The Illawarra Greens are celebrating a great result in the Wollongong seat of Cunningham, with a 3.1% increase in the Green vote - one of the biggest swings to the Greens in NSW.

The strong showing for the Greens, particularly in the working class southern suburbs, has been linked to the local Greens Save Our Steel campaign backed by the Illawarra Greens, Greens NSW MP David Shoebridge and Senator Lee Rhiannon.

Cath Blakey, Cunningham Greens candidate, said, “In the Illawarra we broke new ground this election by standing together with the South Coast Labour Council, the AWU and the MUA to lead a campaign for 100% Australian steel in all government infrastructure projects.

“The result reflects how the Greens are winning the confidence of more locals. As well as our work on saving the steel industry our strong track record supporting workers’ rights, public education, public health, social equity and action on climate change clearly resonates with many people living in the Illawarra.

Mr Shoebridge said, “The Greens have become the strongest voice for saving the manufacturing heart of the Illawarra, supporting thousands of jobs and delivering investment in a low carbon, high quality and socially responsible steel industry in Australia.

“The Greens Bill to mandate the use of Australian steel in government infrastructure will be up for debate when the NSW parliament resumes in August.

Senator Rhiannon said that when the federal parliament resumes she will again take up the issue of local procurement. “Congratulations to Cath and the Greens team for Cunningham for a great result. With repeated lead coverage in the Illawarra Mercury, local ABC and regional TV this is a real credit to the collaboration between local Greens, our candidate, Cath Blakey, and David Shoebridge who is spearheading the Greens' Steel Bill through the NSW Parliament.

Greens Cunningham results

The Greens outpolled the Liberals in the traditional Green strongholds of Austinmer (Green vote 30.2%) and Wombarra (27.9%).

However the 6 largest swings to the Greens in Cunningham came from the traditionally Labor voting southern suburbs:

Polling place.                                       Green vote (%)     Swing