Author: Mark Nielsen

Mayoral candidate Onkaparinga 2022

How is my case against the Electoral Commission and Council going?

The basic facts are that I ran as a candidate for Mayor for the City of Onkaparinga in the 2022 Council elections along with 11 candidates for the 12 Councillor positions.   I came second missing by just 280 votes out of a total of 32,286 formal ballots.   Only 1 of our 11 candidates…
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Proposed Changes to Council Elections & Meetings – Deputation of 18 July 2023

My request to delivering this Deputation in the Council Chambers at the City of Onkaparinga was rejected by the Mayor but I have posted here a summary of what I was going to say in answer to what I see as moves that threaten all residents. My Deputation I’m here today to protest against a…
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The Court of Disputed Returns has today DISMISSED my case

It has taken 7 months to get to this point after hearing what are only the technical points of law from the Electoral Commission and the City of Onkaparinga over why I should not be heard.   But we have heard nothing of the facts of this case.   I believe that when the truth comes…
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Court Hearing has been adjourned to Friday 14 July 2023

I last posted that my next hearing was on 16 June but this was rescheduled. At first I received a notice from the court that the 16 June date was changed to 30 June with no reason given.   My barrister thought this could be a good sign because it shows that Judge Davison was taking…
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What happened at the last Court hearing against the Electoral Commission and Onkaparinga Council on 26 May 2023

We had a hearing on Friday 26 May in the Court of Disputed Returns. I had a new barrister and he put in a good performance. This hearing was primarily for him to make submissions against the Electoral Commission’s arguments that our case be thrown out. Section 71(4) of the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999…
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Commotion at the Onkaparinga Council Meeting of 17 January 2023

On this night I went with one other person to make a Deputation in the Council Chambers against a motion aiming to ‘Declare a Climate Emergency in Onkaparinga’. In the motion there was no definition of what an emergency is or what they would be permitted if one were declared or any prescribed way to…
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ONKAPARINGA COUNCIL TAKEN TO COURT

Election Fraud Everyone is invited to attend a court hearing on Friday 17 February 2023 at 9am. My previous post stated that we were looking closely into what happened during the election and of course the entire voting and counting process.     I say that during the period since the elections closed, I have…
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An early task for this new Council will be to appoint a new CEO.

Having a CEO who has a history of experience in Councils is a clear handicap to all rate payers and should be avoided like the plague! At around $305,000 per annum the CEO might be the highest paid person in the City of Onkaparinga but that’s not the only reason we should choose with care.…
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Power blocs, not people, have always controlled Councils

What about a power bloc controlled by the people? Ever since I nominated for Mayor and 11 others nominated for the 12 positions open for Councillor in the Onkaparinga Council Elections from September 2022 a common complaint has been that 12 people teaming up to bring in some reforms would be some sort of affront…
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Is everyone satisfied with the way the election for the Council for the City of Onkaparinga went?

I stood for Mayor in last month’s election along with 11 candidates who stood for the 12 vacant Councillor positions. We were all in agreement that Council Rates are excessive and money has been spent or wasted without the full consent of Rate Payers. We sought to extract the Council from all politics and return…
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