Mallard celebrates ten years

As he celebrates a decade as a local Councillor, Shayne Mallard is looking forward to the next ten years.

A dinner was held last Thursday to mark the occasion, with Liberal Party representatives from all three levels of government in attendance.

Cr Mallard was elected to City of Sydney Council in 2004, following its amalgamation with South Sydney Council, where he served since 2000.

“It’s been a ten year journey of sharing, in my view,” he says.

“It’s not about me … I’m thinking about the great people I’ve worked with and met over the ten years, the community leaders and people who are giving selflessly to the community.

“Also colleagues on the council … and of course the professional staff in local government.”

Cr Mallard says political representation was always his calling, having served as President of the NSW Young Liberals prior to his election to South Sydney Council.

“I’ve always had an inside commitment to public service … Very early on in my life I became aware, in my view anyway, that the greatest public service is to seek [an] elected position,” he says.

“I don’t seek it for power; I seek it to improve our community and improve our society and to listen to the people who don’t make a lot of noise.”

He is proud that his work has made a difference.

“I’ve been really pleased to be involved with issues like the injecting centre in Kings Cross [and] a number of issues around the gay and lesbian community, including trying to improve safety on Oxford Street,” he says.

“I’ve [also] been very pleased to keep an eye on the finances of the council and make sure that the governing group are accountable for their expenditure.

“That’s been a very difficult job for me as an opposition councillor… [but] that’s what the business community and the broader community expect of me as a councillor.”

Through the years Cr Mallard has also remained a voice for the rights of same-sex couples in the community, recently criticising Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s recent comments on same-sex marriage and Premier Kristina Keneally’s referral to homosexuals as “sinners”.

But Cr Mallard hasn’t avoided roadblocks or escaped criticism, with the Greens accusing him late last year of failing to declare political donations.

The NSW Department of Local Government dismissed the allegations in January, with Cr Mallard at the time calling for the Greens to “desist from the politics of mud-throwing that only damages the standing of all people elected to serve in public office.”

With two years left to serve on his current term in council, Cr Mallard foresees a very busy next ten years.

“I am focused on the re-election of Malcolm Turnbull for Wentworth … then the most important and exciting task I’ve got set for myself and my colleagues in the party in the inner city is to get Barry O’ Farrell across the line as premier,” he says.

On the topic of potentially running for a higher level of office in the future, having unsuccessfully run for Clover Moore’s then-seat of Bligh in 2003, he says: “We’ll see what happens in the future in terms of opportunities.”