ALP looks to the community for mayoral candidates

The NSW Labor Party has turned to members of the public for the position of Lord Mayor at the next City of Sydney council elections.

The decision represents the ALP’s long-term plan to foster greater links between the Labor Party and the community.

“We know Labor has to change and to do so, we need to engage more directly with the community,” said Sam Dastyari, the NSW Labor General Secretary.

The ‘Community Preselection’ initiative will allow local residents to vote in their preferred candidates for Lord Mayor in an American-style primary system, whereby candidates that achieve the greatest amount of votes from these elections proceed to become the party’s official nominees and will then compete against each other for the position.

Members of local Labor party branches will select their preferred nominee in person on Saturday, June 2, with both the community ballot and the ALP branch ballot receiving equal weighting.

No person will be able to vote in both ballots.

From this system of voting, one nominee will then be selected to represent the ALP for the position of Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney at the September 8 local government elections.

The move is seen as a response to the dissatisfaction with the direction that the NSW Labor Party has taken, as some local residents contend that the party is increasingly out of touch with their interests.

Linda Scott, a local activist and nominee, believes the Council has lost sight of its priorities towards providing better quality space and services to the local community.

“With local waiting lists of over 2 years, why doesn’t our Council run affordable child care,” she said.

“Why are we over-developing our suburbs, like the Ashmore Estate in Erskineville, without Council planning for infrastructure?”

Having worked closely with the community, Ms Scott believes that her collaboration with local residents to achieve progressive change is a quality that distinguishes her from other candidates.

She said she has refused all financial donations and her campaign is maintained entirely through the support of volunteers.

Other public nominees for the election include FBi Radio’s Cassandra Wilkinson, Haymarket businessman Jonathan Yee, former NSW Attorney General adviser Damian Spruce, and Civil Liberties Council leader Cameron Murphy.

Mr Dastyari said: “By allowing residents in the City of Sydney area to vote in who we select to run for Lord Mayor, we open ourselves up to a rigorous and merit based process.”

“I encourage anyone with a progressive political impulse to get involved and vote. Democracy can only improve through greater involvement.”

Members of the public can vote by post or online at http://www.communitypreselection.com/

Voting for public representatives will be held until Thursday, May 31, with ALP branches to elect their preferred candidate in person on Saturday, June 2.

By Daniel Paperny