Sydney lord mayor candidate Yvonne Weldon vows to ditch mayoral robe, chains, ‘lord’ title

A candidate in this month’s City of Sydney mayoral election is intent on scrapping the trappings, vowing to ditch the ‘colonial-era’ lord mayor title, robe and chains if she topples Clover Moore.

A City of Sydney mayoral candidate has vowed to ditch the traditional mayoral robe, chains and “lord mayor” title if elected, declaring the “colonial-era” symbols are not relatable in modern society.

Yvonne Weldon, the first Aboriginal councillor elected to the City of Sydney, has made scrapping the trappings of the mayoral role a key election pledge in her race to topple sitting Lord Mayor Clover Moore at the upcoming council election on September 14.

The pledge draws a key point of difference to Ms Moore, who earlier this year supported retaining the mayoral titles and styles.

Ms Weldon, however, believes they are old fashioned and antiquated and wants them gone for good.

“I think the term ‘lord’ suggests a superiority to the people and, to me, the mayor should be a servant of the people rather than the master,” she said.

City of Sydney councillor Yvonne Weldon is running as an independent mayoral candidate.

“The Prime Minister doesn’t have any chains of office or these extra titles and, when you look at other major cities around the world, the Mayor of London is just the Mayor of London, not the Lord Mayor of London.

“Australia is an independent sovereign and democratic nation (and) for me, as a Wiradjuri, woman I don’t relate to the term ‘lord’.

“I think for where we would like to be as a country, the city should be moving forward for the people they are representing.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, pictured with the mayoral chains.

“Local government is for the people and when you have a superior title, it implies you are superior to other people.”

The City of Sydney is one of only a handful of NSW councils that use “lord” mayoral titles along with Parramatta, Wollongong and Newcastle.

The British monarchy has also bestowed the honorific on other Australian state capital cities, including Melbourne and Brisbane, in recognition of their status, culture and history

Ms Moore said she did not wear the mayoral robe and only wore the mayoral chains to council meetings, citizenship ceremonies and civic events.

She said she had also never worn the City of Sydney “three-cornered hat”, which also forms part of the traditional mayoral dress code.

“Most people call me Clover and I’m really proud to have this name,” she said.

“All capital cities in Australia, as well as Wollongong, Parramatta and Newcastle have a lord mayor – a title which recognises these cities as prominent areas.

Ms Moore says she wears the chains during events such as council meetings.

“Given the widespread use of the term ‘lord mayor’ by Australian cities, any change should be done in consultation with those cities and not unilaterally.”

City of Sydney Team Clover councillor Adam Worling has also supported maintaining the status quo, saying the ‘lord’ title was not about “pomp” and that many new Australians at citizen ceremonies had said to him they have been “honoured” to be presented with citizenship by the “lord mayor”.

“This means something to the community,” he said.

The lord mayor title also comes with the style and title of “right honourable”, an honorific Ms Weldon has also vowed to scrap if elected.

Changing the title of the lord mayor to the “Mayor of Sydney” would require NSW Parliament to amend the City of Sydney Act 1988