Clover Moore

Clover Margaret Collins was born in 1945 and grew up in the suburb of Gordon, on Sydney's North Shore, one of three daughters of Kathleen and Francis Collins. She attended Loreto Kirribilli at Kirribilli and Elm Court Dominican Convent, Moss Vale. Moore matriculated to the University of Sydney, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and a Diploma of Education from the Sydney Teachers' College, and resided at Sancta Sophia College. After graduation she began work as an English and History teacher at Fort Street High School, before moving to London to teach for several years. Moore married Peter Moore, an architect, in 1972 and they had two children, Sophie and Tom. They returned to Australia five years later and settled in the inner-city suburb of Redfern.

Moore was elected to the South Sydney Municipal Council in 1980.[3][4] However, in 1981, the New South Wales Government amalgamated the South Sydney Council with the City of Sydney, and Moore was subsequently elected to the newly formed Sydney City Council from 1981. Moore developed a visible profile in the community, campaigning on a variety of issues both in her position as councillor and in the broader community. Moore was interested in heritage preservation, being involved in the unsuccessful campaign to save the 1936 Rural Bank Building in Martin Place and describing the ALP Lord Mayor, Doug Sutherland, as the "Judas of Martin Place" for his role in approving its demolition in 1982.[5] In late 1987, Moore was the favourite to become the city's first female Lord Mayor and defeat incumbent Doug Sutherland. In 1987 the state government abruptly sacked the Sydney City Council and appointed a board of commissioners to run it until new elections could be held.

Clover Moore's state electorate office on Oxford Street, Paddington, in 2010.

Instead of standing again for council, Moore decided to run for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as an independent at the 1988 election. Despite not having the backing of a party, she won the seat of Bligh, narrowly defeating Liberal member Michael Yabsley.[6][4]

In 1991 she co-authored the New South Wales Charter of Reform of Government. In the same year, she was re-elected for a second term with a massive swing in her favour, increasing her share from 26.7 per cent to 43 per cent. Her power also increased dramatically when, along with fellow independents Peter Macdonald and Tony Windsor, she gained the balance of power in the Legislative Assembly. Moore was to again take the spotlight when the Independent Commission Against Corruption handed down a finding that was sharply critical of Liberal Premier Nick Greiner on 1 June 1992. While the findings were still pending a ruling in the NSW Court of Appeals, Moore and two other Independent MPs made a symbolic march to the NSW Parliament with a threat to withdraw their support of the coalition's minority-government. Hence before the Court ruling was handed down, Greiner's hand was forced, and he resigned on 24 June 1992.[4]

She went on to hold her seat with a largely safe margin at the 1995 and 1999 elections. The LGBT community thanked her for her support by featuring likenesses of her in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade that year. She was re-elected again in 2003.

Prior to the 2007 election, the Electoral Commission redistributed electoral boundaries, renaming Bligh to "Sydney", and moving the seat north and west to encompass the Sydney CBD. Moore was elected to the new seat of Sydney with an increased margin.

Although she sat as an independent in parliament, Moore often worked with other minor parties and independents, particularly with the Australian Democrats, who sponsored some of her bills in the upper house and Moore encouraged voters at the 2011 state election to vote for the Democrats in the upper house, along with South Coast Independent MP, John Hatton.[7]

Moore resigned as a state MP as a result of new state laws (labelled in the media as the "Get Clover" laws) preventing dual membership of state parliament and local councils. Following her re-election as mayor in the 2012 elections, she was forced to resign the state seat she held for 24 years before the first meeting of the new council. This resulted in a 2012 Sydney by-election on 27 October in which she endorsed independent candidate Alex Greenwich of the Australian Marriage Equality advocacy group who won in a landslide victory.[8][9]

In early 2004, the Labor Party government under Bob Carr sacked and re-amalgamated the City of Sydney and South Sydney Councils. The move came largely as a surprise, with then-Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull being notified by a fax posted under her door. The decision to amalgamate the two councils was widely interpreted by the media as an attempt to get the Labor candidate, former federal minister Michael Lee, elected as Lord Mayor, as it would bring a large area of largely Labor-voting suburbs into the City of Sydney. However, several of these suburbs also made up Moore's state electorate of Bligh.

When Turnbull announced soon after that she would not seek re-election, Lee appeared to have the position won. Then, on 24 February, Moore entered the race, 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. By the following day, The Sydney Morning Herald was already predicting that she would present a serious challenge to Lee.[10]

Despite a spirited challenge from Lee, who was supported by much of the business community which had concerns about Moore's anti-development stance, Moore won. She finished with more than double the vote of her nearest rival, Lee, and ABC election analyst Antony Green announced that she would "romp through" to win, only 90 minutes after counting began.[11]

Though she had made a point of not directing voting preferences in her four election campaigns in the Legislative Assembly, Moore decided to support a team of independents for the council race. This turned out to be quite successful, with four of her team of six – John McInerney, Robyn Kemmis, Marcelle Hoff and Phillip Black – being elected to council.

In 2008 NSW local government elections Moore was re-elected as Lord Mayor of Sydney.[12] She was returned on a reduced majority in 2012, winning 51.1% of the Mayoral vote.[13] In the 2016 NSW local government elections she was comfortably returned to office, improving her vote 8.0% to win 59.1% of the popular vote.[14]

After introducing bike lanes through many parts of inner Sydney, Moore broke an ankle on Ride to Work Day in October 2010, while dismounting from her bike, necessitating that she attend some events in a wheelchair.[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clover Moore.

• Official site
• "Moore, Clover". Australian Women.
• "Lord Mayor – Councillor Clover Moore". Councillors. City of Sydney. 23 December 2019.