Sydney's lord mayor hopes to continue her record-breaking run presiding over the nation's premier business district with a re-election pitch that promises her vision for the city remains unfinished.
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City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore on Tuesday announced she would stand for a sixth term at the head of the council, continuing an already 20-year run at the helm.
The independent, who turns 79 after NSW local government elections in September, says her work to transform the centre of Australia's most populous city takes time.
"The work to ensure the city is a great place to live, work and visit - with environmental, social and economic sustainability at its heart - is not done," she said in a statement.
"Independent teams that I have led have provided effective, progressive, corruption-free governance since 2004."
City of Sydney is home to more than 200,000 residents and covers the central business district and several inner-city suburbs.
It is responsible for generating more than one-fifth of the total economic output of NSW.
Ms Moore's tenure has featured a focus on climate action, developing bike-friendly streets, light rail and work to pedestrianise parts of the city's main thoroughfare, George St.
With four more years in office, work to build more parks and community facilities and transform high streets would continue, she said.
But her tenure has also attracted controversy, particularly over a council push to replace city parking spots with bike lanes.
Late in 2023, controversial so-called "get Clover" laws were abolished after being introduced in 2014 by the then-Liberal state government.
City of Sydney businesses were given twice the voting power of residents in council elections in what was widely criticised as an attempt to end Ms Moore's already decade-long tenure.
The change followed another Liberal push in 2012 banning state MPs from serving in local government, forced her to choose between her seat in parliament and position as mayor.
But both moves failed to dislodge Ms Moore and her team of independents, which have dominated the council since her election.
She said there would always be "naysayers" but her continued vision was to create a "livable, sustainable, thriving city".
"There seems to be an inherent conservatism in humans that they never want change ... (but) cities do change and people's needs change and city leaders have to respond to that," Ms Moore told ABC Radio.
Australian Associated Press
