Political Interlude: Sydney City Council (1980–1985)

The chapter deals with an important political interlude in my life. In 1980 I was elected the first independent alderman on Sydney City Council since 1919 when political parties entered local government and was re-elected in 1983. This was a very consuming five-year period as my UNSW teaching continued along with my M.A. research and writing. One personal outcome of the period was publication of the best-selling local history book Pyrmont and Ultimo: A History. A larger outcome was that political control of Council passed to independents; the power of the political parties over City Council was broken and, 40 years later, remain broken.