Story by Kate McIlwain in the Illawarra Mercury, 25 November 2024.

Cr Docker said the motion that calls on council staff to review its Protocol for Homeless People in Public Places and look for ways to support frontline homelessness services was always planned to be put forward as soon as possible after he was elected.

"100 per cent - in Wollongong, we're beyond the housing crisis," Cr Docker said.

"We're starting to slip into a homelessness crisis. For me, I think the strength of a community is best judged by how they support the most vulnerable. That's why I was bringing this to the floor of council the first chance I got."

"One of the heads of the local providers told me recently that it's much easier for them to turn one of their dwellings into an Airbnb than it is to turn it into crisis and emergency accommodation," Cr Docker said.

"This isn't about big developers providing affordable housing or anything like that. These are about the services which are at the very acute end of this crisis.

"So it's just how can we bring those services online as quickly as possible once those applications hit the council's desk?"

"We need to throw everything we have at that and that includes bringing local government into the mix," he said.

"We need to use our imagination. We need to throw everything at this problem. Otherwise it would be far more costly to deal with down the track."

Cr Docker said he was confident the motion would have the full support of the councillors in this new term.

"Every single one of the councillors which have been elected care about their community and know about this crisis and I'm confident that this will pass," he said.

"I'm asking for a briefing. There's no budgetary impacts, there's no money being spent at the moment.

"This is asking for a briefing and sending a clear signal to staff that this is my intention and that we need a stronger focus in this area."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 24 October 2024.

Senator Shoebridge declared Port Kembla to be in the cross hairs for a naval base and a naval waste dump site thanks to the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Bill 2024 which passed parliament on October 10.

"We're here because a fortnight ago, the Commonwealth Parliament in an ugly deal between Labor and the Coalition passed legislation that enables either this defense minister or the next Defence Minister to declare Port Kembla a naval nuclear facility, a naval base and a naval waste dump simply by regulation without having to speak to the council, without having to speak to traditional owners without having to speak to the community," Sen Shoebridge said.

"... with the flick of a pen make Port Kembla, a nuclear submarine base and a future coalition government has now been given the power to turn Port Kembla into a nuclear submarine base."

Story by Janine Graham in the Illawarra Mercury, 23 October 2024.

"The Greens had a strong showing with one candidate making it onto each ward, and the positions were rounded out with two independent candidates."

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 2 October 2024.

"It's really hard for us in Ward 3," Ms Whittaker said.

"It always has been for some reason. I guess it's just very different demographics. I spent most of my life living in Bulli and then I moved down here about eight years ago and live in Port Kembla.

"So it's vastly different landscapes."

Ms Whittaker said campaigning in the south had always been hard for the Greens due to the lower level of support, but felt with Ms Stuart as a councillor people might see the value of the party.

"There's the issue of having the resources - we've never really had a big number of volunteers who live in Ward 3," Ms Whittaker said.

"Most of our really committed volunteers live in Ward 1, so that's a challenge campaigning in Ward 3, getting people to jump on board.

"But I'm hoping now with Deidre elected, and obviously I live down here, that we'll get more people to help us campaign for next time.

"We'll keep building, that's going to be one of our goals to just keep building and organising down there."

Ms Whittaker didn't feel it will be an issue representing Ward 1 in the city's north while living in Port Kembla. "I'm really connected to Ward 1 having spent most of my life there," she said.

"I wouldn't have run if I didn't feel like I knew the area really well and spent a lot of time there.

"There was an opportunity to run. Mithra [Cox] wasn't going to run again. We wanted someone to be in that safer seat that was going to do the work and keep building and turning up and have the time to commit to it.

"So I took that opportunity."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 17 September 2024.

Greens' Ms Whittaker contacted Cr Brown on Saturday night to congratulate her on the Lord Mayoral win.

Ms Whittaker said she knew it would be a battle for the Greens to win, but on the figures so far, the party's Lord Mayoral vote has jumped from the 13 per cent in 2021.

"We're stoked," she said of the party's efforts.

"It was a very different election, with everything that went on. But we're really happy with how the campaign went.

"We left it all out there. We did as much as we could do to put a progressive vision to the community and we've gotten a bigger vote for the Greens than we've ever done before."

"It's really exciting," she said.

"We've got a great team in the Illawarra Greens and we all help each other. So I'm not scared because anything that seems hard, we collaborate on and work together to get through it.

"So it's not like I feel like I'm doing it alone. I'm looking forward to meeting people and getting to know all the local issues in depth and getting our policy platform implemented.

