Clover Moore

Clover Moore is an Australian independent politician. She is the current Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Bligh in Sydney's inner city, the most densely populated electorate in Australia.

Clover Collins was born in the 1940s, with the specific year and date being unknown due to her secrecy about her age. She grew up in the suburb of Gordon, on Sydney's North Shore. She studied at the Loreto convent at Kirribilli, before going on to study teaching at Sydney University. While at university, she married Peter Moore, an architect.

After graduating from university, the pair moved to London, England for five years. When they returned, they settled in the run-down, notorious neighbourhood of Redfern. She was appalled at the poor quality of services in the area, which became her introduction to politics, when she stood for, and was elected to, the South Sydney Council in 1980.

The following year, the government amalgamated the City of Sydney and South Sydney Councils, and Moore switched to the Sydney City Council. Moore developed a visible profile in the community, campaigning on a variety of issues both in her position as councillor and in the broader community. In late 1987, Moore was the favourite to become the city's first female Lord Mayor and defeat incumbent Doug Sutherland. However, the state government abruptly sacked the council and called in commissioners to run it.

Moore decided to take the opportunity to run for the Legislative Assembly as an independent at the 1988 elections. Despite not having the backing of a party, she won the seat, narrowly defeating Liberal member Michael Yabsley.

In 1991 she co-authored the New South Wales Charter of Reform of Government. In the same year, she was re-elected for a second term with a massive swing in her favour, increasing her share from 26.7 per cent to 43 per cent. Her power also increased dramatically when, along with fellow independents Peter McDonald and Tony Windsor, she gained the balance of power in the Legislative Assembly.

Moore was to again take the spotlight when the Independent Commission Against Corruption handed down a finding that was sharply critical of Liberal Premier Nick Greiner in 1992. Pressure began to mount on Greiner to resign, and Moore threatened to vote against him, which largely forced his hand, and he subsequently resigned.

She went on to hold her seat with a largely safe margin at the 1995 and 1999 elections. The gay community thanked her for her support by featuring likenesses of her in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade that year. She was re-elected again in 2003

In early 2004, the Australian Labor Party government, under Bob Carr, sacked and re-amalgamated the City of Sydney and South Sydney Councils. The move came largely as a surprise, with then-Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull (the wife of Liberal powerbroker Malcolm Turnbull) being notified by a fax posted under her door. The decision to amalgamate the two councils was widely interpreted by the media as an attempt to get the Labor candidate, former federal minister Michael Lee, elected as Lord Mayor, as it would bring a large area of largely Labor-voting suburbs into the City of Sydney. However, several of these suburbs made up Moore's state electorate of Bligh.

When Turnbull announced soon after that she would not seek re-election, Lee appeared to have the position won. Then, on February 24, Moore entered the race, labelling the council's sacking a "cynical grab for power" and sharply condemning the sacking of a democratically elected mayor, despite her ideological differences with Turnbull. By the following day, The Sydney Morning Herald was already predicting that she would present a serious challenge to Lee.

Despite a spirited challenge from Lee, who was supported by much of the business community which had concerns about Moore's anti-development stance, Moore won. She finished with more than double the vote of her nearest rival, Lee, and ABC election analyst Antony Green announced that she would "romp through" to win, only 90 minutes after counting began.

Though she had made a point of not directing preferences in her four election campaigns in the Legislative Assembly, Moore decided to support a team of independents for the council race. This turned out to be quite successful, with three of her team of six - John McInerney, Robyn Kemmis and Phillip Black - being elected to council.

Throughout 2004, Moore has juggled her commitments as Lord Mayor, along with those of her state parliament role. From February to October, she has served an eight-month stint on the Legislative Assembly Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics.

At the end of 2004, Moore came under sustained attack from The Daily Telegraph and commercial talkback radio. On December 3, the Telegraph published a front-page story decrying "the bare and unfestive Sydney CBD" and claimed Moore's political correctness was behind the apparent lack of Christmas decorations. This led to hundreds of angry calls from talkback radio listeners, and the Prime Minister, State Premier and Opposition Leader all weighed in on the debate. It was later revealed that a key quote attributed to Moore had in fact come from a Sydney shopkeeper, and that the budget figure for decorations published by the Telegraph was incorrect.

On December 14, the attacks were renewed after a contemporary, "remixed" version of the National Anthem to be used during the Sydney New Year's Eve celebrations was played on talkback radio. Though the anthem was the idea of her creative team, Moore was again the target of talkback outrage, including further criticism by the Prime Minster, and another critical story on the front page of The Daily Telegraph. In response, the creative team pointed out that an orchestral version of the classic anthem would open the midnight celebrations, while the the contemporary version would be played as the fireworks ended.

External links

• Clover Moore - Independent Member for Bligh (http://www.clovermoore.com/)