With a centuries-old practice and a traditional Smoking Ceremony dating back much further, the new City of Sydney Council was proclaimed - and it was straight to work.
Only one man for the job
With his bell, hat and veracious voice, town crier Graham Keating was welcomed back to the steps of Sydney Town Hall to help corral a crowd and proclaim the results of the local government election.
While we get most of our news these days from sources that don’t shout so loudly, having Mr Keating brings a centuries-old English tradition, and a bit of fun, to proceedings.
The world champion town crier has played a ceremonial role at various City of Sydney ceremonies since 1986.
Then Lord Mayor Doug Sutherland suggested appointing Mr Keating to the role, anticipating town criers would be in demand in the lead up to bicentenary celebrations in 1988.
Mr Keating was the only known professional town crier in Australia at the time, so who better to take up the role.
Despite the attention he gets, he‘s aware he isn’t the focus.
“It’s not about me, and it can’t be about me. It is about the people that you are presenting. I can’t be the centre of attention, I can’t upstage people. I present people and I acknowledge their achievements,” Mr Keating said.
“The most essential ingredient is that you enjoy what you are doing. You try to engender in the audience the same sense of excitement and anticipation that you are actually experiencing yourself.”
Your councillors
The City of Sydney’s elected representatives for the next 4 years were officially declared by the NSW Electoral Commission in early October. Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore AO has been returned for a sixth straight term, with some new faces among the 9 councillors elected from 49 candidates.
Lyndon Gannon, Sylvie Ellsmore, Robert Kok, Adam Worling, Jess Miller and Yvonne Weldon AM all return after stints in the previous Council term.
Zann Maxwell, Mitch Wilson and Matthew Thompson are fresh faces for the next 4 years.
A Deputy Lord Mayor debut
Following proceedings outside, the 10 member Council gathered in the chamber to undertake their first meeting for this term.
The first action was to take an oath of office or affirmation, with each councillor declaring they would carry out their duties in the best interests of our residents and Council.
Zann Maxwell was also declared as Council’s Deputy Lord Mayor for this term.
