A huge vote against the Labor and Liberal candidates in the April 18 by-election for Newcastle Lord Mayor largely went to independent Gavin Morris.
The combined Greens and socialist primary vote was 24% (20% Greens, 3% Socialist Alliance) — nearly equaled the combined Labor and Liberal vote of 23.4% (16.4% Labor, 7% Liberal). Morris took more than 50% of the primary vote.
The Socialist Alliance vote of over 3% is a rise on the 2.6% we won in the 2024 mayoral election.
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of independent mayor Ross Kerridge, due to illness.
Kerridge, a former Labor Party life member, had broken with Labor to run as an independent under the “Our Newcastle” banner in the 2024 election.
This break was strongly supported by residents who are fed up with the Labor-dominated council ignoring community concerns over high-rise developments, spending priorities and the controversial Newcastle 500 Supercars high-speed car race in the inner city.
Kerridge defeated Labor’s Nuatali Nelmes 34% to 32% in 2024, the latter suffering a –10% swing. Nelmes then resigned her council position to become regional director of Property Council Australia, the advocacy body for landlords.
Newcastle Council, made up of five Labor, two Liberal, three Greens and two independent councillors elected on the Our Newcastle ticket, has been marked by tension over the last year and a half. One issue was Kerridge’s supporters wanting councillors to be seated according to the ward they represented, not party affiliation, but this is not happen.
Kerridge was unable to implement his popular election promise for free entry into the council’s swimming pools. He resigned from council earlier this year mainly because of health reasons. His supporters swung behind Morris, a former weather and news reporter on local TV station NBN3.
Morris pitched himself as a progressive independent and a fresh face who “stood above” party politics.
Labor’s candidate, long-serving Councillor Declan Clausen, was closely identified with the previous administration, for which he had served as deputy Lord Mayor. His candidacy failed to inspire Labor voters and supporters, leading to less volunteers for polling.
Despite his vague platform, Morris’ sweeping victory represented a great distrust and dissatisfaction with the two-party system. This political ambiguity may have also scooped up the Pauline Hanson One Nation (PHON) vote, which has risen significantly around the country.
While PHON polled 16% in the nearby seat of Hunter, it barely reached 5% in Newcastle in the 2025 federal election.
People are very concerned with rising rents and housing prices. In the middle of the worst housing crisis in years, 10% of housing stock around the country is vacant and there were more than 1200 vacant dwellings in the 2300 postcode (inner Newcastle), according to the 2021 Census.
In addition to campaigning for more public housing, Socialist Alliance called for Council to impose a tax on vacant housing and Airbnbs through higher rates. This would free up more housing for renters, help put downward pressure on house prices and rents and, hopefully, allow people to keep living in neighbourhoods they’ve always lived in.
Families who have lived in neighbourhoods for years and built up social networks should not be forced to move a long way from where they work or study, because of rent rises.
The Socialist Alliance and the Greens stood out from all the other candidates by defending the Rising Tide annual climate emergency protest. In the largest candidate meeting, hosted by Hunter Community Forum in Newcastle Town Hall, I argued that the fossil fuel industry had been getting a free ride and needs to be nationalised so we can have a proper transition to renewables.
While the City of Newcastle has formally recognised the climate emergency and the need to transition away from coal, the federal Labor government has been subsidising a transition to an arms industry based on land which is part-owned by the Newcastle City Council in Williamtown.
The Socialist Alliance supports Rising Tide’s campaign against the transition to the weapons industry, which makes us complicit in war and genocide.
[Steve O’Brien was the Socialist Alliance candidate in the Newcastle mayoral by-election. Get in touch if you would like to find out more or get more involved.]