Mandurah Mayor Williams will retire in December, but city cannot confirm replacement

Mandurah Mayor Rhys Williams will step down in December after he was announced as the Labor Party candidate for the Mandurah seat last Tuesday.

The potential move from local government to state government comes after David Templeman announced he would step down as Mandurah MP last month after 24 years in the role.

“The December council meeting will be my last council meeting,” Mr Williams told reporters at the announcement on Tuesday.

“This job requires a full-time job and full-time focus, and I understand that being able to prosecute my case and WA Labor’s re-election case here in Mandurah also requires a full-time job.

“This will allow for an appropriate transition and then allow me to focus on becoming a full-time candidate.”

Mr Williams and the City of Mandurah have yet to confirm the process for appointing a new mayor. The next Mandurah mayoral election will not be held until 2025.

Caroline Knight was elected deputy mayor, but it has not been confirmed whether she will take up the role until the next election.

Mr Williams was Mandurah’s youngest councilor when he was elected to the coastal ward in 2009.

In 2013, the young gun ran for the first time in the mayoral elections, losing to Marina Vergon by just two votes.

If he had been voted in, he would have broken another record as Washington State’s youngest mayor at age 25.

He appointed Ms Vergone as Mayor of Mandurah for a second time in the role in 2017.

Prime Minister Roger Cook posed for photographs with Mr Williams last week, saying he “understood Mandurah”.

“He knows the opportunity this city has and will be a strong voice for his community in our WA Labor team,” Mr Cook said.

“He grew up in Mandurah and went to the local school.

“He was the local mayor for seven years, helping to transform Mandurah into the modern and vibrant city it has become today.

“David Templeman is leaving big jobs to take over Mandurah and Rhys Williams will be the champion this community needs for the future.”

Mr Cook also took the opportunity to speak out against the Liberal Party’s “train wreck” in Mandurah.

A week earlier, James Hall dropped the Liberal candidate for Mandurah over a series of historic anti-immigration social media posts.

This prompted WA Labor to launch attack ads asking: “Why won’t Libby Mettam stick with this”, telling members in an email obtained by The West Australian that Mr Hall should have been ousted before he resigned.

“This is yet another disappointing example of how Libby Liberals have learned nothing,” the email said.