Member for North Shore Felicity Wilson is ready to recontest her seat at next year’s state election
North Shore MP Felicity Wilson has survived political and personal challenges, and a vote of confidence has her raring to defend her seat.
Mosman
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Felicity Wilson knows all about pressure. She has felt it intensely in her time as NSW Member for North Shore, from her political opponents and her own party room too.
But with the state election set to be held in March and the teal movement on the hunt for an independent candidate to take her down, Wilson received a confidence boost last week when she was officially selected by the Liberal Party to recontest her seat.
In previous years she faced fierce competition to represent the party in the traditionally safe seat. In 2018 she won by just one vote against Tim James, who is now the Willoughby MP.
But this year things were different. For the first time nobody from within the party challenged her and she was selected unopposed by local party members. It made her the first Liberal candidate in the state to be endorsed for the 2023 election.
“I’m grateful for the ongoing support of my local Liberal Party members. They’ve been working alongside me to deliver for the community for more than five years,” Wilson says.
“This vote of confidence for me to continue as their local MP gives me a lot of energy and excitement to go on to campaign for the state election. It feels good to have that confidence. It’s a boost.”
That renewed energy will serve her well after a tough year in which she has faced criticism on various fronts from members of her electorate. And it’s an electorate that requires a delicate approach to manage.
Geographically, its boundaries draw across from Wollstonecraft to Cremorne on the harbour side of Military Rd, before sweeping up to Mosman at the Spit Bridge. And this territory is littered with icons that everyone in the state believes they own – North Sydney Olympic Pool, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Luna Park and even the harbour itself.
One of her detractors has been Ian Mutton, a North Sydney councillor and vocal opponent of the potential overdevelopment of Luna Park.
Mutton doesn’t believe Wilson shows enough solidarity with locals over their concerns, particularly on the Harbour Bridge side of her electorate. He cites frustrations over the management of Luna Park development applications and what he sees as an overzealous loyalty to state planning policies.
“Wilson presents herself to us as though her role in life is to tell us what Liberal government policy is, when our view is that we need an advocate who will take our views across the harbour to the government,” he says.
Other complaints have centred around the design of the planned Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway, when the Kirribilli-Milsons Point community was worried about damage to the heritage values of the Bridge, traffic congestion and loss of green space.
On this, Wilson says: “Supported by the whole, broader community, the government has taken the position that cycling is part of active transport for NSW policy... And the introduction of a cycle ramp is a missing link in crucial infrastructure.
“But I have been there, listening to the community. I’ve sat in the lobby of Dind St, Milsons Point units while residents talked. I’ve gone on walks through Bradfield Park. I’m constantly eliciting points of view, as I should be.
“Whatever we decide, whatever compromises we make, there will always be residents who disagree with the final decisions, who feel the process doesn’t reflect their wishes... In the case of the cycling ramp, we were never going to get them all on board. But I still feel we did everything we could to take into consideration their concerns.”
The seat also carries the brunt of major infrastructure projects that will impact the whole city, such as the new Northern Beaches Tunnel, so Wilson must manage the expectations of pro-tunnel voters who can’t wait for it to arrive to improve the street amenity of Mosman against those who don’t want it, such as those concerned that its vents will emit carbon monoxide near local schools.
“We are committed to delivering it,” she says. “We know it’s impactful and there are people who won’t want to see it proceed. At the end of the day we have to make decisions based upon what’s right for the infrastructure needs of communities locally, across Sydney and the state.
“The work has been done to show that it’s crucial. People in this area know that it’s crucial.”
And then there is the added pressure coming from an uglier side of politics, where Wilson has had to endure speculation about her personal life. Some sources have claimed she has been “missing in action” and has not been seen enough in her electorate due to a marriage breakdown.
Many would argue a male politician would never be subjected to such innuendo, but it’s not the first time Wilson has had to deal with snipers going to the media. At the beginning of her political career, she suffered some damage when it was leaked that some of the 10 years she claimed in a preselection statutory declaration to have lived in North Sydney had actually been spent in Epping.
Wilson survived this to be elected in a by-election in 2017 and re-elected in 2019. And she plans to continue this trend at the next state election.
“Yes, it’s true that my marriage is over,” she says. “It’s a statement of fact. I don’t hide it from anybody but it’s not really something that I talk about a lot and that’s not because I want to be dishonest.”
She remains married to Sam Ison, though they separated a year ago.
“We are in a good place with each other,” she says. “We try to maintain the family unit for the kids, because we are their family, even if we’re not still together.”
Eleanor, 3, and Henry, 2, were both born in the time she has represented North Shore as its local member and a sitting politician.
“I love being a local MP and I love being a mum. Both of those jobs take a lot of time and energy and, as a single mum now, my juggle is probably a bit different to some other households. But we all have that juggle,” she explains.
“And I don’t think ‘missing in action’ is fair.
“My absence wasn’t because of the marriage breakdown, it was because of Covid lockdowns. Until the point when Covid arrived, I had a very public life, attending functions in the electorate, including on evenings and weekends.”
Wilson is also parliamentary secretary to the treasurer and for Covid recovery and has been on a wide array of parliamentary committees.
There is a lot on her plate and it requires hard work. But tightly managed diary planning, a combination of babysitters and her loyal sisters to cover late-night parliamentary sittings and Ison’s commitment to stay in the children’s lives will make it work, she says.
Since being elected in a by-election in 2017 following the resignation of former health minister Jillian Skinner, Wilson believes her biggest achievement has been in education investment, particularly the upgrades at Mosman High, North Sydney Demonstration and Neutral Bay Public schools.
“It’s the best part of my job hands down,” she says.
Other government projects she is proud of include the lifts at the Harbour Bridge, station upgrades, road upgrades, the Metro, the opening of Northcliff Park at Milsons Point and the ongoing work to transform Berrys Bay.
If re-elected, she hopes to add the Sydney Harbour HighLine – a project that aims to transform an old railway line that runs from Lavender Bay to Waverton into a walking track – to her list of achievements.
“(It’s) one of the big wishlist items for me, something that I think would be transformative for our area and for all of Sydney,” she says.
“Getting trains off the tracks and turning it into a public walkway would be transformative for the bay. It would be an iconic destination for tourists across the state, the country and the globe. Sydney Harbour deserves no less than that, frankly.
“It’s something (I’ve been) chipping away at for many years and is the number one thing I’d love to achieve.”
So how does she see herself in 10 years’ time? Still in politics? Definitely yes. As premier?
She reflects on former premier Gladys Berejiklian, a significant mentor, whose career finished because of a referral to ICAC.
“I still miss Gladys as premier. She encapsulated all the values that are important for the community. She worked tirelessly and she put everyone else first,” Wilson says.
“And in my heart of hearts, if there is one person in public life whose integrity, whose character I would never doubt, it is her. None of us can presume what will come out of that ICAC process because it still hasn’t concluded.
“But no, I don’t need to be premier.
“Being a local member is the most extraordinary job. You’re part of something rich, diverse and vibrant – your community. You have access to all sorts of people, their ideas, their problems, their solutions.”
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