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One of the key questions to be asked about democracy in Wollongong, is what are the future directions for this city in terms of local government. Who will run for Council when the time comes, and who will the public vote for?
Politics expert Anthony Ashbolt noted that Wollongong is an area with ironed on Labor voters, and this carries the risk of the same kind of candidates being elected.
“It’s highly likely in Wollongong that you’ll get some of the same sort of people elected, and there’ll be the same sort of risks, he said.
“I hope however, that the highlighting of corruption will mean that those some that are elected are well outnumbered by people who are in fact elected by the community at large on a ticket of responsibility and accountability.”
When asked if he’d run again, sacked Councillor David Brown conceded that even if he did want to run for Council, support levels for members of the former council in the community would be low.
However, 80km north of Wollongong another working-class Labor stronghold - Liverpool – provides an interesting case study that raises questions about whether or not four years of administration can really cleanse a Council.
Liverpool Council was sacked in 2004 after ICAC found corruption in regard to the Oasis project. Oasis was an $850 million project that would build a basketball arena, stadium and sporting complex, in conjunction with Macquarie Bank and the Bulldogs Leagues Club.
Read more about the Oasis scandal
After sacking the council, the State Government appointed Gabrielle Kibble – now one of Wollongong’s three administrators – to administrate Liverpool Council for four years.
In 2008, when Liverpool voted in a new Council, one of the key Mayoral candidates was Wendy Waller – former deputy mayor in the sacked Council. The Liverpool Champion reported at the time that some residents and council candidates said Ms Waller shouldn’t stand for mayor, due to her connections to the Oasis issue.
Read the Liverpool Champion article
However, Ms Waller proclaimed her innocence and went on to win the election.
Ms Waller may be the best woman for the job, and was perhaps voted in as Mayor because she is the person who best represents her constituents in Liverpool. But the fact that the city defaulted back to the same Council candidates so quickly after a period of corruption and administration certainly raises questions about the future of democracy in Wollongong.
What will happen in 2012 when Wollongong once again gets to vote in a local government?
Business leader Mark McDonald said the solution for Wollongong is a strong independent Council, so that elected representatives have to work for and earn the respect of the electorate.
But as a traditionally Labor-voting region, will Wollongong follow in the footsteps of Liverpool and re-elect members of the sacked Council? And what does this say about democracy in Wollongong?
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Read more articles about Liverpool City Council
The Liverpool City Champion: Former Liverpool councillor Wendy Waller believes people do not have a negative view of her because she sat on the council that was sacked in 2004.
Liverpool Council's promising performance
The Liverpool City Champion: Some people are probably disappointed our newly elected councillors haven't set the world on fire in the month or so they've been in office. The truth is everyone will need to be patient; we have got to give our democratically elected representatives time to hit their stride.
New mayor Wendy Waller no stranger to controversy
The Daily Telegraph: She will be Liverpool's first mayor in over four years, but Wendy Waller is no stranger to the people of the southwest - she was sacked in 2004 over an $800 million development scandal. Ms Waller was deputy mayor on the Labor-dominated council thrown out over the failed Oasis joint venture with the Bulldogs Leagues Club. But Ms Waller makes no apologies for her time on the council as deputy and chair of the finance committee.
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