Darley’s making the political personal

At Oatlands Public School a woman bows her head in prayer. She asks a volunteer to join her, imploring God to protect and bless Kellie Darley.

It’s election morning and the councillor in question has just returned from a quick trip to her car to collect more campaign posters. In bright orange text, a colour synonymous with Darley’s campaign, the poster reads: “Vote 1 Community Champions. Putting residents and integrity first.”

One week later, at Six Ain’t Seven café in North Parramatta, I ask Darley, who heads the independent Community Champions group, what this really means.

“I think the buzzword during this election was transparency,” she says. “But I have found there is a level of disrespect happening from the representation at council.

“They aren’t making it easy to understand what is being decided… they aren’t engaging the community.

“I come from a background in public health and what I have learnt is the more you respect people and involve them in decisions, the happier they are, even if the decision doesn’t go the way they wanted.”

A 2023 survey by the Australian Public Service Commission found 95 per cent of respondents identified living in a democratic country as at least ‘somewhat important’ to them. In the same report, less than 10 per cent of Australians had engaged in civic participation, including attending a council meeting or commenting on a public consultation process.

Luke Dean, a social sciences tutor and PhD candidate at Monash University says for many, ‘politics’ is a four-letter word. Australians claim to not be interested in local politics, but compared to federal governance, decisions made at a hyperlocal level have immediate effects.

“If there are potholes in their street or if their local sporting ground is falling into disrepair or a street is closed for months of construction, people feel those effects and are mobilised by them,” he says.

Fellow activist, Suzette Meade has taken the state government to the NSW Supreme Court over the demolition of Parramatta Swimming Centre and, also, the historic Willow Grove villa. She tells me you need to have a thick skin to survive in politics.

“Kellie is not afraid to stand up for what’s right,” says Meade. ” You can’t be worried about what people think about you and if they like you — to be a politician.”

Darley calls herself an accidental politician. She also admits, with a laugh, that at 10 years old she wanted to be Australia’s first female prime minister.

“I never thought of running for council. It’s not covered at school; you do state and federal politics but it’s just not on a lot of people’s radars,” she says.

But after co-founding the online community hub, ParraParents in 2015, Darley witnessed an information divide between Parramatta Council and the community. Almost 10 years ago, none of Darley’s local representatives had young children and a number of councillors did not live in the area. She says some still don’t.

Deputy Lord Mayor Sameer Pandey resides in Girraween, just outside the boundary for Parramatta Council and Steven Issa, who served as Lord Mayor in 2021, lives in Merrylands. According to the NSW Electoral Commission, non-residents are eligible for local government if they are rate-paying lessees for the ward.

“I just think there’s a level of lived experience of putting the bins out and going to your local shops and driving on local roads. That’s what I want from my representative, someone who actually knows the area,” Darley says.

Former owner of Courtyard Dining & Espresso, Joey Piazza first met Darley as a customer, before she started hosting ‘Catch-ups with Kellie’ at the Telopea café. Darley has held more than 80 mobile clinics throughout Parramatta, meeting with over 1,000 residents.

“Kellie isn’t liked by absolutely everybody, but the response was mainly positive,” Piazza said.

“People had never really had the opportunity to speak with a councillor in person before… It also drove people to the shop which was nice.”

After knocking on over 8,000 doors in the lead up to the election and regularly posting to her community of over 40,000 ParraParents and 3,000 personal followers, she says: “My aim is never to keep everyone happy; my aim is to be respectful.”

Last month, Darley took Parramatta Council to the NSW Supreme Court for censoring her social media posts criticising council’s proposed $1.15 million partnership agreement with rugby league team the Parramatta Eels.

An external council review found Darley had disclosed information from a confidential council meeting on December 11, 2023, and that her Facebook post was likely to bring local government and its representatives into disrepute.

Council paperwork leaked to 2GB’s Ray Hadley outlined the three-year sponsorship deal was initially worth $2.5 million. This included brand and hospitality packages, a 20-person directors table, the Parramatta Council logo on the back of players jerseys and game day signage.

The proposal flagged “adverse reaction to ratepayer funds being allocated to this initiative and potential reputational issues…”

A media release from The City of Parramatta maintains the partnership is set to deliver free rugby league clinics to thousands of local children, “building participation and inclusion for young girls in multicultural communities”.

But a council email released under NSW Freedom of Information laws threw doubt on that.

“Not sure we’d get value for money in investing in women in sport initiatives relating to rugby league as opposed to football which has a far wider appeal and reach to young girls and women,” it read.

In the Parra Leagues Annual Report chief executive Chris Dimou said the Eel’s Consolidated Group Net Profit increased from $20.7 million in 2023 from $10.5 million the year prior.

“The fact that we’re paying them to do what they’re already in the business of doing, I think is ridiculous. To me, that is a misuse of public money,” says Darley.

“The lack of process is also a concern for me. The fact there was no community consultation, it was decided behind closed doors and when it’s sponsorship of a private entity, it definitely should be discussed with the public.”

On Facebook, Darley publicly lists the names of all Parramatta councillors who voted in favour of the sponsorship agreement. I ask her how her fellow councillors have responded.

Darley claims she has been harassed by some councillors, and adds she has had to resort to legal options, but doesn’t elaborate.

“After two and a half years, I’m very consistent with the way I behave and they still haven’t learned that the more you come after me, the more I retaliate,” she says.

From climate catastrophe declarations to Australia Day debates and LGBTQIA+ book banning, political researcher Luke Dean believes the old ad hominem that local government is only concerned with roads, rates and rubbish is being contested and that local councillors are increasingly embroiled in “political battles over cultural issues”.

As Parramatta’s population approaches 260,000 residents like Kathy Hall and Analiese Hanna believe authenticity is more valued than ever.

“It’s important the elected representative is someone who is willing to really listen to the needs of the local community and respond appropriately,” says Hanna.

Darley was re-elected for her second term as Councillor for the City of Parramatta, and despite being the only Community Champions candidate voted in, received the highest percentage of first votes for an individual candidate across the Parramatta local government area.

She tells me her work isn’t done, and she is gearing up to present new evidence against Parramatta Council’s proposed Eels sponsorship at the NSW Supreme Court. 

“I know they’re trying to silence me,” she claims.

“But when someone’s only asking for truth and transparency, you have to wonder why there’s such backlash?”

Main image by Yasmine Alwakal.