"I'm so excited for Deidre and for Ward 3," Ms Whittaker said.

"We've been trying to get a councillor in Ward 3 for almost a decade. It's awesome that people in Ward 3 will have the Greens down there now to represent them.

"Kit's gotten a good vote. So we're hopeful that comes through in pre-poll as well.

"Kit will be an amazing councillor. He's a young renter, he's got heaps of lived experience of how it can be hard for people to live in Wollongong and he's going to bring that to the table for young people and for renters."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 15 September 2024.

Greens mayoral candidate and paramedic Jess Whittaker was also feeling positive and shared similar sentiments. "Whatever the people decide then that's what I'm happy with," Ms Whittaker said.

"We've had a really good campaign and when all that happened with the Liberals, we just kept doing what we were doing and putting our positive vision for the city out there."

Story by Joel Ehsman and Grace Crivellaro in the Illawarra Mercury, 14 September 2024.

“I've never met a politician who is as connected to her community as Cath!” said the Greens’ Jess Whittaker. “She's the reason I got involved in politics because she made it accessible to a regular person who wants to see positive change. Cath is a gem!”

Jess also paid tribute to outgoing Ward 1 Greens councillor Mithra Cox, “a passionate advocate for climate action and community”.

“She’s a natural leader and a fantastic public speaker. She’s incredibly kind and has been so generous in helping the next bunch of council candidates find their way.”

The man who has led Wollongong for the past 13 years, Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery AM, was Jess’s final choice. “Gordon led Wollongong Council out of some very dark times when restoring integrity and trust was desperately needed. He's championed a collaborative approach to decision making and remained connected to the community and in touch with local issues throughout his time as mayor.”

... And finally, Andrew [Anthony] picked outgoing Ward 2 Greens Councillor Cath Blakey, “who I deeply admired for her commitment to environmental protection and social justice issues”.

“The number one concern for people is affordability of housing, food, power bills and transport,” said the Greens' Jess Whittaker. “Every dollar counts for many families right now.”

Story Genevieve Swart in The Illawarra Flame, 12 September 2024.

"The Greens will recharge the local food economy with our plan to fund a dedicated position on Council to act as a mediator for local food production and swaps. This role will be the point of contact for people wanting to start a community garden, a crop swap or other event based on local food production."

Jess Whittaker, Greens mayoral candidate for Wollongong

Story by Kate McIlwain in the Illawarra Mercury, 11 September 2024.

Story by Kate McIlwain in the South Coast Register, 11 September 2024.

Cr Cox said she had noticed, when checking her emails or phone messages that there was "a wave of hatred" in among the genuine requests for help. A wave she said increased during COVID.

"I think the job itself takes its toll," Cr Cox said.

"It's not just the amount of time, but it's also the amount of responsibility and the amount it bleeds into your personal life that it takes.

"It's not really possible to be a private person and go to a festival or go to the pool or go to the shops anymore, and that really takes its toll after a little while."

Cr Cox acknowledged there was a risk in both Wollongong Greens councillors leaving at the same time that it may mean the party not holding onto those two spots. "Of course, that is a concern," Cr Cox said.

"Managing a transition is a challenge. I really hope that we've done it in the best possible way. To leave with grace, to leave willingly, to support the new candidates as they come in and have a public demonstration that we think these people are going to be great.

"So often, you see those transitions can be rocky, and people want to hang on to their position and don't want to go, and it's a challenge."

She added that it was inevitable that the party had to put forward new candidates. "It's difficult to bring in new people that people don't know, but you've got to do it too," Cr Cox said.

"You've got to have new blood. You've got to have new ideas. And I'm well aware that I was never elected because of me - I was elected because of the party."

There was also a segment of voters who will vote Greens because of the party, rather than the candidates, because "people know us, people are pretty clear what we stand for".

"I think we might well actually get a third, and I think we may even get a fourth," she said.

"Partly because there's more votes and there are so few candidates."

Cr Blakey said there was no intra-party fighting that led to all the Greens councillors stepping aside at the same time - it was simply a coincidence.

"The NSW Greens are a federation of local groups, so we each make our decisions independently," Cr Blakey said.

"Actually, the Illawarra Greens had our preselection back in October last year. So I made the decision then not re-contest this council election, before we knew what was happening with any other candidates."

Cr Blakey also acknowledged there was a "risk" involved in putting up new candidates - "it's up to the electors, it's up to the people voting to determine who the council's going to be" - but was confident with the Greens candidates running in Wollongong.

