This is the full version of the speech I prepared and delivered at the Candidates Forum Sunset Park 20/05/2026, due to time constraints some parts were omitted.
Good evening everyone and thank you to the organizers and to all of you for being here tonight.
I always prefer to talk off the cuff, but to stay on task tonight I will read.
My name is Nick Kirlew, and I am standing before you as a community candidate for Chan Ward.
I live in Darwin, experiencing the day-to-day realities of our city just like you. My connection to Darwin goes back some. My wife, our children, live and work here, and our granddaughters are growing up and attending school right here in our community.
Professionally, I am an IT Manager. For the last ten years, I’ve worked across Indigenous primary health care, and now, aged care. Some of you may know me from that space.
At work, there is no room for empty rhetoric. It’s about finding practical, technical solutions to complex problems. I intend to bring that exact same analytical, common-sense approach to council business.
Some of you already know me through my long-term advocacy work. As the convener for PLan: the Planning Action Network I have spent years advocating for our community, fighting for sensible urban planning, heritage preservation, and environmental protection. I am on the committee of Friends of Casuarina Coastal Reserve and on the committee of Friends of Lee Point.
I am not a career politician, and I am not running to climb a political ladder. I am running because Chan Ward deserves a strong, independent voice that answers strictly to the residents, ensuring our neighbourhoods remain vibrant, liveable, and respected.
My involvement with PLan is not recent. It is a long-standing commitment to protecting the character, environment, and lifestyle of the Territory.
When you get the pink sign/yellow sign in your precinct you may well learn about us.
For 30 years, PLan has stood with the community, helping where we can. We’ve stepped into the gaps where regular citizens are often left without a voice against complex planning applications and top-down development decisions.
But let me be very clear: it is not PLan alone fighting these battles. It is real people. Real community. Real heroes. It is you, and you, and you. At this point I would like to call out a couple of my heroes: Gayle and Ian from Friends of Lee Point who are our hosts tonight.
Community have stood up for Darwin time and time again:
- Save Darwin Harbour. To quote Clare Martin back then: ‘You will never be able to see the gas tank.’
- We pushed for balanced outcomes at Cullen Bay to ensure community standards were upheld.
- Save Little Mindil, fighting to protect our public green spaces and foreshores from over-development. Who remembers the back of the truck Neo Concert?
- Friends of Bagot Park an eight year battle with an unfilled master plan to create an integrated, multicultural community asset.
- Community Purpose becomes a new zone: Blake Street
- Barneson Boulevard was carved through.
- And we fought to keep significant trees, like those at the Post Office car park.
- Not forgetting the many street by street, block by block decisions.
- Darwin Airport Corporation have steadily cleared the forest they gained, a rule to their own, we see the black cockatoos sitting on light posts as the trees are gone. The strip of forest in front the Bunnings store was due to Margret Clinch’s negotiation. A compromise.
The current Lee Point campaign has been running for over six years!
Lee Point (Binybara) is a completely different line in the sand. The community has made it loud and clear: we want zero development at Lee Point.
We cannot, and we will not, allow our pristine savanna bushland, our vital wildlife corridors, and the unique heritage of a landscape lived in for over tens of thousands of years to be bulldozed for unnecessary urban sprawl. It shouldn’t be redesigned; it needs to be protected, fully and permanently.
But these aren’t just battles from the past. The exact same pattern is repeating itself right now, right on our doorstep on Dick Ward Drive.
You may know the site. We might remember the generational track down to the cemetery and the beach that was fenced off, and we remember the public promises that were made. Today, the fences are still up, the promises are gone, and the community is still locked out.
Where did the accountability go?
This is exactly why we cannot keep doing business as usual. This current battle over the lease access is the perfect example of why my four core pillars are needed on this council right now.
First, the Protection of Heritage and Open Space. We must safeguard our shared heritage and ensure our vital green spaces, like the Esplanade, stay firmly in public hands, not lost to short-sighted overdevelopment. Once these spaces are gone, they are gone forever.
Second, Giving the Community a Real Say. We need to move completely past the era of token, box-ticking consultation. I will fight to ensure that you, the community, are sitting at the table before the big decisions are made, not just handed a finished plan afterward.
Third, Restoring Accountability and Transparency. This is about making sure Council meetings are genuinely open, information is readily accessible, and your questions actually get answered. You pay the rates; you deserve a council that treats you with respect, not bureaucratic silence. Ratepayers deserve better!
And fourth, a Vibrant Culture and Creative Communities. Darwin’s arts and culture aren’t just entertainment; they are the literal heartbeat of our city. To build a truly connected community, the council must move beyond generic, cookie-cutter events and statues. We must actively invest in local creatives, diverse cultural groups, and the grassroots initiatives that give Darwin its unique soul.”
My friends, this by-election comes down to a very clear choice.
We can vote for more of the same—more top-down decisions, more token consultations, and more public spaces lost to short-sighted development.
Or, we can choose a different path.
You have a choice to elect someone who doesn’t need on-the-job training to stand up to the council. You can choose a proven advocate with the practical skills of a business manager, the analytical mind of an IT Manager, and a decades-long track record of fighting for the character of Darwin.
I am running because I want a transparent, accountable council that works for everyone. I want a Darwin that respects its heritage, protects its beautiful open spaces, and invests in its incredible local culture.
Most of all, I want a city that my granddaughters—and all of our grandchildren—can be proud to grow up in.
I cannot do this alone. To bring real community power back to the council, I need your support. I need your voice, and when you head to the ballot box, I respectfully ask for your vote.
Let’s put the community back into the Council.
Thank you, and have a wonderful evening.