Candidates are quietly organising ahead of the City of Perth’s upcoming election as they strive to distance themselves from the factionalism of the previous council.
John McCourt is a straight shooter.
As chief executive of RSL WA, and with a varied professional career added to more than 24 years’ experience in the Australian Defence Force, Mr McCourt would appear qualified for public office.
In declaring his bid earlier this month for the City of Perth’s upcoming election, Mr McCourt pitched himself as a candidate who would stand up for law and order in the city and ‘walk the talk’.
The public safety aspect of his campaign is something with which he is well acquainted, having been assaulted on St Georges Terrace in February.
Despite his stance on this issue, however, Mr McCourt is self-effacing when asked about the details of his campaign.
He admits no major political or business figures are advising him, has declined to align himself with any other candidates to form a ‘ticket’ on the ballot, and has published no prominent endorsements for his candidacy.
To hear him describe it, his ambitions are modest.
“If you’re going to complain about something, you need to be prepared to stand up and do it,” Mr McCourt told Business News.
Of course, Mr McCourt’s decision may also reflect the political realities of this election, which is being held in the shadow of the City of Perth inquiry.
The full, 1,972-page report, which was released to the public in August following more than two years of investigations into possible criminal conduct by the now-suspended council, yielded numerous accusations of wrongdoing, among them conflicted business dealings and voter fraud.
In seeking the root cause of the issue, the report appeared to lay much of the blame on the council’s factionalism, which was thought to have affected planning decisions and administrative functions.
Then lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi is frequently cited as the source of much of this division, despite no referral for wrongdoing having been made by the inquiry.
That may be part of why, despite being relatively well known in the community, Mr McCourt will go to the city’s voters as an independent in October’s council election.
He appears aware of the difficulties he will face as a result but is forthright in his belief it’s the right thing for him to do.
“It’s me running as me,” Mr McCourt said.
“That makes it harder to get elected, but I’ve got to walk the talk.”
His struggle is not unique.
Candidates up and down the ballot have repeatedly insisted they will act in a nonpartisan, independent manner if elected, and have for the most part declined outside help in an effort to solidify their standing with voters.
That’s been the case for at least half of all lord mayoral candidates to declare so far, with retired magistrate Tim Schwass, media personality Mark Gibson, and architect and town planner Sandy Anghie all telling Business News their candidacy was independent and unaided by external parties.
Some candidates, such as Spacecubed founder and managing director Brodie McCulloch, have circumvented this by engaging volunteers to help raise awareness of his candidacy, fundraise, and register voters ahead of the election.
Mr McCulloch told Business News this approach had yielded greater awareness of his campaign, with dozens of volunteers proficient in computer programming now working for his campaign as a result of his ‘hackathon’ event held earlier this month (see Technology, p36).
That’s in addition to major figures from the business community who have volunteered for the campaign, such as Business News columnist and Damburst founder Charlie Gunningham, Keystart chief operating officer Lindsay O'Sullivan, and Appbot co-founder and chief executive Claire McGregor.
Independence has similarly extended to political alignments, with all six lord mayoral candidates understood to not be members of a political party.
That continues an emerging tradition of independent candidates for the city’s top job, with former leader of the government in the Senate, Reg Withers, the last candidate to become lord mayor while being affiliated with a political party. (Mr Withers won a single term as lord mayor in 1991.)
So far, just two lord mayoral candidates appear to have any visible political weight behind their campaigns: Activate Perth chair Di Bain and Channel 7 presenter Basil Zempilas.
Ms Bain, who is running independent of other candidates, has engaged CGM Communications to assist in several aspects of her campaign.
CGM Communications generally backs progressive and left-leaning political causes, having lobbied in favour of LGBTQI rights, unions and voluntary assisted dying.
Its two executive directors, Anthony Fisk and Daniel Smith, have connections to the Australian Labor Party WA.
Mr Fisk ran as the party’s non-preferred candidate in the City of Vincent’s 2015 council election, while Mr Smith served as a policy adviser to Geoff Gallop and Alan Carpenter, as well as being a director of Labor’s successful 2017 campaign.
Despite those connections, it is understood that Ms Bain is not affiliated with any political party, and she retains an active role managing her own campaign.
CGM Communications declined to provide comment for this story.
Meanwhile, Bob Kucera is providing assistance to Mr Zempilas.
A former minister in two Labor state governments, Mr Kucera has commented extensively on law and order issues since he left state parliament in 2009, having spent more than three decades with WA Police and served as assistant commissioner.
He is now serving as Mr Zempilas’s campaign chair, providing him with technical advice about his campaign and advising on policy matters where relevant.
Mr Kucera, who did not wish to be quoted on behalf of Mr Zempilas for this article, is also known to be providing advice to three candidates vying to be councillors: Friends Restaurant owner Clyde Bevan, Mustang Bar managing director Michael Keiller, and businesswoman Gloria Zhang.
Mr Bevan is also the only candidate of the three so far to make a public endorsement of any lord mayoral candidate, throwing his support behind Mr Zempilas when the latter announced his candidacy in July.
And while Mr Bevan said he was not seeking Mr Zempilas’s support in-kind, Mr Zempilas told Business News he thought the restaurateur was a greatly experienced businessman and city resident.
“When I announced my candidacy, he [Mr Bevan] spoke to me and said he was thinking of running, and I encouraged him to do so, as I have encouraged anyone else who has contacted me and said they’re thinking of running,” Mr Zempilas said.
“I think the more people who can be involved from a diverse range of backgrounds in this election, the better.”
Mr Bevan is a member of the Labor Party, and was the Labor-endorsed candidate in the state seat of Floreat in 1989 and Swan Hills in 1993.
He lost both times.
The only other council candidate with political affiliation is Brent Fleeton, who served a single term as councillor of the City of Bayswater and is a registered member of the Liberal Party WA.
Despite his Labor connection, Mr Bevan said he would not act in a partisan manner if elected.
“I’m quite happy to say we’re responsible for one another, and [the City of] Perth is a classic example where that has gone awry,” he said.
“I’m not ashamed of the fact I believe in our responsibility for one another.”
Mr Zempilas said he had also spoken with Ms Zhang and Mr Keiller, although neither candidate has publicly endorsed his lord mayoral bid.
Mr Keiller told Business News earlier this month that he would wait until closer to October to make an endorsement, while Ms Zhang simply said she found Mr Zempilas’s views to be “refreshing”, and that she was monitoring his candidacy closely.
When asked about criticisms he was assembling a ticket, which other candidates have said could foment factionalism in a newly elected council, Mr Zempilas disputed having ever said that was his intention, arguing he was simply providing informal support to candidates who shared his vision for the city.
“I will work with people who share my vision, and I am greatly encouraged by the fact I’ve had three people come forward who share my vision and would like to be part of a council I might run,” he said.
“We will work together to help each other where it crosses over.”
Mr Zempilas had also said he was speaking with some notable media figures, however, attempts to follow up by Business News came up short.
Elections to the City of Perth’s lord mayoralty and eight vacant council positions will be held on October 17.
Registration closes on August 28, with all residents, property owners and business occupants eligible to vote.
