Independent Shane van Styn ‘unlikely’ to become Geraldton MLA, eyes off return to Greater Geraldton council

Independent candidate Shane van Styn is wasting little time following his loss for the seat of Geraldton at the State election, announcing he is likely to put his hand up to return to the City of Greater Geraldton later this year. The former mayor had strong support from the local community, holding 20.6 per cent of the primary vote, behind Nationals candidate Kirrilee Warr (28.8 per cent) and Labor’s Lara Dalton (24.3 per cent). With 75 per cent of the vote counted as of Tuesday morning, Mr van Styn said while he remained a chance to overtake Ms Dalton, it was unlikely he would become the next Geraldton MLA. “I’m still behind Labor and the Nationals at the moment, but once preferences are taken into account on March 18, I could well find myself in second place,” he said. “It’s unlikely that I’ll overcome Kirrilee due to the fact both Liberal and Labor how-to-vote cards preference her ahead of me.” Reflecting on the campaign, Mr van Styn said he was proud to shine a light on some of the biggest issues in Geraldton. He said he played his role in helping end Labor’s reign over the regions. “Regional WA has been absolutely assaulted by this government, whether it’s our property rights, our guns, four-wheel driving, fishing, and regional people have had enough,” he said. “I certainly set my target as defeating Labor here in the regions, and I feel that I’ve achieved my principal aim of my campaign.” The State election was Mr van Styn’s second attempt at running for State politics, having also tried a run at Federal politics in the past. While he said it was too early to say what the future has in store for him regarding representing the region at a State or National level, he said the local government election later this year was in his sights. “One of the things I got told regularly on the electoral booth was ‘if we vote for you now, does that mean you can’t be our mayor next election?’,” he said. “I often had to explain that the mayor election is not for another two to two-and-a-half years. “Council will be something I’ll definitely be considering later in the year — more than likely I’ll be running.” Mr van Styn was the City of Greater Geraldton mayor for eight years until 2023, when he was defeated by Jerry Clune despite having the first-preference majority.