Wollongong’s Lord Mayor for the past 13 years, Gordon Bradbery AM, is retiring and two women will be among those vying for the top job at September 14’s local government elections. Could Labor’s Tania Brown or the Greens’ Jess Whittaker be the first woman to lead the city?

We asked the two mayoral candidates to share their vision for Wollongong.

Meet Labor candidate for mayor Tania Brown

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.

Meet Greens candidate for mayor Jess Whittaker

Hi! I’m Jess and I was born and grew up in Bulli & I now live in a great little village, Port Kembla, with my husband and two wonderful daughters. I work as a paramedic in the Illawarra and volunteer as a dunecare coordinator at Port Kembla Beach and as the Vice President of the Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce. Besides bike riding, surfing, bushcare, and live music [you’ve got to love the talented musicians and performers we have in the city] I spend most of my time with my family & friends. As a working mum, you might understand how hectic life can get.

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

Our city is, simply, wonderful with beautiful beaches, majestic escarpment and strong communities. If I’m elected Lord Mayor I would bring fresh green ideas and a bold vision for a welcoming, fun city with interesting and exciting things to do and see, a city that looks after its community and its environment, and is easy to get around. I also want to see Wollongong refresh its once thriving nightlife. Wollongong can also become a region that embraces new industries in the renewable energy industry and the jobs that will come as we make the transition to a Net Zero nation.

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

As a new Lord Mayor I’d work to:

• Build footpaths, pedestrian crossings and cycleways

• Revitalize our nightlife by creating a dedicated position for Night Time Mayor.

• Provide secure bike parking and push for Opal-activated bike sheds.

• Encourage urban farming and community gardens to increase our local food security and build communities that say hi to their neighbours. 

• Support new housing developments with affordable housing

• Push the State government to give us more trains, more buses on the weekend and broaden free public transport options like the Gong Shuttle.

• Invest in skateparks and spaces for young people.

• Open our Libraries and Art Gallery all weekend.

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

I’d like to continue the work of our previous two Greens councillors and see the budget for walking and cycling in the city increased again by funding new footpaths, shared pathways, pedestrian crossings and cycleways. We need to increase the pace of roll out of the safe routes to school program so our kids can walk and cycle safely and cross roads at well designed pedestrian crossings. There are so many benefits from improving participation in walking and cycling, and by helping people with low mobility move about easily in our city. 

Why do you want the job?

I just love Wollongong. It’s a fantastic city and we are lucky to call it our home. Wollongong is at a crossroads and we need people with fresh ideas and new energy so we can make our city an easy place to get around with lots of fun and interesting things to do. I think we can do more to look after our community and the environment and we also need to build enough affordable housing so our kids can live and work here in the future.

I want to be Mayor so we can achieve these things together in the next term of council.