYORAL CANDIDATES: IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Steve O'Brien, Socialist Alliance
Census and water usage data indicates that over 3000 private dwellings in our council area are unoccupied.
As lord mayor, I would work to have vacant properties either tenanted or the owners paying higher rates.
This can help with accommodation and put a lid on rents and house prices.
Council also needs consistency on climate change.
I support the Rising Tide harbour 'blockade' in November as well as the good, unionised jobs that wind power generation can create.
Council support for a weapons factory at Williamtown Airport however is wrong.
Weapons create few jobs and make council complicit in the sort of human rights abuses that we see in Gaza.
We need our council to move back from corporate agendas and refocus on community.
By putting people before profit, council can help re-establish trust with the community and avoid unwanted grandiose infrastructure projects and the rate rises that go with them.
Having been elected to the governing body of my union and as vice-president of the NSW State Public Service Federation/Community and Public Sector Union, I am appalled by Labor's recent actions against the CFMEU and its members.
They not only built this city but also through the green bans helped save much of our parklands and heritage.
I work at TAFE and with experience in financial management, I am financially literate and understand the governance of large institutions and the importance of keeping them grounded in the community they are meant to serve.
Milton Caine, independent
I am a wheelchair-accessible taxi driver, married with four adult children with their developing families, most in the Newcastle/Hunter Valley area.
A lord mayor should be a servant leader and not self-serving as we have so often seen.
Western Australian born and raised in difficult financial circumstances saw me work for 20 cents per hour picking stones and sticks from ploughed paddocks to assist the family budget.
After school I qualified as a panel beater/mechanic then studied theology in Sydney before working overseas for 10 years.
I came to Newcastle in 1980. Political policy development is in my blood with a strong Christian moral and compassionate care for the vulnerable who are the forgotten people today.
Pious platitudes cannot deliver affordable housing only real action can. I will find a way for a rent target of $265pw.
The playgrounds and ovals are for sport and not for developers.
Council responsibility is roads, footpaths, gardens, grass verges, pools and garbage; I will put this front and centre where it should be.
We need much more car parking and places to safely set-down our walker- and wheelchair-bound people from their transport in the CBD.
All roads need to be fit for purpose and repaired properly.
The flooding problems at Wallsend and beach erosion at Stockton need urgent resolution.
I will deliver honesty and integrity, never forgetting the vulnerable.
Ross Kerridge, Our Newcastle Independents
I grew up in Newcastle. After school I worked at BHP as a labourer for three months before going to university, as did many of my school mates. I became a doctor and specialist anaesthetist after training in Sydney, England and Canada.
I am proud to have worked for over 25 years at the busy John Hunter Hospital. I have had an internationally influential career in medicine. I am finishing clinical practice later this year.
It is time for change in our local government. The community of Newcastle is sick of stories of council meetings resembling children bickering in a schoolyard; by poor decision making; expensive overruns on multiple projects that have questionable community support; privatisation and commercialisation of public places such as swimming pools and Blackbutt reserve; loss of open space and bushland; relentless photo opportunities; rumours of media manipulation, 'dodgy deals', and 'jobs for mates'.
As lord mayor, I will have five priorities.
A council that listens and works respectfully together for all the community. Stopping waste and focussing on the things that matter to the community. Re-establishing financial accountability and transparency. Planning for Newcastle's needs, not Sydney or corporate interests. Bringing people together through building community.
I would hope that by serving as lord mayor I would remove the community's concern about council being dominated by factional warfare and career building, and build an ethos of putting the community first in everything that we do.
Callum Pull, Liberal
The Newcastle Liberals offer the passion, experience and economic leadership needed to lead our city.
We have a plan to ease cost-of-living pressures and tackle housing affordability by delivering lower rates, better roads, and fresh leadership to build a better Newcastle.
One of our key priorities is to stop the council's big new housing tax which will drive up house prices and rents across the LGA, and instead provide incentives to encourage the construction of new homes.
The Newcastle Liberals will freeze rates for the full council term.
With soaring cost-of-living pressures, we believe council should take an active role in the battle against inflation and deliver real cost of living relief.
We will restore Australia Day citizenship ceremonies and introduce new celebrations including free pool entry and community barbecues so that we can all enjoy our national day.
The Newcastle Liberals will improve the liveability of our city by addressing parking issues, cutting housing red tape, and reversing the ban on gas appliances. We will remove the 30kmh zones in Darby Street and Honeysuckle, and halt the rollout of additional paid parking across the city and on our beaches.
As lord mayor, I will provide the strong civic leadership needed to stop the federal government's offshore wind turbine proposal, while supporting Newcastle's ongoing economic development by advocating for increased manufacturing and defence industries in Newcastle and the Hunter.
My team and I offer the enthusiasm and experience needed to lead our city in the years ahead.
Nuatali Nelmes, Labor
Nuatali in her role as lord mayor has transformed the city.
Nuatali understands the dedication and energy it takes to deliver this change. Her leadership has fostered positive change for our city through consistent hard work, stability, and collaboration.
Under Nuatali's experienced leadership, the City of Newcastle has delivered an unprecedented investment of $1 billion in public infrastructure, laying the foundation for a vibrant, inclusive, and thriving community.
This includes investments that have enabled Newcastle to:
- Become the first council in NSW to use 100 per cent renewable energy, including with a large council-owned solar farm.
- Build new social and affordable housing by investing in a $12 million funding agreement with Homes NSW.
- Deliver Bathers Way and the long-awaited upgrades to the Newcastle Ocean Baths.
- Upgrade local centres including Stockton, Beresfield, Kotara, Orchardtown Road, Wallsend, Shortland, with works commencing at Georgetown, and planning underway for Mayfield and Adamstown.
- Deliver 35 new playgrounds across Newcastle and saved Blackbutt from closure.
- Plant thousands of new park and street trees across the city.
- Start works on the widening of Minmi Road and addressing Wallsend flooding.
- Investing in culture and the arts, including supporting live music, expanding the Newcastle Art Gallery, and creating New Annual cultural festival
Nuatali's positive vision for the future is clear - she is seeking for Newcastle to remain a fantastic place to live and raise a family.
A re-elected Newcastle Labor team will focus on getting the job done; supporting our residents; enhancing our pools, parks and playgrounds; protecting our environment; and ensuring Newcastle is a fun, vibrant and active city.
Charlotte McCabe, Greens
I'm a mother, a teacher, a community organiser and a lifelong community campaigner. I care deeply about democracy being the best tool we have to allow people power to deliver outcomes for the public good.
As a ward two councillor since 2022, I've worked hard to represent my community as a strong local voice, and to ensure transparent, evidence-based, decision making. I've been outspoken on moving Supercars out of the East End, for transitioning our region towards a prosperous low-carbon future, and against Newcastle council profiting from weapons manufacturers through their ownership of the Newcastle Airport.
I'm proud to be leading a unified, passionate, experienced team with a positive vision for the future, and we have clear commitments and policy proposals to achieve this. The Greens have been working to make Newcastle a liveable city since 1991, and I'm committed to continue to work with and for the community in order to address the big challenges we face with housing, climate change and the cost of living crisis.
As lord mayor, I will work to build trust in local government through ensuring an open, transparent, council. I will ensure the Broadmeadow redevelopment is handled with close community partnership to deliver affordable homes with the services and infrastructure required. I will prioritise supporting all residents and businesses in a pathway to electrification, in order to reduce our city-wide emissions by 2040, and I will oversee a council that supports our most vulnerable community members, because we only succeed when we succeed together.
