Find out who’s fighting for Newtown this state election

By SHARLOTTE THOU

Newtown MP Jenny Leong will fight to retain her seat against candidates Christopher Thomas (Sustainable Australia Party), David Hetherington (Labor) and Fiona Douskou (Liberal) in the upcoming State Election.  

The historically safe Green seat has been held by Leong since 2015, with the ABC predicting that she is set to keep the seat, despite “[Newtown] losing a strong Green voting area in Surry Hills” from electorate redistributions this year. 

The Newtown electorate is the state’s smallest electorate, and includes Redfern, Chippendale, Darlington, Camperdown, Erskineville, Newtown, Enmore, Stanmore, Petersham, Lewisham and parts of Marrickville and Alexandria.  

Christopher Thomas (Sustainable Australia Party)

First-time candidate Christopher Thomas from the Sustainable Australian Party believes “mankind is in dire straits and now is not the time for growth, war and other distractions”.  

The Sustainable Australian Party aims to protect the environment and stop overdevelopment and corruption. 

Thomas told City Hub that he will address the “root causes of the housing affordability crisis”, which the party believes is “government-engineered hyper demand, not a lack of supply” if elected.  

“To address the root cause we need to phase out negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions for property investors, ban foreign ownership and stabilise Australia’s population size, not chase our tail with more and more overdevelopment”, he said.  

“We have had record housing supply for at least 15 years”, Thomas said  

David Hetherington (Labor)

Erskineville local David Hetherington is “passionate about ensuring fair and equitable access to crucial public services”.  

Hetherington has criticised the Greens’ housing crisis policies, saying rent freezes will only result in a reduction of rental housing capacity. Instead, Labor’s housing affordability policies focus on ending secret rent-bidding, banning no-grounds evictions, introducing portable rental bonds, and supporting renter’s rights to pets.  

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has endorsed Hetherington’s position, saying “[Hetherington] would be a strong and effective representative for Newtown, working within the Government for change, not protesting from the sidelines”.  

He is also interested in reforming the public health system and campaigning for action on climate change.  

Fiona Douskou (Liberal)

If elected, Douskou aims to “use her passion and experience to advocate for more local jobs, frontline services, community infrastructure [to] keep NSW moving forward”.  

 She is a member of the Australian Women in Security Network, NSW Cybersecurity ambassador and youth mentor, and is the Culture Chair of a Diversity and Inclusion Team delivering advocacy and support for Women, LGBTQI+ and Indigenous Australians. 

 City Hub contacted the NSW Liberal Office for more information on Douskou’s campaign. 

Jenny Leong (Greens)

If re-elected, Leong has said tackling the housing and climate crises are among her key priorities.  

Leong previously told City Hub she is particularly interested in advocating for renter’s rights.  

 “It’s impossible to door knock and or to have conversations with people on the street, in Newtown or anywhere across our city, and not hear a story that someone has of a rent hike and unfair eviction or completely unacceptable treatment that they’ve experienced from a landlord,” she said. 

If elected, she will “move on the first day back in Parliament a bill to freeze rents in New South Wales”, and told City Hub she is interested in “creat[ing] the space for a longer conversation about implementing rent controls, establishing an independent body that has oversight of these issues”. 

 Voters will take to the ballot boxes on Saturday March 25.