Edward Mandla

Last updated

Edward Mandla
Edward Mandla.jpg
City of Sydney Councillor
In office
2012–2016
Personal details
Nationality Australian
Political partyLiberal Party

Edward Mandla (born 1963) is an Australian politician and businessman. He was a Councillor for the City of Sydney from 2012 to 2016. [1] His business career spans over two decades in the information technology and executive search industries. He is a former president of the Australian Computer Society [2] and currently sits on the board of directors of several companies and organizations. [3]

Contents

Background

Mandla attended the University of New South Wales where he received a First Class Honours Degree in Commerce. He was awarded the first University Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Information Systems and won the Datec Prize for his thesis on information systems techniques used for commercial applications. [1]

Business

Mandla is the founder and general manager of Mandlason Search, a recruitment and executive search firm. [1] [4] He is on the Advisory Boards of tech company Seventeenhundred, [5] custom software development house Solentive, online dress retailer White Runway and fire safety solutions[ buzzword ] business Concept Safety Systems. [6] He is a former president of the Australian Computer Society, an association for technology professionals with over 22,000 members. The association made him an Honorary Life Member in 2007. [2] [7] Mandla has also written columns for The Australian , The Sydney Morning Herald , [8] The Age [9] and The Daily Telegraph . [10]

Political career

In 2007 Mandla ran as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Sydney in the New South Wales state elections. He lost to incumbent Clover Moore but beat the Greens and Labor, providing the Liberal Party with its best result in twenty years. [11] He was the President of the Sydney City Branch of the Liberal Party from 2009 until he left the party in 2016. [3] [12]

City of Sydney Councillor, 2012–2016

In July 2012, Mandla was preselected by the Liberal Party for its City of Sydney mayoral candidate over Christine Forster, sister to former Prime Minister (at the time, Federal opposition leader) Tony Abbott. [13] [14] Mandla and Forster positioned themselves as an effective opposition to Lord Mayor Moore, who they claimed was concentrating too much on her vision of a "Sustainable Sydney" while losing track of practical problems, such as parking. [15] The party promised to decrease rates by 10% for businesses and residents, which would be funded by cutting capital spending by 250 million and making significant cuts to the council's 1,700 full-time staff. [16] On 8 September 2012, Moore was reelected Lord Mayor for her third term; however, Mandla received the second-highest number of votes, ensuring him the number two spot on the nine-person council. [17] [18] Since taking office Councillor Mandla has challenged a number of Moore's policies.

Renewable energy

Mandla has called on the council to revise its target for a 70 percent greenhouse reduction by 2030, saying it's no longer achievable and is "misleading to the public." [19] He argued that the plan to roll out tri-generation power plants across the city was extremely complex and could leave ratepayers paying hundreds of millions of dollars. [20] He stressed that this was an ambitious scheme for the council to undertake and that exceptional risk and project management were necessary. He suggested the council evaluate gas price uncertainty and to consider alternatives. [21] [22] Plans to construct a tri-generation plant at Green Square were eventually halted in June 2013 due to financial risk. [22] [23]

Parking

Mandla aims to end what he has described as Sydney's "hatred of car ownership". [15] He has called for new housing developments to include at least one car space for each apartment. [16] He is also an advocate for 15-minute free parking throughout the city, which would benefit locals and promote what he described as "park local, buy local". [24]

Wild fires

In 2013, when wild fires destroyed hundreds of homes in New South Wales, Mandla convinced the council to increase its contribution to the Australian Red Cross NSW Disaster Relief from $100,000 to $200,000. He also criticized the green movement for cutting down on back burning, which in turn contributed to the damaging wild fire, and accused Moore of turning a speech on bush fire into a political statement on global warming. [25] [26] [27]

Business voting rights

In September 2014 the NSW state Parliament passed a bill granting businesses two votes while also making business voting compulsory. [28] Mandla was instrumental in getting the bill passed. He had been a proponent of business voting rights, arguing that businesses provided the bulk of rate revenues – about 80 percent – but were effectively denied a vote. [10] Previously, business voting was voluntary, but turnout was low and discouraged by an unwieldy system of yearly enrolment.[42] Mandla worked with Shooters MP Robert Borsak to help draft the bill, which was passed in September 2014 and was to take effect in the 2016 elections. [28] [29]

Parking Rangers investigation

Following the death of a whistleblower, Mandla pressured Mayor Moore to release the full details of a secret investigation into allegations of bullying and harassment within Sydney's parking ranger unit. In May 2015 the whistleblower emailed Ms. Moore, City of Sydney CEO Monica Barone, and other officials to highlight plunging morale among colleagues, deteriorating mental health, high sick leave and staff turnover. Four weeks later the whistleblower died of a suspected suicide. The council knew of the misconduct allegations since at least 2012 when City of Sydney ordered an investigation into allegations of "bullying, harassment, coercion and intimidation". Councilor Mandla demanded Moore publicly release the results of the 2012 internal report and step aside until a full investigation be completed. [30] [31]