When it comes to new candidates without the same name recognition as the incumbents, Cr Blakey said she was in that situation when she first ran for council in 2017 - and was elected.

"When when I took over and became a city council candidate people expressed the same concern," she said.

"Mithra and I didn't have the same recognition that Jill Merrin and George Takacs had."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 9 September 2024.

Jess Whittaker – The Greens

Jess is a paramedic and previously ran in the 2021 local government elections. She is a community representative on the Lake Illawarra Coastal Management Plan Implementation Committee.

If elected, she wants to increase investment in footpaths, cycleways and pedestrian crossings, build dedicated youth spaces like skateparks and pump tracks, and revitalise the night-time economy with a position on the council for a Night-Time Mayor.

On Jess’s ticket are candidates Matin Cubby, Stephen Young and Kathryn Broadfoot.

To learn more about Jess and the other Greens members on her ticket, head to: https://www.illawarragreens.org.au/
Instagram – @jesswhitt.

Kit Docker – The Greens

Kit is a policy research assistant for Dr Amanda Cohn MP in NSW Parliament and a support worker for people with disabilities.

If elected, he wants to increase the affordable housing supply by placing fairer mandates on big property developers; increase and bring forward investments that improve accessibility for people living with mobility, including footpaths, pedestrian crossings and active transport solutions; and protect nature and wildlife by investing in initiatives that bring nature back into the city and suburbs.

The other candidates on Kit’s ticket are Harris Cheung, Ali Gerritsen and Theresa Huxtable.

To learn more about Kit, head to: https://www.illawarragreens.org.au/kit_docker_candidate_for_wollongong_city_council_ward_2

Find him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitdockergreens/

Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KitforWollongongcitycouncil/.

Dr Deidre Stuart – The Greens

Deirdre is a university mathematics support tutor, community climate activist and TAFE visual arts student.

She has previously undertaken contract research work for various local governments in environmental science and engineering contexts, as an academic at QUT and later as a senior environmental scientist with Opus International Consultants.

If elected, she will advocate for improved climate resilience for the city, including improved stormwater function, shadier streets and community batteries; safer, cheaper homes and improved community connectivity via a free public bus service for southern suburb and better footpaths, cycleways and public transport services; and work towards a circular economy.

The three other candidates on her ticket are Jamie Dixon, Elena Martinez and George Takacs.

To learn more about Dr Stuart or the other candidates on her ticket, head to:

www.linkedin.com/in/deidre-stuart-a45b5339

Instagram: @deidrestuart_au2500

https://www.illawarragreens.org.au/

Instagram: @illawarra_greens

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IllawarraGreens/

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 9 September 2024.

"People in Wollongong who are living with disability continue to encounter significant barriers on a daily basis," Mr Docker said.

"From neighbourhoods devoid of footpaths, to public transport systems which fail miserably when it comes to accessibility, the experiences of people with disability demands greater attention from our council.

"Unfortunately the attempts by the previous council to address these barriers, like the public access reference group and the disability inclusion action plan are still falling short."

Mr Docker said, if elected to Ward 2, he would push for the creation of a Disability Inclusion Advisory group on the council. He said that would include people with disabilities "to ensure our communities are able to work towards true accessibility in all areas".

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 2 September 2024.

Jess Whittaker, one of the organisers of the ride, said the ride was a success, with a good turnout.

"We're just trying to create a positive culture around cycling in the Illawarra," Ms Whittaker said.

She said the event aimed to encourage people who hadn't been riding in a while to get the bike back out. Ms Whittaker herself got back into riding during the COVID pandemic when her children were starting primary school.

"It was the best thing I could have done," she said.

Story by Natalie Croxon in the Illawarra Mercury, 1 September 2024.

Greens candidate for lord mayor and Ward 1 at the Wollongong local government elections in September Jess Whittaker says a Council appointed food coordinator would be the point of contact to help residents start a crop swap and establish a community garden.

“Remember that time when you had plenty of neighbours swapping their extra lemons, tomatoes, basil, parsley, or even sharing a few eggs,” Ms Whittaker said.

“People are finding it harder to buy good quality produce. They’re frustrated by the two large supermarket chains who have a stranglehold on our weekly shop. On top of that, growing quality produce is being affected by climate change. And I’m also finding that people are looking for small events like a crop swap or a community garden so they have more opportunities for connections in their local community.”

“Everywhere I go, while talking to the community, access to affordable, local food keeps coming up as an issue,” she said.

