Greens set to return to Council

The Greens’ candidate Mithra Cox

THE Greens are celebrating huge swings across the board in the Wollongong Council elections.

Lord mayoral candidate Mithra Cox said the Greens had achieved an “amazing election result” yesterday.

As the count rolls in, Ms Cox is on 22.1 per cent in Ward 1, and Cath Blakey is on 20.1 per cent in Ward 2.

“This is the highest vote for The Greens in the Illawarra at any election since Michael Organ was elected at the Member for Cunningham in 2002, with a primary vote of 23 per cent,” Ms Cox said.

“Cath and I have both been comfortably elected to Council.  We are not yet sure about Jamie Dixon in Ward 3.  He received a huge 9.8%, but it may not be enough to get him elected to council.”

These are huge swings to The Greens in all three wards.  In the 2011 election, the party received 13.1 per cent in Ward 1, and 13.2 per cent in Ward 2. The Greens did not contest Ward 3 in 2011.

“We won booths in Austinmer, Coledale and Thirroul on primary votes,” Ms Cox said.

“This result is a testament to the amazing hard work of all our volunteers. I am humbled to be part of such a fantastic movement of people driven by our shared vision for a better world.”

Ms Cox thanked the Greens’ retiring councillors, George Takacs and Jill Merrin.

“You achieved so much in the past six years – notably the Urban Greening Strategy and the Pedestrian Plan which we will be working on to implement,” she said.