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 No other politician has done more for Sydney’s queer community, yet she still endures her share of slings and arrows.
As she marks 20 years in Parliament, Peter Hackney interviews the political icon and finds out what drives Clover Moore.
Politics is said to be the world’s second-oldest profession. Some say it bears a close relationship to the first. If we accept that premise, then Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP, as she is officially known, is a very successful courtesan.
For twenty years, Clover has been a fixture of NSW Parliament. She was elected Member for the inner-Sydney seat of Bligh in March 1988. She was returned in the state elections of 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003.
In 2004, she decided to run for local government as well, and in March of that year became Lord Mayor of Sydney to boot.
In 2007, the seat of Bligh was abolished by the Electoral Commission, ahead of the state election. It was renamed ‘Sydney’ and its boundaries moved somewhat north and west. Some predicted that altered demographics would spell trouble for Clover.
She won with an increased majority.
It is with some measure of awe, then, that I arrive at Town Hall House, the Brutalist 1970s skyscraper so at odds with the Town Hall it overlooks, to meet the woman herself.
Not that there’s any need for trepidation; the doyenne of inner-city politics is disarming in the flesh. She may run the topmost city in this part of the world, but Clover, as she insists on being called, comes across as down-to-earth, warm and friendly.
I muse that her knack of building quick rapport has helped enormously in her political career – but to what does Clover attribute her longevity in a milieu not always conducive to long careers?
“In some ways, it’s quite simple,” she replies. “I found the political party process quite disillusioning, as do many people, so to be able to involve the community directly in representation, as an Independent who doesn’t have to tow party lines, I think appeals to people.
“I use the opportunities and influence I have as a people’s representative to achieve political reform and get outcomes for the community.”
It’s clear by her electoral success, and by the ‘Cult of Clover’, as The Sydney Morning Herald has called it – the large band of supporters who champion her at every turn – that Clover is a popular figure in Sydney. And that popularity reaches its zenith in the gay community.
“I’ve been prepared to do things that other people have steered away from,” Clover tells SX. “Because, I think, they’re gutless. But I’ve done what’s needed to be done on behalf of the various communities I represent, including the gay community, and I think people recognise that.”
And it’s clear that Clover has done more for Sydney’s queer communities than any other politician; few would seriously dispute that.
A quick summary of her achievements on our behalf includes, but is not limited to, a Private Members Bill outlawing homosexual vilification in NSW; introducing the first Bill to recognise same-sex relationships in NSW – which wasn’t passed, but became a model for Victoria and Tasmania; becoming the first member of the Legislative Assembly to march at Mardi Gras; a Bill to amend the Anti-Discrimination Act to outlaw discrimination against transgender people; and successfully lobbying the NSW government to grant Mardi Gras an exemption from ‘user pays’ street parade costs, saving Mardi Gras a $322,000 fee, which would have crippled the organisation.
She’s also unafraid to go out on a limb and censure people like Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, despite being a committed Roman Catholic herself, not to mention mayor of a city about to host the Pope. When asked for her opinion on Cardinal Pell’s stance towards gay people, she doesn’t pull punches: “Christ was a radical. He despised the Establishment and the Pharisees. He threw the money-changers out of the temple ... I liken certain church officials today to the Pharisees that Christ took exception to”.
But not everyone buys the notion of Clover as some kind of civic ‘fag hag’.
Over the past year or so, occasional letters to the editors of both Sydney’s weekly gay publications have castigated her and the City for not doing more to address violence on the ‘gay mile’ of Oxford Street.
The proprietor of the Imperial Hotel, too, has repeatedly taken public issue with Clover over a development application (DA) for the iconic gay venue, which is being renovated. Two weeks ago, Shadd Danesi told SX: “She says she’s a supporter of the gay community and I believe the Imperial is in the interests of the gay community. So I would like her to support it”.
Clover is having none of it.
“In terms of Oxford Street, legislation imposed by the state has led to the creation of bigger venues, venues that have been detrimental to Oxford Street. It’s the big drinking barns and clubs – and the way they’ve been promoted, and who they’ve attracted to the area – that has contributed to a lot of the violence.”
Clover says her Small Bars Bill, which becomes law from July 1 this year, “will make it much easier to take action against premises – rogue premises – that contribute so much to anti-social behaviour and violence on our streets.”
She opines that it will also foster “more interesting and smaller venues, which will help us get back to the interesting and eclectic Oxford Street area that we once had”.
Other efforts to promote safety include, she says, a successful campaign in tandem with ACON for changes at Surry Hills Police Command (Superintendent Donna Adney replaced Superintendent Daryl Donnelly in February), the development of an Oxford Street Safety Strategy, the Oxford Street Retail Revitalisation Strategy, and the inaugural Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Forum.
As for the Imperial, she states that all developments are subject to regulations and controls.
The brickbats come with the bouquets, she recognises, and Clover is philosophical about criticism: “It goes with the territory to be attacked. It’s not the part of the territory that I like, but the work is so worthwhile and rewarding, and the majority of people are appreciative if you can make an effort on their behalf”.
It’s also clear that Clover has a great passion for Sydney, and gets a real buzz out of being in the driver’s seat, guiding the city’s development both at a grassroots level and at a macro level, such as the Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan.
She loves few things more than taking her two Staffordshire terriers for a walk from her Redfern home to the top of Mt Steele in Moore Park, where she can look out over the “wonderful city” she serves.
And the passion is largely mutual, turning Clover into a Sydney icon. She’s almost a landmark personified; as Sydney as yachts on the harbour, Harry’s Café de Wheels, Bondi Beach and the Opera House.
The North Shore girl who moved to the inner-city in the 1970s, when she bought a rundown terrace with her husband Peter in Bourke Street, Redfern, has come a long way in 20 years.
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