The state MP, the new mayor, and the messages to ‘get rid of’ a council CEO
Text messages have surfaced revealing that Liberal MP Alister Henskens advised the new mayor of Ku-ring-gai to dismiss the council's long-serving general manager. The messages indicate that Henskens exerted significant pressure on the mayor, Cedric Spencer, regarding council staff decisions. Spencer has since expressed concerns about the political influence Henskens holds over local councillors.
- ▪Alister Henskens is a senior Liberal MP for Wahroonga.
- ▪Text messages show Henskens encouraged new mayor Cedric Spencer to fire general manager John McKee.
- ▪Spencer claimed he faced tremendous pressure from Henskens regarding council staff decisions.
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| Original publisher | The Sydney Morning Herald |
| Canonical URL | https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-state-mp-the-new-mayor-and-the-messages-to-get-rid-of-a-council-ceo-20260521-p5zzkr.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed |
| Publication time | Fri, 29 May 2026 05:00:00 +1000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-28T19:14:58.152Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-28T19:14:58.152Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | jfpLk_QH5XxD |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Sydney Morning Herald.