Clash over Berry’s Bay land swap | Labor to cancel beach tunnel? | After the lockdown
November 2021/Issue 8
News and views for North Sydney’s residential and business communities
www.northsydneysun.com.au
It’s now or never: rally for the Bears By Grahame Lynch North Sydney Bears supporters want to emulate the famous rally by South Sydney in November 2000 which saw tens of thousands of fans march from Redfern to Sydney Town Hall to call for the restoration of their team to the National Rugby League competition. The action ultimately led to their return to the competition the following year. With the National Rugby League recently selecting the Redcliffe, Queensland-based Dolphins to be its 17th team, North Sydney Bears supporters have decided its now or never to make their bid to be recalled to the top competition. According to independent candidate for North Sydney Council, James Mullan, there will be probably only be room for one more team—and the Bears will likely be up against competition from Queensland, New Zealand and Western Australia for that spot. Mullan says a rally akin to that mounted by South supporters two decades ago would be an enormous filip for the club’s campaign—tapping into the strong sentiment for one of the foundation teams of Sydney rugby league dating back to 1908.
James Mullan The idea for a rally came from an unofficial Facebook group for Bears supporters called the Den and, specifically, one of its 3,000 participants: Rob McKinnon. Mullan told the North Sydney Sun: “His original idea was actually to march from NRL HQ to North Sydney Oval, which still could happen, but it’s a bit of a walk. My idea is to do something around the shell in St Leonards Park. The important thing is there is still thousands of Bears fans out there. So if we can just get everyone together to make a huge statement to the NRL that we want our team back, then I reckon it would make a huge differ-
ence just as it did for Souths in 2000.” Mullan points out that the Souths rally has entered into the urban folklore of Sydney and that the Bears must do something similar if they want to return to the top league. “The thing is with the Dolphins coming into the competition, the NRL has showed its hand now that we've got our second Brisbane team. Now it's down to Perth, a second New Zealand team, possibly another Queensland team or Central Coast and North Sydney,” Mullan says. “So it’s either now or never for the Bears. Once it goes to an 18 team competition, I don’t think the NRL’s
going to extend again. So I think now’s the time to make a huge push.” Mullan estimates there is still a hard core 2,000-3,000 fans who attend the Bears’ current games in the second tier NSW Cup that would mobilise for a rally. Then he points to the wider group of passive fans— estimated to number 200,000—and the extensive cohort of rugby league nostalgics who would support the return of the Bears to the top league. This is despite the fact that it is over 20 years since the Bears’ Northern Eagles joint venture collapsed. Continued page 3
Third time lucky: Dec 4 local election is GO From the editor It’s been deferred twice in the past 14 months but it looks like North Sydney residents will finally get a chance to elect their ten councillors on Saturday, December 4. The election was first delayed last year and again in September by the pandemic. However it is now definitely proceeding on December 4, with North Sydney electors able to vote one of three ways: in person voting with either pre-poll from November 22 or on the day itself, online iVoting between the same dates and postal voting, with applications closing 29 November. For candidates, nominations close on 3 November. Candidates have been able to pre-register and as we went to print on 25 October only five of the incumbent councillors had done so: namely, Jilly Gibson, Alanya Drummond, Ian Mutton, Stephen Barbour and Jessica Keen.
The electorate system has radically changed compared to last time, largely because a referendum was narrowly carried which removed the right to vote for a mayor from electors and places it in the hands of councillors. The old system of nine councillors from three wards and a separate mayor doesn’t work mathematically when the mayor has to be a councillor first. This is because ten isn’t divisible by three. So the decision has been made that North Sydney will be split into two wards electing five councillors each. The north St Leonards ward broadly covers the suburbs of North Cremorne; Cremorne (north of Military Rd); Neutral Bay (north of Military Rd); Crows Nest; the eastern tip of St. Leonards; and Wollstonecraft and has around 23,400 registered voters. The south Cammeraygal ward broadly covers the suburbs of Cremorne Point; Kurraba Point; Cre-
North Sydney goes to the polls
morne (south of Military Rd); Neutral Bay (south of Military Rd); Kirribilli; Lavender Bay; Milson’s Point; and Waverton and has around 24,700 registered voters. There are six major tickets running in St Leonards Ward: Team Jilly led by Cr Alanya Drummond, North Sydney 1st by Cr Stephen Barbour, North Sydney Labor led by Godfrey Santer, Community First led by Cr Jessica Keen, the Sustainable Australia Party led by William Bourke and Team Spenceley led by James Spenceley. The competition is less numerically fierce in Cammeraygal Ward. Team Jilly is headed by Mayor Jilly Gibson,
Labor by Shannon Welch, Team Elle by Elle Prevost and Community First by Ian Mutton. A prominent independent, James Mullan, is also in the race. It is still likely that other prominent candidates may join the race before the nominations deadline. As for the process to elect mayor, that won’t take place until the newly elected councillors take their place in early January at the next Council meeting. The process will not be particularly exhaustive or transparent if the recent example of the election of the deputy mayor is any indication: there was no opportunity or willingness for any of the three candidates to speak to their candidacy, and one was eliminated on a flip of a coin due to a tie! Our next edition will feature a full guide on the candidates, their positions and feature our behind-thescenes reporting on their campaign activities.