Born-and-bred Queanbeyan local Kenrick Winchester was last night elected Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) Mayor, with Labor Councillor Esma Livermore named Deputy Mayor.
Mr Winchester, an independent councillor, has served two terms since first being elected to the Queanbeyan City Council in 2012 and subsequently the first QPRC in 2017. He was last night voted in as Mayor for a two-year term.
Ms Livermore will be Deputy Mayor until at least September this year. She is the first identified Aboriginal female councillor for QPRC, having been elected to Council at the most recent NSW local government elections on 4 December 2021.
In a poll of 11 councillors – eight of whom were new to council – Mr Winchester received a majority seven votes to secure the role, making him Queanbeyan’s 26th Mayor, the Council’s first new person in the role in 14 years.
The previous mayor, Tim Overall, who announced he would stand down prior to the 2021 QPRC election, was elected Mayor of the former Queanbeyan City Council in 2008.
Mr Overall held that role until he was appointed as the administrator of the newly formed QPRC and brought merged communities together as the QPRC’s first elected Mayor in 2017.
The QPRC comprises 11 councillors: five independents (Mr Winchester, Mareeta Grundy, Steve Taskovski, Edwina Webster, Michele Biscotti); three from Labor (Ms Livermore, Bryce Wilson, John Preston); two Liberals (Louis Burton, Jacqueline Ternouth); and one Greens member (Katrina Willis).
Mr Taskovski previously served on the Queanbeyan City Council until 2008, while Mr Winchester and Mr Biscotti both served in the previous term. The other eight councillors are all new.
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