Local government elections will be held on September 14, 2024.

As part of our series featuring Wollongong's candidates for Lord Mayor, Labor candidate Tania Brown answers questions.

Please introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in Unanderra and now live in Wollongong. I’m a proud mum of two adult children who are my biggest supporters.  I play trivia weekly with mum, family and friends – history, Broadway musicals and entertainment are my special topics.

An Illawarra Hawks fan for 25 years, I served as a club director and next season’s games are already in my diary.

I’ve worked at the University for 15 years running a $62m infrastructure research centre. As a former senior government policy advisor I spent 13 years working in transport, police, and regional development portfolios.

Why are you the best person to be Wollongong’s next Lord Mayor?

As a life-long local I understand the challenges facing our city and have a passion to make Wollongong a great place to live, work and raise a family.

I know how government works and how to fight for our fair share. I am determined to be a strong voice for Wollongong and bring new energy to the role.

I have the experience to do the job, as a Councillor for seven years and as Deputy Lord Mayor for five of those years.

My record includes responsible Council budget management, establishing a post-Covid economic recovery taskforce, a skills roundtable and various measures to promote affordable housing.

What would be your top priorities if elected to the city’s top job?

• Housing - facing the housing affordability problem head-on using Council’s policy levers and working within the State government’s housing reforms to build a city people can afford to live in.
• Investing in our suburbs – more new footpaths and maintenance of the existing ones, similarly our roads and playgrounds need repair and upgrades.  Finding resources to mitigate floods.
• Guaranteeing residents have a weekly red-bin service if they want it.
• Jobs and Investment – seizing opportunities to deliver a sustainable economy that provides new local jobs rather than having to commute out of the city.
• Protecting our Environment – our unique coast and escarpment must be saved for future generations.

If you could deliver one key project in your first term, what would it be?

In an era of financial uncertainty and rising costs, to deliver responsible budgets that reflect a change in Council’s culture to become more customer-service focussed.

This means both, listening to residents, taking their views seriously and deploying resources to meet expectations.  ‘Computer says no’ must never be the answer to someone battling Council’s bureaucracy.

We must be financially responsible yet meet the growing challenges of climate change, and floods - but still deliver important projects such as the Helensburgh and Warrawong Library & Community Centres while also ensuring a request to fix a local pothole is completed in good time.

Why do you want the job?

I am proud of Wollongong and want it to be even better.  I believe I have the skills, experience and passion to lead a Council team that delivers for our community.

Residents tell me they want new leadership – the chance to provide this is exciting and if given the responsibility I’ll repay that faith with all my energy.

The role of Lord Mayor means responsible oversight of Council services such as libraries, pools and sports-fields - but also providing leadership and new ideas.

As Lord Mayor I will be an advocate for Wollongong and lead a council that drives the city’s exciting future.

25 August update: Views on the energy transition

After the NSW Liberal Party failed to file its paperwork on time for the 2024 local government elections, ruling out any Liberal candidates standing for Wollongong City Council, Independents have been cast into the spotlight. This includes some campaigning on issues such as “no offshore wind”.

Labor’s 2024 mayoral candidate, current Deputy Lord Mayor Tania Brown, said: “I find that a concern because ‘no offshore wind’ is not a local council issue.

“We have no legislative role in that. We are advocates for our community and there are many in our community who do support renewable energy, as I do.

“BlueScope Steel tells us that they need more energy with coal reducing – the reliance on coal is dropping. So we need a mix of renewables to be able to meet the future requirements to make sure we've got jobs in Wollongong.

“Just one sort of renewable is not going to do it.

“I think our role as advocates is to fight for [the best outcome],” Tania said, adding that some questions cannot be answered at this early stage as we don’t know who the proponents are.

“We'll be fighting to make sure that those environmental impacts are considered and also for a community benefit scheme,” she said.

“If we're one of the regions in Australia that's going to have these offshore wind farms, what benefit are we going to get? So I think we want to use that to leverage for our community and council would be a strong advocate for that.”

Tania said community benefits could be a big deal for Wollongong, greater than the Port Kembla Community Investment Fund, which the government negotiated when the port was sold to NSW Ports. Over the past decade it has delivered $11 million for 66 local community projects, according to a 2024 government evaluation.

“It could be all range of things,” Tania said of future community benefits. “Certainly it would be nice if it was a lot more money and we could get big infrastructure. I'd love a new basketball multipurpose court.

"All of that, it's not in our hands, but it's something we would be fighting for.”

Meet Wollongong's mayoral candidates

Tania Brown – Labor

Jess Whittaker – Greens

Andrew Anthony – Independent

Suzanne de Vive – Independent

Ryan Morris – Independent