Ms Whittaker said one example of the power of local food projects is the Woonona Community Garden.

“In just over three years, Woonona Community Garden has built a thriving community garden where local residents from diverse backgrounds and gardening abilities work together to grow food, share the harvest, and build new friendships,” she said.

“The Greens will recharge the local food economy with our plan to fund a dedicated position on Council to act as a mediator for local food production and swaps. This role will be the point of contact for people wanting to start a community garden, a crop swap or other event based on local food production. It will also assist existing community gardens to build membership and look for new funding opportunities.

“We don’t want a situation where people are turned off starting a project because getting through Council’s red tape and bureaucracy is too hard. Greens councillors will be more supportive of people wanting to get involved in community building food projects.

“As a city, we should be actively looking at land that may be available for small-scale local food production. While talking with people another idea has been looking at developing resources that could help small urban farms on private land. We are seeing a few pop up. However these enterprises generally don’t receive support or encouragement from any level of government.

“A Council appointed local food coordinator could be the point of contact on council to help people wanting to start a crop swap to find a spot to host it, providing information on weeds that probably shouldn’t be swapped, access to tables and assistance with promoting the events. It’s important that the community leads when it comes to local food, but there is a lot that the council can do to give them encouragement. Sometimes people just need help to build their confidence to host an event like this, but after the first few runs they can be self-sustaining. At the moment the local food scene doesn’t get much attention and our new Greens on council will be committed to changing that.”

Story by Mick Roberts in the Bulli & Clifton Times, 28 August 2024.

Greens candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker said there currently wasn't a lot of support for the creation of community gardens.

"It's very hard to get through bureaucracy, especially in the initial phase when you're setting up," Ms Whittaker said.

"That's the hardest phase, to actually get these projects off the ground. So we want to support people who want to do local food projects in the Illawarra, and that's going to help us build our climate, resilience, cost of living relief, and building community.

"There's so many benefits that local food can bring to an area."

Ms Whittaker said the part-time role would cost around $60,000 a year, which she hoped could be funded from the next council budget.

"We already have a lot of staff doing amazing work in natural areas, such as restoring habitat. We'd hope that we can expand that to include local food," she said.

"There's so many things already happening that are really grassroots and being led by community. We just want to show that government can support that grassroots energy."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 26 August 2024.

Wollongong Greens councillor Cath Blakey said the EPA needed to better monitor mining operations to protect the drinking water catchment. "The community wants to see the Illawarra escarpment and our drinking water catchment protected, and currently the EPA regulation is failing to do that," Cr Blakey said.

"So often it has come down to residents and volunteers raising the alarm, document creek pollution and collect water samples and send them off for independent testing.

"Too often mines are being approved with conditions that are not enforced or adhered to.

"Despite numerous end-of-panel reports that document seam to surface cracking, far beyond the mine subsidence forecast during the initial proposal assessment, the government has failed to halt longwall mining that damages the drinking water catchment of five million people."

Deidre Stuart, a member of the Protect Our Water Catchment group and Greens Wollongong City Council candidate, said laws were not applied equally. "If I park my car in the wrong place at the wrong time I am likely to get a parking ticket and fined," she said.

"If I am an indigenous person in this country then I might well also end up in prison for failure to pay a parking fine, and then dead.

"But if I am a coal company with friends in high places and with lots of money in my pocket, then it seems I can get away with making a mess and polluting our atmosphere with unabated methane for 30-plus years, and face no consequences."

Story by Ben Langford in the Illawarra Mercury, 22 August 2024.

Outgoing Councillor Cath Blakey put the ambitious motion to this month’s council meeting.

“We have an obligation to suspend trade and investments that support Israeli illegal settlements,” she said.

“This is an opportunity to reflect the community’s concerns about what is happening in Gaza, and ensure ratepayers’ money is being spent responsibly.

“This council has a track record of standing up for peace, and this is something we can do to improve the transparency of our financial dealings.”

Cr Blakey said other local governments, such as Canterbury-Bankstown Council, had conducted similar reviews.

Cr Mithra Cox defended the motion. She said ensuring the council purchased from ethical suppliers was a way for the organisation to support peace.

“Making sure our suppliers don’t profit from war is something we can do easily and can create real change,” she said.

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 22 August 2024.

Deidre Stuart the Greens lead candidate for Ward 3 noted her party will appear on top of the ballot part for each of the three wards.

