Regretfully, we have to advise that we have decided to cancel the Candidates Forum for the seat of Sydney which was planned for Wednesday 23 April, 2025 at the Alexandria Town Hall.

Unfortunately, Tanya Plibersek is now unable to attend and we have not heard from the Liberal candidate Alex Xu nor the One Nation candidate Vedran Torbarac.

We would like to thank Rachel Evans, the Socialist Alliance candidate and Luc Velez, the Greens candidate, who had agreed to make themselves available. It is unfortunate that we could not confirm all candidates for this important event.

Responses to the top three issues

Many of our residents took the time to vote on their top three issues coming into this election and these would have formed the basis of the presentations at the Candidates Forum.  

The three top issues identified in the survey and the questions are:

• Health – how will your improve our health system and make it more accessible and affordable for all Australians including for those needing specialists?
  
• Taxation – will you reform the current system and if so, what will you target for greatest effect?
  
• Housing – what changes will you make that improve access and equity to secure housing for all Australians whether it be social, public, affordable, rental or home ownership?

While we are not holding the forum, we have asked all candidates to provide a short response which we will post on our respective websites and via social media in the lead up to the election on 3 May.

On behalf of Alexandria Residents Action Group, Friends of Erskineville and RedWatch.

With the NSW Local Council and Mayoral Elections fast approaching next month, a reminder ARAG, Friends of Erskineville, and REDwatch are jointly hosting a City of Sydney – Lord Mayoral Candidates Forum on Wednesday, 21 August at the Alexandria Town Hall at 7pm.

Earlier, a survey was conducted among the residents and the local community to vote on the top three issues they would like the candidates to speak about. The survey closed last night, and we can now confirm the top three topics.

• Transport – finding a balance between pedestrians, cyclists, vehicle drivers, and public transport users
• Development – ensuring that development incorporates the delivery of community benefit (parks, open spaces, areas for people to come together)
• Housing affordability – the role of the Council in maximising the delivery of affordable housing via the Council’s contribution scheme and the allocation to community housing providers, the affordable and diverse housing fund, the City’s strategic planning and housing targets, the City’s planning consent/refusal vis-a-vis net loss of dwellings.
  

Who Will Be Speaking:

There are eight Candidates confirmed. After their presentations there will be a Q&A session for residents to participate in. The following Candidates speaking will be:

• Clover Moore – Clover Moore Independent Team
• Lyndon Gannon – Liberal Party
• Rachel Evans – Socialist Alliance Party
• Sam Danieli – We Love Sydney Independents
• Sean Masters – Libertarian
• Sylvie Ellsmore – The Greens
• Yvonne Weldon – Yvonne Weldon Independents
• Zann Maxwell – Labour Party

We will be also live-streaming this forum for those who cannot attend in person. The link will be posted closer to the night on this blog & our FB page.

For updated details follow: https://www.facebook.com/AlexandriaResidentsActionGroup

Look forward to welcome everyone to Alexandria Town Hall, 73 Garden Street, Alexandria at 7pm – 21 August 2024.