The who’s who of eastern suburbs state politics
Meet the candidates for the eastern suburbs seats of Vaucluse, Sydney and Coogee - from safe, to pretty safe, to marginal.
Spreading out from the Watsons Bay peak - Vaucluse, Sydney and Coogee - the NSW state seats for the eastern suburbs go from safe, to pretty safe, to marginal.
Climate change is the hot button issue supposedly dominating the NSW election but the outcome of local polls is more likely to come down to voter frustrations over traffic, infrastructure, development, and pressure on our schools and hospitals.
Statewide, the ALP is pushing a “stadiums versus schools” policy, campaigning against the rebuild of Allianz Stadium.
Those living in some of the most affluent seats in the state rightly expect world class facilities whether it be sport and recreation or essential services such as hospitals.
Blue-ribbon Vaucluse
The blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Vaucluse also includes Bondi, Bellevue Hill, Double Bay, Woollahra Darling Point and Point Piper,
Two-term incumbent Liberal MP Gabrielle Upton who has held the seat since 2011 is the strong frontrunner. Ms Upton has held the seat of Vaucluse since 2011, she holds a pre-election margin of 22.9% against the Greens.
In the past two state elections, the Greens outpolled Labor, and Ms Upton will again be up against Greens candidate Megan McEwin.
Ms Upton’s platform includes improving public transport, water quality and education — issues she has focused on as MP.
Ms McEwin, Woollahra councillor, is prioritising “real action on climate change” which includes moving to 100% renewable energy by 2030, quality local public schools and stopping overdevelopment.
The ALP Candidate, Lenore Kulakauskas, president of the Bondi branch of the party, is focused on climate change, inappropriate development and privatisation of essential services. Former deputy mayor for Waverley, Miriam Guttman-Jones — running as an Independent — is prioritising overdevelopment and a second public high school.
Mark MacSmith for Keep Sydney Open and Kay Dunne for Sustainable Australia Party, as well as Deb Doyle for Animal Justice Party say they are variously concerned with overdevelopment, issues of “character” of the district and climate change.
The race for Sydney
Alex Greenwich has been the Independent MP for Sydney since 2012 and holds the seat by a margin of about 8%.
He won a by-election for the seat when his mentor, former MP Clover Moore became Lord Mayor of City of Sydney. His challengers include Liberal Lyndon Gannon, who last ran for the party in Balmain.
Polling conducted for Mr Greenwich shows he is likely to increase his lead by around 2%.
Mr Gannon is running on some unique platforms including transforming the Darlinghurst Courthouse into an arts and culture precinct, building three harbour baths at Elizabeth Bay, Barangaroo and Pyrmont, and advocating for the proposed skate park at Rushcutters Bay. Mr Greenwich is supportive of the youth recreation facility and has asked Woollahra council to address the concerns raised by some residents.
Mr Greenwich — who recently appeared on the SBS program Filthy Rich and Homeless — is campaigning on a platform to end homelessness and build more affordable housing, as well as focusing on climate change and social justice reform. Mr Greenwich — who joined two Independent NSW crossbenchers in demanding government action on climate change recently — sits with Labor and the Greens in fighting the redevelopment of Allianz stadium. “Building more supported social housing — not building stadiums … and setting strong affordable housing targets in redevelopments.”
Art curator and art historian Jo Holder is contesting the seat for the ALP. “Our city is suffering from a lack of schools, crowded hospitals, and some of the most unaffordable housing in the world,” she said. Greens candidate Jonathan Harms, a lawyer, is campaigning on climate change, pill testing, renters rights and repealing lockout laws.
Marginal Coogee
The seat looks to be on a knife-edge with Liberal candidate Bruce Notley-Smith, a former mayor of Randwick, and the ALP’s Marjorie O’Neill, going head to head.
It will take a 2.9 per cent swing for the seat to fall to Labor. Mr Notley-Smith has held Coogee since 2011, when he snatched it from Paul Pearce, the latest in a line of Labor MPs stretching back to 1974.
Ms O’Neill, a Waverley councillor, was endorsed for the seat following a bitter preselection battle that caused a rift in the ALP’s local branches.
Mr Notley-Smith has promised upgrades to local schools and the Bondi Junction station and bus interchange.
Ms O’Neill is campaigning on new co-ed public high school in the eastern suburbs at the expense of the rebuild on Allianz Stadium, as well as climate change, based on a target of 50% renewable energy by 2030.
She has also pledged caution on development, speaking out against the redevelopment of Waverley Bowling Club by Easts Group. Another potential flashpoint is the diminishing of cardiac services at Sydney Children’s Hospital in favour of Westmead.
The ALP has pledged to restore services at Randwick while the government has remained deaf to the please of doctors.
Greens candidate Lindsay Shurey, Simon Garrod (Animal Justice Party), Josh Turnbull (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers), Joseph O’Donoghue (Keep Sydney Open), Luisa Murray (Sustainable Australia) and Ciaran O’Brien (Small Business Party) are also contesting the seat.
Hot topic: high school forum
The NSW election is considered “crunch time” for campaigners for a new state high school in the east.
In the days leading up to the state election, lobby group CLOSEast — Community for Local Options for Secondary Education campaign — is holding a forum on building a school in either the Vaucluse or Coogee electorate.
Liberal MP Gabrielle Upton, Greens candidate Megan McEwin, Labor candidate Lenore Kulakauskas and Independent Miriam Guttman-Jones are confirmed for the panel.
Likewise, Coogee candidates, Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith, Marjorie O’Neill for the ALP and Greens candidate Lindsay Shurey will attend. Last year, six private schools — SCEGGS, Cranbrook, Ascham, Reddam, Kambala and Moriah — co-signed a letter of support for the need to build a new co-ed public high school.
Licia Heath, CLOSEast founder, stated her preferences for the high school ahead of the forum.
“Our preferred option has always been a vertical high school in Bondi Junction because it’s a public transport hub (train and bus) and there’s already considerable development so it won’t be out of place,” she said.
“There is still public land in Bondi Junction (the bus depot, Spotlight, Officeworks, and the Library). The bus depot is our primary site,” she said.
On the cost of a new public high school, Ms Heath said: “The inner city high school (opening in 2020, see artist impression right,) is budgeted for $60m and would be a similar comparison.
A school in Bondi Junction is more likely to be a smaller project, rather than bigger.”
The free forum will be held in the Seagull Room at Bondi Pavilion from 7.30pm on March 20.
Register at: https://bit.ly/2F3zqlv
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