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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-10-14 Daily Xml
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MITCHAM CITY COUNCIL

Mr PISONI (Unley) (16:05): The South Australian Labor Party is involved in a clandestine attempt to take over the Mitcham council using two apparatchiks—one from the left faction of the Labor Party and one from the right faction of the Labor Party—to launch an assault on the top job. Neither of the ALP candidates has openly declared in their election material that they are members of the ALP, nor have they declared that they are both employed by state Labor Party members engaged in political work.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me for one second, member for Unley. Members on my right, I understand that you are excited, but I actually cannot hear the member for Unley very well. Let us hear what he has to say.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Let us hear what he has to say. Carry on, member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: They might not like what I am saying, but they should be defending my right to say it, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am.

Mr PISONI: Mitcham residents may not be aware that the two Labor Party figures running for mayor at the council elections are ALP identities. The Labor figures are Michael Picton, currently a serving member of the Mitcham council, and Ms Adriana Christopoulos, a former councillor of West Torrens, who has only just recently moved into the district. Ms Christopoulos was a candidate for the ALP at the 2010 state election in the seat of Fisher, where she ran against Liberal candidate Chris Moriarty and the sitting member Bob Such. Ms Christopoulos is a member of Emily's List and is a convenor of the Labor Women's Network in South Australia. She works for Rann Labor government minister and star from the left faction of the Labor Party, the member for Hartley, Grace Portolesi.

Mr Picton, who is a well-known Labor Party identity in the Mitcham area, has been regularly sighted manning polling booths for the ALP during state and federal elections. Mr Picton assisted the Labor candidate for Waite at the last state election and is listed in the Parliament House telephone directory as being employed by the apprentice of the member for Croydon, Mr Finnigan, Labor MLC from the Labor Party's right faction in the other place.

A search of the website and campaign material of both Ms Christopoulos and Mr Picton reveals no identification of either candidate with the ALP. It keeps secret their membership of the Labor Party and their activities and employment with the Rann Labor government. The other candidates, it is understood, are not members of political parties and include prominent businessman Glenn Spear (a helicopter pilot and community activist), Ian Perry (a local businessman) and Doug Aylen (a former council CEO).

Mr Spear and his wife have lived in Mitcham for more than 25 years. He has run his own business for 28 years, which has given him excellent people management, financial accountability and sound decision-making skills. Mr Ian Perry has lived in the Mitcham council area for 35 years and been a business owner in Blackwood for 10 years. He served the community as a councillor for the Craigburn ward for the last four years. Mr Doug Aylen is a local government professional manager who has lived in the City of Mitcham for 23 years and has served on four metropolitan councils as CEO. He was awarded a Centenary of Federation Medal for his services.

This is a brazen attempt by the ALP to take over the Mitcham Council. No doubt the two Labor candidates will be preferencing each other in a dirty deal between the left and the right in order to try to block out other candidates for the mayoralty. As we have seen in other councils—particularly through the interference of the member for Croydon in the City of West Torrens elections—we have seen the debacle that has played—

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Madam Deputy Speaker, I have a point of order.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me, member for Unley. Please take your seat. There is a point of order from the member for Croydon. Don't worry, your time will be held, member for Unley.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: I have no involvement in West Torrens council elections whatsoever.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is a personal explanation more than anything else, but you did have an opportunity to tell us that, so that is lovely.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, that is good. The member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: The member for Croydon has told me on numerous occasions that he involves himself In local government elections. Ms Christopoulos and Mr Picton should both declare that they are running as ALP candidates and come clean with the people of Mitcham. It is a sad day when party political machines enter local government. People do not like party politics in local government, and they want honest, hard-working community members to step forward. They do not want local government used as stepping stones for Labor Party hacks and members of the Labor Party working for Labor Party ministers and working for Labor Party numbers men in the parliament. These are the very Labor people trying to smother the mayoral race in Mitcham.

Time expired.

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