Bolter Cristie heads vote count in Clarence

By Tim Howard

Voters have again shown their faith in a newbie to local politics with Ulmarra’s Cristie Yager streeting the field in early counting following Saturday’s Clarence Valley Council election.

At the close of counting and with 18,790 votes counted (17,106 formal, 1684 informal) Ms Yager tallied 2845 votes or 16.63% of the formal ballots cast.

This put her more than 1000 votes clear of Mayor Peter Johnstone on 1789 and incumbent Greens councillor Greg Clancy on 1726.

They are the only candidates on track to reach the quota on first preference votes and of the three, Ms Yager is comfortably on track with a quota ratio of 1.66. Cr Johnstone was on 1.05 and Cr Clancy was at 1.01.

To achieve their quota and election to council a candidate must secure a quota. The NSW Electoral Commission arrives at this figure by dividing the number of first preferences by the number of candidates plus one. They add one to the quotient, creating an absolute majority.

Candidates are elected once they reach this number.

The 2024 result has echoes with the 2021 poll when Grafton businessman Jeff Smith topped the poll and during the term went on to become deputy mayor from September 2023.

After preferences in 2021 Cr Smith had 6022 votes representing 19.64% of formal votes.

But he had a much higher profile running a popular ice cream parlour in Grafton and having a prominent role in community groups, including the Jacaranda Festival.

Outside the top three another first time candidate, Warregah Island farmer Shane Causley on 1318, former Grafton City Council general manager Ray Smith on 1209, incumbent councillor Allison Whaites on 1190, Yamba’s Lynne Cairns on 1135 and another sitting councillor, Debrah Novak on 1007.

Former Clarence Valley deputy mayor Craig Howe has followed the past two local government elections closely, since he bowed out ahead of the 2021 poll.

Greens candidate Greg Clancy has polled strongly in the Lower Clarence where issues such as flood plain development have been upmost in voters’ minds.

He had picked Ms Yager as his bolter for this election and she did not disappoint him.

“I think she put in a lot of hard yards, got out there meeting people and knocking on doors and bit of old school campaigning. I think, obviously it worked for her,” he said.

He said the tattooed and dreadlocked Ms Yager has struck a surprising chord with Clarence Valley voters.

“She seems like she just speaks her mind,” he said

“Basically it is: this is how I feel. This is what I think. I like people, and I want to work with people.

“I don’t know how long that will take to get that enthusiasm beat out of her.

“I hope it never does, because that’s the sort of person we need.”

He said Ms Yager would bring a freshness to the council which was needed

“You have the experienced guys you know, the Ray Smiths of the world who know the rules really well, yeah.

“But you also know people like her to keep them grounded and keep reminding them that they’re there for the people, not there just for council.”

Mr Howe said the vote, with Ms Yager and Cr Clancy securing a quota could be “wild” when it came to distribution of preference.

He said any candidate with 1000 plus votes now would be hard to beat, which could have a couple of incumbents struggling.

Current councillors Karen Toms (894) and Steve Pickering (628) were “struggling” Mr Howe said.

“Karen might get on, but I think Pickering is gone,” he said.

He said controversial Yamba identity Lynne Cairns, a vocal critic of the former council, was likely to be elected, as was Ray Smith.

Clarence Valley mayor Peter Johnstone was second in the early count and is on target to achieve a quota on first preferences.

But he said the if the preference flows from Yager and Clancy went toward “Green” candidates, some further down the list could be elevated.

“Cristie didn’t have a how to vote card I don’t believe,” he said. “But I think a lot of her votes probably will be sort of some sort of Green or  left-ish, sort of.

“I don’t think many of all preference say Alison Whaites.”

He said this could bring a candidate like Melissa Hellwig (507) into consideration.

“I don’t think it’s likely, but it’s not out of the question,” he said.

Mr Howe described the informal vote of 8.96% of ballots cast as “crap.”

“Every time it’s about the same percentage,” he said. “We always say ‘that’s crap’. I’d rather they didn’t vote at all if they’re going to vote informally.”

Incumbent mayor Peter Johnstone thanked people for their votes.

“Although it is early in the count with only half the votes presently counted, I’d like to thank the people of the Valley for their support and faith in me,” he said.

He said there had been a massive increase in pre-poll voting, which were counted after the ballots cast on polling day.

“It is likely that the pre-poll votes will mirror the vote on election day, (but) there is potential for a few surprises, so it would be a brave commentator to call the election as yet.”

He congratulated Ms Yager on her success.

”Cristie has run an excellent campaign and thoroughly deserves her excellent results,” he said.

“I have enjoyed getting to know her better and think she will make an excellent councillor.”

He said other candidates had performed well.

“I also met Shane (Causley) at pre-poll several times and was very impressed,” he said.

“He was clearly well known and liked by many, particularly in the farming and sugar industries and this is reflected in his impressive polling figures.

“Greg Clancy has also had a strong following.”

He said counting of the pre-poll votes started on Monday, but the electorate would wait until the start of October for the final results.

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