City of Sydney: Clover Moore the most important pollie in NSW? (She thinks so!)

LORD Mayor Clover Moore has boasted she has an “unofficial” influence over the state government and told Opposition Leader Luke Foley he needs to stand up more to Mike Baird.

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LORD Mayor Clover Moore has boasted she has an “unofficial” influence over the state government and told Opposition Leader Luke Foley he needs to stand up more to Mike Baird.

Fresh from a thumping win in last month’s city election, Ms Moore played down extraordinary suggestions from cronies in her inner circle that she is now the state’s defacto opposition leader.

But September’s landslide election victory appears to have emboldened the Lord Mayor and she lashed out at Mr Foley, suggesting he support more of her NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) policies instead of waiting for the job of Premier to “fall into” his lap.

Less important: NSW Premier Mike Baird Picture: Chris Pavlich

Clover Moore. Picture: Craig Greenhill

“I don’t call myself that,” she told Central Sydney.

The 70-year-old, who has made a career out of trying to block projects like WestConnex, called for stronger leadership from the Labor leader — despite the fact he has effectively held the government to account on a number of key issues, including the greyhound ban.

“I don’t think any opposition leader should think it (government) should just fall into their lap because the others have got so unpopular. I think opposition leaders need to have policies and strong positions,” Ms Moore said.

The actual Opposition Leader Luke Foley.

The Lord Mayor, who left state politics in 2012 after new rules preventing MPs from also sitting on councils, suggested Mr Foley should adopt more of her inner-city policies — that would harm Sydney’s west.

“I think the city community would appreciate the Labor leader coming out strongly about the impacts of WestConnex,” she said.

Ms Moore said Mr Foley should also oppose the movement of the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta.

“You just need to read the letters pages to see all the things that are upsetting people,” she added.

“I don’t want to turn this into a criticism of the Labor leader, I just think it’s important that the issues in the city are addressed by both government and opposition and that’s why I’m glad (Sydney independent MP) Alex Greenwich is in there because at least he’s a voice for the city.”

Cartoon: Warren

The Lord Mayor boasted she had an “unofficial” influence on state government policies.

“Can I tell you what my greatest influence at a state level is? We’ve got excellent policies, and I know state ministers really respect our policies and respect our work and include us, that’s the unofficial position,” she added.

Ms Moore admitted winning a fourth term as Lord Mayor had given her a boost: “A 10 per cent swing for a fourth term is something that does certainly give you confidence.”

Despite being on opposite sides of the political spectrum, she said she would “try” to work with the Baird government.

“I am very concerned about a lot of things they’re doing but we’ll work with them on light rail and they know our position on WestConnex,” Ms Moore said.