A change of direction !

The preliminary results of Saturday's Wollongong and Shellharbour council elections  reflect the damage that has been done to the Labor brand in Federal, State - and now local government jurisdictions.   In previous decades the Illawarra was known Australia wide as rock solid Labor heartland.   It elected the odd independent, but was a closed shop as far as Liberal representation was concerned.

The final outcome will not be clear until absentee and postal votes are counted, but there is no doubt that for the first time endorsed Liberals will sit on both councils.   There will be a Labor presence, but it will no longer control either council by way of overwhelming number superiority.   There will also be a mix of independents - some of which have disguised party affiliations - and most wards will  have a Green representative.

As expected, leading independent Gordon Bradbery looks set to take the Lord Mayoral chair.   He polled 33.6% of the votes, compared to Liberal John Dorahay's 22.5% - with Labor's Christ Connor bringing up the rear at 18.9%.

This election will surely cause both the main political parties to stop and think - long and hard - about their attitude to the Illawarra.     In the past, it suffered a two way blow because of it's rigid voting pattern.   Labor ignored it because is was rock solid, welded on Labor heartland which could be counted on to deliver despite lack of spending in this area.

When the Liberals were in power it was considered unwinnable - and therefore not worth wasting money to try and achieve a voting swing.

Both sides of politics will now need to evaluate their policies and treat the Illawarra seriously.   The Liberals have won seats at a critical time in Australian politics.  Labor is in decline, but we live in uncertain times despite our economy looking world standard in comparison with the US and Europe.

The problem is that mining and it's export base are propping up that economy at the same time our other exports are slipping away, and the mining boom will not last forever.

We need wise heads at all levels of government to make sure that Australia remains " the lucky country ".
The first step should be for those newly elected to the Illawarra councils to forget politics - and work together to advance this region.

Clearly - that is what the voters intended !