2016 Sydney elections

In November 2015, Mandla announced that he would not run for Lord Mayor, citing the demands of his five board director roles and the upcoming birth of his seventh child as the reasons behind his decision. At the time he was presumed to be the frontrunner on the Liberal Party's ticket. [32] In July 2016, Mandla left the Liberal Party to run as the second candidate on independent councilor Angela Vithoulkas "Sydney Matters" ticket in the September 2016 council elections. Upon his exit from the party, Mandla was critical of the Liberals for being beholden to lobbyists and unelected officials. Vithoulkas and Mandla will contest incumbent Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Liberal candidate Christine Forster. [3]

Competitive weightlifting

Mandla weightlifts competitively for the NSW's Titans. He won Masters Division Championships in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019 and currently holds the NSW Masters Division record for the snatch, clean and jerk and total. He won bronze at the World Cup in 2017. He holds a number of current Australian Masters records in the 55-59 102kg category including snatch 90kg, clean and jerk 108kg, and total 194kg. [33]

Personal life

He is married and has six children.

Related Research Articles

Clover Moore

Clover Margaret Moore is an Australian politician. She has been the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Sydney since the creation of the City of Sydney in 1842. She was an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2012, representing the electorates of Bligh (1988–2007) and Sydney (2007–2012). Moore is the first popularly elected female Lord Mayor of Sydney.

City of Sydney Local government area in New South Wales, Australia

The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, the City of Sydney is the oldest, and the oldest-surviving, local government authority in New South Wales, and the second-oldest in Australia, with only the City of Adelaide being older by two years.

Lucy Turnbull

Lucinda Mary Turnbull AO is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist, and former local government politician. She served on the Sydney City Council from 1999 to 2004, including as Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2003 to 2004 – the first woman to hold the position. She has since held positions on a number of urban planning bodies, including as chief commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission from 2015 to March 2020. Her husband Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia.

Barnaby Joyce

Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce is an Australian politician. He served as the leader of the National Party from February 2016 to February 2018, and was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from February 2016 to October 2017 and from December 2017 to February 2018.

Michael John Lee is an Australian Labor politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1984–2001, a minister in Paul Keating's government, and a member of the City of Sydney Council 2004–08.

Kerryn Phelps Australian doctor and politician

Kerryn Lyndel Phelps is an Australian medical practitioner, public health and civil rights advocate, medical educator and politician.

Francesco Ernest "Frank" Sartor AO a former Australian politician, was New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and 2011. He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Rockdale for the Labor Party between 2003 and 2011. Sartor has previously been Minister for Planning, Redfern Waterloo and the Arts, and Minister for Water and Utilities in the Iemma and Carr governments. Before being elected to the New South Wales Parliament, Sartor is the second longest-serving Lord Mayor of Sydney after Clover Moore, having held the post for nearly 12 years from September 1991 to March 2003. Sartor retired from politics at the 2011 state election.

Shayne Mallard

Maxwell Shayne Mallard is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 2015. He was formerly a councillor of the City of South Sydney from 2000 to 2004, and of the City of Sydney from 2004 to 2012.

Bart Edward Bassett is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2015, representing the electorate of Londonderry. He was elected as a member of the Liberal Party, but resigned to sit as an independent in August 2014 following revelations about his conduct at hearings of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). He was formerly mayor of the City of Hawkesbury from 2007 until 2012.

2015 New South Wales state election State election for New South Wales, Australia in March 2015

A general election for the 56th Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council using optional preferential proportional representation voting. The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission.

Occupy Sydney

Occupy Sydney was a social movement and protest as part of the global Occupy movements, in Sydney, Australia. The occupation began on 15 October 2011 outside the Reserve Bank of Australia in Martin Place. The Martin Place occupation was first evicted by NSW Police on 23 October 2011. This eviction and later police action was named Operation Goulding. Another eviction attempt occurred on 2 February 2012. The protest site was removed five times in early July 2013, only to re-establish itself each time within hours.

2012 Sydney state by-election

A by-election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Sydney was held on Saturday 27 October 2012. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of independent MP Clover Moore due to the Local Government Amendment Act, 2012 (NSW) preventing dual membership of state parliament and local council.

Alexander Hart Greenwich is the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Sydney since the 2012 Sydney by-election. He ran as an independent and was backed by his predecessor, independent Clover Moore. He is also the Co-Chair of Australian Marriage Equality and was one of the key leaders of the successful YES campaign for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey in 2017 and abortion legalization within New South Wales in 2019.

Jeffrey Raymond 'Jeff' McCloy is an Australian property developer, who was Lord Mayor of Newcastle between 2012 and 2014. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Newcastle. Before entering politics, he ran his own construction company, which built John Hunter Hospital. In 2008 he won the Hunter Business Chamber 2008 Business Person of the Year, and in 2009 he won the City of Newcastle Medal.

Linda Scott is a Labor Party Councillor on the City of Sydney Council, first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. She served as Deputy Lord Mayor between September 2018 and September 2019 and currently serves on the council's committees, including the Central Sydney Planning Committee.

