鈥淲e need to hold Labor to its election commitments following their win in the Newcastle Council elections,鈥 Steve O鈥橞rien said after the new council was inaugurated late last year.
O鈥橞rien was the Socialist Alliance鈥檚 (SA) lead candidate for Ward 1 Councillor and Lord Mayor.
Labor won seven of the 13 councillor positions and Nuatali Nelmes was re-elected Lord Mayor. She reiterated Labor鈥檚 promise to prioritise housing affordability, climate change and urban renewal.
The Greens also polled well: Charlotte McCabe in Ward 2 joined Ward 1 Councillor John McKenzie.
An early test for Labor will be whether it supports a five-year extension to the annual SuperCars race. As one prominent restaurateur noted recently, the SuperCars outfit was like a 鈥渧acuum cleaner鈥 which sucked up every available dollar and froze out locals.
During the campaign, O鈥橞rien noted that the $30 million wasted on the race had diverted resources from the problem of homelessness. He said it was inconsistent with council鈥檚 climate emergency policy.
The ongoing pandemic has also raised fears that the SuperCars race scheduled for March will be a super spreader event.
SA鈥檚 team of O鈥橞rien, Samantha Ashby and Darcie Lemmich won 3.8% (884 votes) in Ward 1. O鈥橞rien won 1.9% (1940 votes) for Mayor.
SA will continue its work with community groups, to ensure that Labor keeps its promises. 鈥淲e received good support for our ideas, including from Labor which seemed to adopt some. Labor has few excuses not to deliver on its promises, in particular making affordable housing available.鈥