Published On: 10/08/2015

It’s with pleasure and pride in equal measure that this broad community voting franchise is being advanced to its ultimate conclusion, a true representative franchise for this city and the end of taxation without representation.

The work that has been performed on this exercise is thorough and tradesman like, even though this chamber has been dragged kicking and screaming along the way with the same old tired drivel being wheeled out about Antony Green this and 90’s tales of Crown Solicitor Ian Knight that. All that has been roundly rejected. Judgement day is coming and now it has a date - 390 days from today.

Personally, I believe that when Governance and leadership are in order, everything else takes care of itself. This methodology will take care of Governance and the impeccable judgement of the electorate will determine leadership.

The City of Sydney Franchise has long been controversial. I hope this is close to being the end of it. The City can now focus on its myriad of problems which are piled high and I expect will be the next administrations problem, as this one is plum out of ideas and energy.

I sat through the Parliamentary Committee and have the clearest conscience on this matter. This is a spectacular legacy that we are creating for the Governance of this city.

It has been thoroughly reviewed and debated by Parliament and the Government that advanced it re-elected.

What did we do? We held Taxpayer funded protests that oddly enough had the same people I saw in the gallery during the Fit for the Future Extraordinary Council meeting or, like the one at Parliament House, that didn’t have enough people to fill a canoe.

I have never known a franchise where the number of voters is being doubled, to be described as a gerrymander! It’s quite the opposite. A gerrymander is coming to an end.

I have no idea where the cards will fall under the new system but I do know it’s a fair and reasonable franchise.

I do know that Melbourne will shortly be pulling ahead of us as the nation’s economic capital and when I look at their agendas and what they have achieved, it’s not hard to see why.

They have been doing this longer than we have and are far more focused. Most importantly, they trust and embrace all their voters equally.

We never have, now we are forced to.

So that’s what the people of this city can look forward to next year. All the things it seems you don’t like Lord Mayor.

Progress, collaboration and achievement instead of sound bites, a bloated media presence, suppressing Council scandals and the finger of blame always pointed somewhere else.

It’s been one of the best things I have ever worked on and the result is better than expected.

I would take this opportunity to thank our staff for their work on its implementation.

I am pretty sure they know a broader representation is going to make their life easier as well.

I would also like to thank my staff, the Premier and the Minister for Local Government for having the courage to see this through.

I look forward to campaigning against people who will be vainly trying to convince the very people they didn’t want to have a vote to let bygones be bygones and cast a vote for them! Thanks for the great head start.