Christine Forster is an Australian local government politician who is a Liberal councillor in the City of Sydney and the younger sister of former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Trent Zimmerman

Trent Moir Zimmerman is an Australian politician. He was elected to succeed Joe Hockey as the Liberal Party of Australia member of the House of Representatives seat of North Sydney at the 2015 by-election. Zimmerman is one of eight openly LGBTI current members of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly LGBTI member of the House of Representatives.

Angela Vithoulkas

Angela Vithoulkas is an Australian politician, business owner and media personality. She has been a Councillor in the City of Sydney since 2012, and was re-elected in 2016. She has owned and operated VIVO Cafe for over 25 years, established Eagle Waves Radio, and was elected Deputy Chairperson of the City of Sydney Economic Development and Business Sub-Committee. Angela makes regular public and media appearances as an advocate for Small businesses in the City of Sydney.

Irene Doutney was an Australian politician, who served as a Councillor of the City of Sydney for the Greens New South Wales. In 2016, she became Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Councillor Edward Mandla," City of Sidney website, retrieved 21 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Rob O'Neill, "This is your next job," The Age , 19 July 2005.
  3. 1 2 3 Jacob Saulwick, "Former Liberal mayoral candidate Edward Mandla leaves 'party of lobbyists'," The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Mandlason Leadership Team,' Mandlason.com, retrieved 21 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Who We Are," [http://www.seventeenhundred.com.au/ Seventeenhundred.com.au, retrieved 21 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Advisory Board," Archived 18 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Concept Safety Systems, retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "ACS Honorary Life Members," Archived 15 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine ACS.org, retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Edward Mandla, "Solutions developer working to unlock the hidden riches of business books on the web," The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 September 2007.
  9. ↑ Edward Mandla, "Search Needs Rescuing," The Age , 13 September 2007.
  10. 1 2 Edward Mandla, "Very shady business indeed," The Daily Telegraph , 2 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "Liberal councillor Edward Mandla has his eye on Clover Moore’s job in 2016 and says it’s time for change," The Daily Telegraph , 25 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Liberals announce candidate for Sydney Lord Mayor", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 25 July 2012.
  13. ↑ "Tony Abbott's sister Christine Forster is beaten in Liberal Party preselection for the Sydney lord mayoralty," News.com.au Archived 9 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine , 25 July 2012.
  14. ↑ Linda Silmalis, "Tony Abbott bats for sister Christine Forster in council elections," The Sunday Telegraph , 26 August 2012.
  15. 1 2 Ean Higgins, "Moore's in clover as candidates for Sydney's lord mayor flounder in her green-tinged wake," The Australian , 18 August 2012.
  16. 1 2 "The Liberals," City of Sydney 2012 Elections, 29 June 2012.
  17. ↑ Linda Silmalis, "Clover is back for four Moore as mayor," The Sunday Telegraph , 8 September 2012.
  18. ↑ "2012 NSW Local Council Elections," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 18 September 2012.
  19. ↑ Zilka Grogan, "City of Sydney can meet sustainability targets despite dumping trigeneration: Clover Moore," Wentworth Courier, 20 June 2013.
  20. ↑ Vikki Campion, "Off-the-grid Sydney plan is a waste of energy - and $2.7 million," The Daily Telegraph , 15 November 2012.
  21. ↑ Vikki Campion, "Sydney City Council debates trigeneration power scheme risks," The Daily Telegraph , 25 February 2013.
  22. 1 2 Vikki Campion, "Clover Moore gas plan hot air," The Daily Telegraph , 12 June 2013.
  23. ↑ Vikki Campion, "Sydney City Council spent $8.1m researching shelved gas-fired tri-gen power precinct plan," The Daily Telegraph , 25 June 2013.
  24. ↑ Vikki Campion, "Free parking in Sydney feasibility on agenda," The Daily Telegraph , 16 October 2012.
  25. ↑ Vikki Campion, "'Mumbo jumbo' Lord Mayor Clover Moore jumps on the burning bandwagon", The Daily Telegraph , 22 October 2013.
  26. ↑ Vikki Campion, "Clover Moore accused of using bushfire donation speech as political statement on climate change," The Daily Telegraph , 21 October 2013.
  27. ↑ Peter Hackney, "City lends hand to bushfire victims", AltMedia, 24 October 2013.
  28. 1 2 "The Battle for the City of Sydney," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 5 October 2014.
  29. ↑ Nicole Hasham, "Alan Jones convinced government on voting policy: Shooters MP," The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 August 2014.
  30. ↑ "Sydney City ranger dies after blowing whistle on council’s dysfunctional parking rangers unit," The Daily Telegraph , 25 June 2015.
  31. ↑ "Leong Lim: Parking officer’s suspected suicide prompts government investigation of the City of Sydney council," The Daily Telegraph , 6 September 2015.
  32. ↑ Leesha McKenny, "Sydney lord mayor contender Edward Mandla bows out of race," The Sydney Morning Herald , 5 November 2015.
  33. ↑ "Lifter Details – Edward Mandla," Australian Weightlifting Federation’s website, retrieved 21 August 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.