How I broke hold of ‘party politics’ ward landslide tactics revealed

Andrew Mathieson
NEW Geelong councillor Eddy Kontelj “very quickly” laid the roots for his landslide by-election win weeks after losing a full-council vote 15 months earlier.
In 2008, he polled less than 1000 votes than Labor-aligned incumbent David Saunderson, who had earlier been condemned for his role in Geelong’s cash-for-councillors saga.
But Cr Kontelj scored 5665 votes to trounce runner-up Matt Podvinsek, a declared Labor member who finished on 2391.
Saunderson was convicted, fined and banned from council for seven years in 2009 after he was found guilty of a conflict of interest, forcing last weekend’s Cowie ward by-election. A magistrate forced Saunderson to step down in June, leaving Cowie without a councillor until this week.
Cr Kontelj said he had been rallying support for more than a year, expecting his next tilt at council to be for the 2012 elections.
Cr Kontelj targeted Croatian, Serbian and Macedonian community groups and sporting clubs within Geelong’s northern suburbs.
“After the last election, I very quickly started to work with those groups and when the by-election was called they were very keen because they felt they needed some representation,” he said.
“They weren’t able to achieve the initiatives they wanted to do over the past 12 months, so I was able to get the support of those groups through door-knocking and campaigning.”
Cr Kontelj said the by-election had broken the stranglehold of party politics on Cowie.
“This time it really felt a lot different to last time in that people wanted to get away from the political side of it,” he said.
“They really wanted an independent to represent the area.”
Cr Kontelj campaigned for the by-election amid accusations he would vote in step with brother Stretch, a former Liberal federal and state candidate, on Geelong’s council.
Cr Cameron Granger, an ex-Labor staffer, had alleged the brothers would break new conflict-of-interest legislation.
Lawyers for City Hall later dismissed Cr Granger’s claims.
The latest Kontelj to join council has extended a political olive branch to Cr Granger.
“I’ll be trying to work with all the councillors to establish a relationship with all of them, whether they are my brother or if they are someone else, like Cam,” he said.
Cr Kontelj had only met Cr Granger in “passing” prior to Tuesday night council meeting and had never stopped for a conversation.
He said most councillors had phoned him within 24 hours of the by-election win to offer “support and guidance”.