As 2019 comes to a close and we welcome in a new decade, we thought it a good time to reflect on what has happened this year. The good, the bad and the ugly.

We should start the Year in Review with the two elections that were only 8 weeks apart.

Labor candidate Janelle Saffin narrowly won the state seat of Lismore by the smallest of margins from National Party candidate Austin Curtain. The result was not known for three days after polling booths were closed on Saturday March 23 through preferences. Labor had not won the seat of Lismore since 1965.

(Labor MP Janelle Saffin voting at this years elections. Photo: Will Jackson)

Long serving PM Thomas George retired from politics in 2019. Thomas was the Member for Lismore for 20 years and was a much loved public figure.

The Federal election was held 8 weeks later. The polls suggesting that it too might be a close affair between Labors Patrick Deagan and the Nationals Kevin Hogan mainly due to the Federal Labor Party being favourites to win the election on Saturday May 18. However the result was never in doubt for the National Party as Kevin Hogan increased his majority and was swept to victory with 58% of the vote, a swing of 6.4%. Mr Deagan conceded the seat at 8pm after booths closed at 6pm.

(Federal MP Kevin Hogan in his role as Deputy Speaker of the Lower House)

We discovered in February that the Lismore City Council was $6.1 million in debt.

That was when the ‘rate increases’ was first raised by General Manager Shelley Oldham, she said "Rate increases are something Council will need to consider – our rates are simply not keeping pace with our expenses. Other Northern Rivers councils have undertaken rate increases of between 20 and 30 per cent in the last decade.”

To try and claw back the $6 million debt the Lismore City Council cancelled or deferred 33 projects on March 19.

As the year progressed so did the talk about increasing rates to pay for our roads and the CBD development.



On Tuesday November 19 our Lismore City Councillors had a passionate debate about the proposed Special Rates Variation which involved a 25% increase over four years became a potential reality for most rate payers. The extra revenue would be used for the roads budget and economic development such as reinvigorating the CBD. After a successful rescission motion delayed the final result the SRV motion was passed. It will now be put to the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) who are yet to give their ruling.

Another big story to conclude in the first three months of 2019 was the Serge Benhayon v Esther May Rockett law suit.

(Serge Benhayon. PHOTO: Mammia)

On February 28 Justice Julia Lonegran ordered Mr Benhayon to pay Ms Rockett’s costs for her court case win back in October, 2018 when Mr Bahayon unsuccessfully tried to sue Ms Rockett for defamation. Ms Rockett’s court costs were estimated to exceed $1 million.

One of the positive 'people' stories that touched all of our hearts this year was the journey of cancer survivor Georgia Rhodes.

In 2018 Georgia was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Georgia and her family spent most of 2019 in hospital in Brisbane after receiving a bone marrow transplant from her brother Nicholas. March saw a fundraising golf day at the Lismore Workers Golf Club which raised more than $20,000. Then in May Georgia made the happy journey south and returned to her family home.

In Part 2 tomorrow we look at the success of our 2019 events like Eat The Street and the Lismore Cup as well as the devastating Mt Nardi bushfires which consumed much of our lives in November.