Liverpool councillor Peter Ristevski has told an inquiry he does not hate his long-time political rival, Liberal Mayor Ned Mannoun, but lost confidence in his leadership after a string of disagreements.

The NSW Office of Local Government inquiry into Liverpool City Council has heard Mannoun’s tense relationship with Ristevski, a Liberal-turned-independent councillor, had increasingly been frustrating the operations of the south-west Sydney council since last year’s local council poll.

The inquiry into alleged maladministration and dysfunction at the local government on Monday heard Ristevski was first elected to the council on the Liberal Party ticket in 2012. He had started to vote with Labor and independent councillors following a series of arguments that had soured his relationship w

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