"From what I've read over the years, being in the first position rather than in the last position does make a difference in terms of people who vote in order that the names appear," Ms Stuart said. "So, from the Greens perspective, that's fortunate from what I understand, but that's not something I've been spending a lot of time studying.

"I've been more focused on what Wollongong needs, what people need and they definitely need a safe climate and they need safe housing."

She said she wasn't sure how the voting patterns would go without the Liberals in the race. "I feel very uncertain how it's going to pan out because I don't know how people who voted Liberal are going to vote," she said.

"I'm certainly concerned. I do not want a Labor majority council. I think it's better if there's diversity on council and no one group has their own way. So there has to be discussion and engagement with ideas to try and get the best outcomes."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 15 August 2024.

Story by Alex Mitchell in the Illawarra Mercury, 14 August 2024.

Cr Cox echoed the praise, highlighting the assistance she got when she started on the council, offering thanks for "the immense patience that people in this place had in teaching me about how the planning system works, how to read the council finances, to answer every single question in detail".

"I really do thank you for your patience and some of those people that helped me in those early times have since moved on. But I am and I remain immensely grateful for the time that they took in explaining all of that stuff to me."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 13 August 2024.

Cr Mithra Cox agreed that the city needed tourist drawcards, but they could be the same things that appealed to locals.

"It is things like good public transport, like pleasant streetscapes that are wide enough that you can walk with your friends that are quiet enough that you can have a conversation," she said.

"Streets that go somewhere where there's live music, where there's art, where there's interesting people where there's good food, where it feels like a place that people want to hang out.

"All of those things that we want for our city are the things that will draw people to it. If we create those things, then people will want to come here."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 13 August 2024.

Cr Cox said she was proud of the many things the council had achieved, including doubling the footpath budget, building new cycleways and introducing FOGO.

"When I first was elected to council I had a three-year-old who was in preschool and our community was asking for a pedestrian crossing to get across the road from the preschool to the shops - and we still don't have it," she said.

"And you think if you can't get a pedestrian crossing when you're on the city council, how do you do it?"

"I do think local government would be stronger if it was professionalised, if these meetings were held in business hours," she said.

"If we had an office and time in our days to respond to constituents, to meet with constituents, that's what they expect us to do.

"But, for most people, what we are paid, it's a reality that you have to have another job.

"And what the community expects and what we're able to do, it's really difficult. You've got a choice between working evenings and weekends and burning yourself out or not meeting people's expectations and that's really tough."

Fellow Greens Cr Blakey noted the collegiate nature of the current council make-up.

"I've really felt I've been incredibly lucky that we've been able to find common ground and work together with that focus on the benefit for the community," she said.

"I recognise that being a city council is an incredibly under-resourced role with great community expectations, as there should be.

"I want to thank you all for the great learning experiences and the great collaborative work that I've been able to be part of over the last seven years.

"Those seven years that have included for me having a baby and for this council having a pandemic that disrupted how we do things. In some ways it led to some innovations and in other ways, it made it incredibly difficult."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 13 August 2024.

Wollongong Greens Councillor Cath Blakey is calling on the state government to invest in Koala crossing points, especially at Mallaty Creek which is the shortest crossing point between the Nepean and St. Georges River just near where this koala was hit.

“We need these crossings in place now, before any future road expansion or vegetation clearance occurs. The delay puts the current koala population at serious risk, and we need the koala crossings right now, otherwise there will be no koalas left to cross.”

Story by David Clark at Wave FM 95.6, 9 August 2024.

Greens candidate for Ward 2 Kit Docker said there was much more room for nature in the city.

"There are new developments going up all around, IMB bank is a good example of it, that are clearly not fit for purpose and we need to champion much more ambitious goals in this space," he said.

Mr Docker said residents told him they were concerned about large developments across the city. "It's their concerns around how our city centre and suburbs are becoming more and more devoid of nature," he said.

"The evidence is abundantly clear that as cities become more urban and more dense there is a real risk of biodiversity loss and of increased flooding as the natural environment is removed for cement."

Now not in 20 years With Wollongong earmarked for increased density and urbanisation, Mr Docker says it is important we think about the future now.

"It's really important that we have a council which champions these initiatives now because otherwise in 20 years time, we're going to have come back and fix all the mistakes that we've made and that's going to be costly," he said.

"I really want to see it be a requirement of large developments and retrofit where we can because areas like out the front of IMB bank, they can't just be left to cement when there's so much room for nature."

Greens candidate for Lord Mayor Jess Whittaker said urban greening's benefits could come from just using native grass in unused parks and reserves.

