Labor candidates held a rally on Monday to call for the council to raise the rainbow flag.
Seventy four per cent of Wollongong and Shellharbour council candidates who answered a Mercury survey say they plan to vote yes in the postal vote on same-sex marriage.
Prompted by Labor’s call to raise the rainbow flag outside Wollongong council headquarters, the paper asked all those who have provided an email address to the NSW Electoral Commission for their views on the subject.
The vast majority of those who responded said they would definitely vote yes.
This included all Labor and Greens respondents, incumbent Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery, respondents from Shellharbour’s ALP-member independents and all of Vicki Curran’s Wollongong independent group.
Only two candidates across the two LGAs – Liberal Michelle Blicavs (for religious reasons) and Terry Gallagher (as she believes the vote was a waste of money and time) – were prepared to say they would vote no.
Most Liberals who answered were not willing tell voters their position on the issue, with the party’s lead candidate in Shellharbour, Nathan Cattell, the only Liberal to say he would vote yes.
Overall seven candidates – Liberal lead candidates Leigh Colacino, John Dorahy and Cameron Walters, Wollongong independents John Mullan and Greg Petty and Shellharbour independents Helen Stewart and Ken Stratton – said they would not respond or were undecided on the postal poll.
About 15 people who have provided their contact details did not reply to the Mercury’s email by deadline.