The twists and turns of politics.

The ghost of an administration past - as a result of Saturday's election - is hovering over the resident's of Shellharbour's Oak Flats. Last year a new Police headquarters was opened at Oak Flats - amid much controversy. When the plans were initially submitted the council required that there be sixty-one on site parking places provided. The Police refused - and the then Labor government used it's planning powers to force the development through council. This Police headquarters involves two hundred and fifty staff - and with no parking provided in the new building - they have taken over the Oak Flats railway station commuters car park. Rail commuters are now locked out of the " park and ride " arrangements intended to coax travellers back onto trains. No doubt the member for the seat of Shellharbour will be screaming for the incoming administration to spend money to create additional parking to alleviate this problem - and this could be an early test of how the Illawarra stands in the eyes of the new premier. Despite the massacre of Labor held seats, Shellharbour returned a Labor candidate at Saturday's election. The incoming administration could take that as an indication that the voters of Shellharbour heartily approved of the actions of the previous government - and were in accord with forcing the construction of a new Police headquarters without on site parking. That being the case, the new administration would be loath to interfere with their wishes by foisting additional parking on them. It will certainly be interesting to see where this problem slots into the table of priorities !