Labor selects Sydney Lord Mayor candidate after public vote
Activist Linda Scott will be Labor’s ticket for Lord Mayor of Sydney after securing the candidacy in the party’s community preselection.
A strong advocate for refugees, Scott, 34, will run against Clover Moore in the local government elections later this year.
More than 4,500 Sydney residents voted in the US-style primary system, with Scott winning more than 50 percent of the vote, beating four other hopefuls.
The community pre-selection process, which gave residents the opportunity to cast a vote in selecting the candidate, is part of a trial by Labor to re-connect with the public.
Speaking with SX ahead of the vote, Scott said she was a vocal supporter of marriage equality and will campaign strongly to protect relationship recognition and services for LGBTI people in the City of Sydney.
“The City of Sydney Council must fight to retain its support for the relationship register and other important community events, in the face of a conservative Liberal state government and a potential increase in Liberal Council representation,” Scott said.
“I regularly speak to parents in same-sex relationships about the lack of childcare in the City, and others about the lack of transparency around development and overdevelopment in their streets.”
Scott said she will also look at ways at revitalising Sydney’s gay mile, Oxford Street.
“The current state of Oxford Street is terrible, and the City’s efforts to revitalise it have largely worsened the problem. I’ve actively campaigned for a better balance of licensed premises with surrounding residences. We know that safety is a concern, and Council needs to play a strong role in regulating and enforcing late trading licenced premises in the area.
“The area needs revitalisation. I support the City’s moves to introduce arts spaces. In addition, community markets, such as those successfully operating at Eveleigh, should be introduced into Taylor Square, to start to bring the community back to Oxford Street.”
Comments (6)
Linda Scott doesn't seem to be paying much attention to our local issues :
*“Council needs to play a strong role in regulating and enforcing late trading licenced premises in the area.” When Clover Moore attempted just this two years ago by placing conditions on development consents (which is the means by which local government can achieve this) it was the then Labour Party Minister for Local Government who used his powers to stop her.
*“community markets, such as those successfully operating at Eveleigh, should be introduced into Taylor Square, to start to bring the community back to Oxford Street”
Linda Scott doesn’t know that the Sydney City Council has already done this by introducing markets at Taylor Square on Saturdays, despite them happening for over a year.
Linda Scott fails to mention the elephant in the room when discussing the problems of Oxford Street: the travesty of bad design that is Taylor Square. There’s an obvious reason for that omission: that booboo was made by the last Labour Local Council to hold power in the area.
Darren, the real "travesty of bad design" is a heterosexual population intent on claiming it's exclusively attracted to the oppsite sex. There's your "elephant in the room"!
The whole reason Sydney has a "gay mile" that needs "revitalising" is because people like Scott remain a sexual majority. Maybe if the myths surrounding exclusive sexual attraction were exposed, we wouldn't find heterosexuality being dominant and marriage would truly be equal.
lol
fine print won 'after preferences were distributed'
Perhaps a look at the numbers which the ALP are yet to publish will tell a different story. She did not win the community vote. Loadings and preference deals was what this was about. This was not a good start for the 'new' ALP.