Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore,pictured at her Redfern home on Monday,has announced she will seek a sixth term.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
“I’m still very committed and excited about the work. I think this next term we can just take it to another level,” she told theHerald. “People know what to expect with me,and they know that I honour commitments.”
Another victory in September would deliver Moore four more years in office,and she committed to serving the full term. Her former deputy,Jess Miller,is returning to local politics on Moore’s ticket,and is an obvious potential successor,though Moore said she was making no commitments at this stage. “When the time comes,I will certainly endorse someone I believe can carry the baton.”
Town Hall has been dominated by Moore and her independent team since 2004,and they retain a working majority,although there was a 15 per cent swing away from her at the last election,mostly going to Indigenous activist Yvonne Weldon.
Moore rejected the suggestion that after two decades it was time for new leadership. “I don’t know if the city is just about giving someone a go,” she said. “The city is really about having a vision and a commitment,and the energy and the motivation to do all of that. Of course there are others who might share that,but we’ve got a really wonderful momentum and I want to keep that going.”
‘I don’t think I personally make mistakes because I’m careful about what I do. But it’s a very large organisation ... things can happen.’
Clover Moore,lord mayor
She also cited a phrase often attributed to Buddha:“your work is to discover your world and then to give yourself wholly to it”,as well as former US president Teddy Roosevelt’s maxim that the best prize in life was to “work hard at work worth doing”.
While the US presidential contest has prompted debate about the age of civic leaders,Moore said she had a lot of energy and “a heart as strong as a horse,doctors tell me”.