2004 Sydney City Council election

The 2004 Sydney City Council election was held on 27 March 2004 to elect nine councillors and a lord mayor to the City of Sydney. The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales, Australia.^[1][2]

2004 Sydney City Council election

← 1999 (Sydney) ← 2000 (South Sydney) 27 March 2004 2008 →

First party Second party Third party   Candidate Clover Moore Michael Lee Shayne Mallard Party Team Clover Labor Liberal   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   IND Candidate Chris Harris John Fowler Peter Collins Party Greens Sydney Inds Ind. Liberal

Lord Mayor before election Lucy Turnbull Living Sydney Subsequent Lord Mayor Clover Moore Team Clover

Councillors

All 10 seats on the City Council (including the lord mayor) 5 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Team Moore Clover Moore 5 +5 Labor Michael Lee 3 Liberal Shayne Mallard 1 +1 Greens Chris Harris 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The election followed the amalgamation of Sydney with the neighbouring City of South Sydney. Independent MP Clover Moore was elected lord mayor, becoming the first popularly elected female Lord Mayor of Sydney.^[3][4]

Background

In 2002, parts of the City of South Sydney and Leichhardt were proposed to be merged with the City of Sydney. In 2003, Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, Kings Cross, Darlinghurst, Chippendale, Ultimo and parts of Rushcutters Bay, Camperdown and Darlington were transferred from South Sydney to the City of Sydney. As the financial viability of the residual City of South Sydney was under threat as a result, the City of Sydney and the City of South Sydney were combined by proclamation on 6 February 2004.^[5] The 2003 merger was perceived as an attempt to bring more working class Labor Party voters into the City of Sydney.^[6][7]

Candidates

A total of 67 candidates stood for election, including 14 lord mayoral candidates.^[8]

Lord mayoral candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot:^[9]

Party		Candidate	Background
	Liberal	Shayne Mallard	Former South Sydney councillor
	Democrats	Spencer Wu	Former Ashfield councillor who ran in the 1999 state election as leader of the Voice of the People Party[10][11]
	Independent	Dixie Coulton	Sydney councillor
	Independent Liberal	Peter Collins	Former Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales[12]
	Socialist Alliance	Susan Price	Unionist[13]
	Independent	Phillip Daley
	Greens	Chris Harris
	Sydney Independents	John Fowler	Former South Sydney mayor[10]
	Independent	Tony Spanos	Ferrymaster[14]
	Labor	Michael Lee	Former federal MP
	Independent	Beverly Baker	Former NSW Parents and Citizens Association president[15]
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	Independent MP for Bligh[16]
	Independent	Ormond McDermott
	Independent	Matt Laffan	Lawyer and disability advocate[17]

Team Clover

On 24 February 2004, independent MP Clover Moore announced she would run for lord mayor, labelling the council's sacking a "cynical grab for power." Despite her ideological differences with Turnbull, she also sharply denounced the sacking of a democratically elected mayor.^[18]

Moore formed the Clover Moore Independent team, which included six other candidates.^[19]

Labor

Former federal MP Michael Lee contested as Labor's lord mayoral candidate. He officially announced his candidacy on 3 March 2004.^[20]

Liberal

Former South Sydney councillor Shayne Mallard contested the election as the first-ever endorsed Liberal Party lord mayoral candidate.^[21]

Others

The Greens contested the lord mayoralty for the first time, with Chris Harris as their candidate.^[22] The Australian Democrats and Socialist Alliance both endorsed candidates.^[23][24]

Incumbent Sydney councillor Dixie Coulton, a former Living Sydney and Sydney Independents member, was one of six independent candidates.^[25][26]