"This initiative could result in substantial savings for council by decreasing the need for constant mowing and maintenance.

"Throughout the year, and particularly during the summer, the council incurs hundreds of thousands of dollars in mowing and maintenance costs.

"These costs could be significantly reduced by reintroducing native grasses in targeted locations, which are more suited to our climate."

Story by Joel Ehsman in the Illawarra Mercury, 7 August 2024.

Story in The Illawarra Flame, 6 August 2024.

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.

Story by Genevieve Swart in The Illawarra Flame, 3 August 2024.

“I really want to see our city reach its full potential, and for our children and grandchildren to be able to stay in the city we all love and value,” she said.

“When there is upzoning, I think we can get a better deal from developers with affordable housing in new developments, and those projects can make a really big difference in people’s lives.

“The Greens’ policy is to see if there’s any council land available for affordable housing projects in partnership with not-for-profits like the Housing Trust.

“Building more community gardens and fun things for young people to do, like skate parks and pump tracks, really helps with cost-of-living pressures too – having things you can do for free makes a massive difference to the family budget.”

Jess said one of the strengths of the current council was the diversity of backgrounds and opinions, and she hoped the next council had the same level of representation.

“No one party has a bloc, so they’ve had to work together, that’s made it collegial and collaborative, and they’ve got some really good outcomes,” she said.

“We’ve had great events, FOGO implemented, more investment in cycleways, and the footpath budget doubled.

“If one party has a deciding vote on all decisions, I think that would be a very different Wollongong and it does concern me if that’s the make-up of the next council.

“Sometimes to have that you have to step up and do it instead of sitting back and complaining, so I’m going to go for it and put myself out there.”

Long term, Jess said she wanted to push the council to do all it could to fight climate change and take better care of our natural environment.

She said it was more important than ever that councils looked at ways to make their communities more resilient in the face of climate disasters.

“I think there is a lot we can do,” she said.

“Small actions can have a big positive impact – I would love to see our creeks cleared up and the escarpment better managed, it’s an undervalued asset.

“I want to see us realise all the benefits of renewable energy and be on a better path to a stable climate, with all the jobs and community benefit schemes that come from renewable energy.”

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 3 August 2024.

Councillor Mithra Cox said the possibility of food trucks was first brought to the council in 2017 as part of a push to stimulate the night-time economy.

She said the limitations on opening hours put a stop to that.

“They’re only allowed to open during daylight hours, so essentially they’re only going to be coffee vans,” she said.

“It’s just rules for the sake of having rules, and I think we can improve it.”

Story by Zoe Cartwright in Region Illawarra, 2 August 2024.

Cr Cox said for some people, playing weekend sport was "their mental health outlet".

"It is something that anchors people's lives," Cr Cox said.

"It's a thing they look forward to on the weekend and when an entire season is wiped out like that it actually has a really big impact on people."

Cr Cox's motion said grounds like Roy Johanson Park in Figtree or Nicholson Park in Woonona could be used on a temporary basis and the council could work towards access to grounds owned by the University of Wollongong and the Department of Education. "It's a question as to whether there's anything we can do to explore saving this season by opening up, maybe a few extra grounds." Cr Cox said.

"To the question about cricket being interrupted, I think it's the reason I said 'community sport'," she said.

"My heart is with soccer, but it applies to all sports and you can easily foresee a future where it is 40 degrees every day for a lot of the summer weekends and it's not safe for the cricketers to play and they need to extend their season.

"I think this equally applies across those codes and especially cricket, which is out there in the hot sun."

"It's about planning now knowing that we're going to have droughts and we're going to have wet years again," Cr Cox said.

"What can we do to be hedging these things? I know a lot of clubs immediately look to synthetic pitches as the answer and it could be that it's part of the picture.

"But the one synthetic pitch that we already do have has provided no relief really for washed-out games because it's already 100 per cent in use."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 30 July 2024.

"Having art that is provocative, controversial to the point where it has been now immortalised in T-shirts and kind of entered the zeitgeist of ironic youth culture - that is actually what creative cities do," Cr Cox said.

"You have provocative art that gets people talking and there is no piece of art in the city that has stirred passions like this one.

"If you want to provoke people, to make people interested in art and have big philosophical conversations about the point of it, we've done a really good job." She worried if the motion was successful it would be "a sign of us being kind of small-minded and unable to kind of appreciate the complexity of art and be a grown-up city".

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 30 July 2024.