Yvonne Weldon’s two-year-old grandson told his friends “that’s my nin” when he saw her face on a corflute outside his Paddington preschool.
That was in 2021, just weeks before Weldon’s election as the first Aboriginal councillor for the City of Sydney in its 180-year history.
“If that was normal for him when he’s two, imagine what could be normal for him when he’s 20,” Weldon says.
“He is my future, and he’s everyone’s future … What are we handing over to them? Are we handing over to them a better tomorrow or much of the same yesterday?”
That’s what drives Weldon, who will challenge the longstanding Sydney lord mayor, Clover Moore, for the top job at the local government elections later this year.
For the Wiradjuri woman who grew up in Redfern, being re-elected to council, possibly to lead it, is not just about history making – it is about “cycle changing”.
“[Being] elected the first Aboriginal councillor elected after 180-something years was an extreme honour, but it’s embarrassing that it’s taken so long,” the independent politician says.
“You can’t be what you don’t see.”
But if she does secure an upset victory, Weldon would be mayor, electing to drop the “lord” from the title.
“It’s very colonial. I want to be a mayor of the people and serve the people, not preside over them.”
As a teenager, Weldon swore “black and blue” that she wouldn’t end up in positions where she would have to sit through long meetings. Her children have since said the same and she laughs, seeing how it became her life.
Among many commitments, she is on the Metropolitan Land Council board and has spent years working in First Nation government and non-government organisations, including Domestic Violence NSW and the Australia Day Council of NSW.
Despite her experience, when she ran for council three years ago a handful of sitting councillors told her that, while she didn’t have a chance, she should “take it in your stride” and just enjoy campaigning.
She now sits alongside them in the chamber presided over by Moore, who Weldon says has been in office for too long.
“To be a lord mayor for 20 years is not healthy,” Weldon says.
In May, 78-year-old Moore announced she would seek a record sixth term this year, responding defiantly to those who argued it was time for her to vacate the office.
“They are criticisms that people can make but I think we should judge people on their performance and, in terms of my performance, I’ve shown I honour commitments, I’m competent, I carry through,” she said.
“Even when the going gets hard, and there are a lot of naysayers, and criticism from certain media, I haven’t given up on the light rail, I haven’t given up on the bike lanes, I haven’t given up on taking action on climate change.”
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But Weldon points to comments Moore made in the Sydney Morning Herald announcing her intention to run, saying she did not believe she had made any mistakes.
“I don’t know if leadership without true reflection is healthy for anyone,” Weldon says.
“The city needs a refresh. It’s slowly but surely dying off in so many ways. It’s almost a social cleansing.”
Weldon is worried about the city’s gentrification, which is pricing out essential workers, creatives and young people. She says it’s affecting who can afford to run businesses and live in the city, and its vibrancy.
She wants to double the city’s affordable housing fund and force developers to include a percentage – maybe 5% – as social and affordable housing for those who most need it, rather than simply collecting a levy.
“We could certainly start to look at how we can have other parts of our city activated and to be inclusive, rather than made for the wealthy only,” Weldon says
“Gentrification often leaves people out in the cold. We’ve got to have more to our city than high-rises that represent wealth.”
Weldon also wants to introduce rates rebates for businesses and homeowners who choose to install solar power systems or move to green power, similar to a policy introduced by the Adelaide city council.
Revitalising the struggling Oxford Street precinct and seeing the first statue of an Aboriginal person – possibly of Patyegarang – erected on public land within the City of Sydney are also on the list of key objectives for the mayoral hopeful.
“It’d be nice to have a statue of her where people that come visit the city can explore all of the history,” she says.
It would be a big upset if Weldon wins in September. At the last election, she had intended to run on the ticket of former MP Kerryn Phelps before she pulled out of the race, pushing Weldon to the top slot.
She received a little over 12% of the first-preference votes. Labor’s Linda Scott nabbed almost 15%, Liberal candidate Shauna Jarrett beat her by a few hundred votes and Moore received almost 43%.
Ben Raue, an electoral analyst says that, without proper polling, it’s hard to tell how Moore is faring but that it would be very hard for anyone to dethrone her given how fractured her opposition has been and how consistently popular she is.
“She has opponents on her left and her right,” he says.
“But maybe Weldon can build on that but maybe because she’s an incumbent.”
At best, he says rivals could hope to reduce Moore’s primary vote and see the number of councillors on her team reduced.
“You could have a situation where she’s still the mayor, but she’s not so dominant on the council,” he says.