Alex Greenwich says “no deals” despite NSW Liberals preferencing gay Sydney MP

Alex Greenwich says “no deals” despite NSW Liberals preferencing gay Sydney MP
Image: Sydney state independent MP Alex Greenwich. (Photo: Benedict Brook; Star Observer)

SYDNEY state independent MP Alex Greenwich has told the Star Observer he is as “surprised as anyone” that the Liberal Party has directed its voters in the LGBTI-centric seat of Sydney to preference him as their second choice at next week’s NSW State Election.

Greenwich also said he received calls from both Labor and the Greens to inform him they would be preferencing him, although he said he would not reciprocate seeing as he is independent.

However, Labor’s candidate for Sydney Edwina Lloyd has said that this is not the case and she would not be preferencing Greenwich.

On the other hand, Greenwich said fellow state independent MP for Lake Macquarie Greg Piper was also being preferenced by all the major parties, and he would not be reciprocating, either.

Meanwhile, Greenwich’s Liberal rival unexpectedly turned up at a public forum in the electorate last night amid claims the party’s head office had banned its candidates from attending hustings in Newtown and Sydney – both electorates with large LGBTI populations.

At next week’s election, voters choosing lower house candidates will be able to vote solely for their favourite or rank the candidates in order of preference.

Capitalising on the fact many voters will not have scrutinised all their local candidate’s policies, parties are distributing “how to vote” guides with suggestions about who to choose and in which order.

In Sydney, the Liberals have suggested voters place Greenwich second after their candidate Patrice Pandeleos.

The views of Greenwich and the Liberal Party differ in several areas, notably when it comes to marriage equality which Liberal Premier Mike Baird has said he doesn’t support. However, Greenwich has also been able to work across the floor on several parliamentary issues, including supporting the Coalition’s bill to extinguish historical consensual gay sex convictions last year.

Greenwich told the Star Observer the Liberals were free to suggest their supporters put him in second place but as the seat was likely to be a battle between him and Pandeleos, he didn’t think it would have an effect.

“I was surprised as anyone but I did not ask for preferences nor do I need them,” he said.

Patrice Pandeleos is the Liberal candidate for the electorate of Sydney.
Patrice Pandeleos is the Liberal candidate for the electorate of Sydney.

According to a Fairfax Media report, a possible reason for the Liberals’ preferencing of the incumbent independent MP could be the fear of a hung parliament if Labor does far better than expected, despite current polls suggesting a clear win for the Coalition.

Greenwich said neither he, nor anyone on his team, had met Liberal representatives to discuss preferences.

“There were no meetings with anyone,” he said.

“I had got a call on Sunday just saying they were going to preference me but I didn’t know beforehand.”

Nonetheless, he said any preferences wouldn’t be returned.

“As a true and genuine independent I don’t allocate preferences,” Greenwich said.

“No preferences, no deals, just Alex.”

Greenwich’s rival, Pandeleos, did attend an election forum last night at Paddington’s Uniting Church despite Fairfax Media reporting that Liberal head office — claims the office deny — had banned its candidates in Newtown and Sydney from attending public debates.

On Facebook today, Pandeleos posted that she had “thoroughly enjoyed the debate”.

Coogee state Liberal MP Bruce Notely-Smith, who is openly-gay, also confirmed to the Star Observer he had attended a number of forums – both in his electorate and for the LGBTI community – and said: “I always look forward to them.”

However, both Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker and the Greens candidate for Newtown, Jenny Leong, have told the Star Observer they have failed to see their Liberal rivals at similar debates.

Asked what undecided LGBTI voters might make of the no-shows, Leong said: “If they’re so ashamed of their [LGBTI] policy positions that they’re not willing to show I wonder why anybody in Newtown would vote for them.”

Pandeleos’ office told the Star Observer they were unable to discuss preferences or whether their candidate had been previously told not to attend debates.

[Editor’s note: this article was updated at 11:15am on Saturday, March 21.]

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59 responses to “Alex Greenwich says “no deals” despite NSW Liberals preferencing gay Sydney MP”

  1. I work with social housing tenants in Inner Sydney and I’ve found Alex Greenwich and the staff in his electorate office to be strong and committed advocates for tenants and low-income Sydneysiders in general. Likewise Jamie Parker in neighbouring Balmain.

    IMO Alex is a fantastic member and a great asset for Sydney. I dig him and I hope he retains his seat.

    The labor candidate, on the other hand, I’m wary of. She’s said some weird sh*t during her campaign and in this comments section.

  2. Eddie Lloyd has really trashed the Labor brand as candidate for Sydney . She has run a dishonest vindictive campaign and has offered nothing to the GLBTI community in the state seatt with the highest percentage of GLBTI population in NSW. Alex Greenwich MP will be returned in a landslide as he should.

  3. Just to clear up any confusion if you’re voting in the Sydney Electorate…here is everyone’s registered ‘How to Vote’ card from their website – clearly shows everyone directing preferences toward Alex, and Alex not preferencing anyone.
    Alex Greenwich
    http://bit.ly/1EgbP8I
    Shows he’s not giving preferences to anyone.
    Greens
    http://htv.greens.org.au/htv.php?electorate=Sydney
    Shows them preferencing Alex number 2.
    Labor
    https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/…/Sydney_-_13.3…
    Clearly Shows Labor preferencing Alex after Greens and random parties.
    Liberal
    http://nsw.liberal.org.au/wp…/uploads/2015/03/Sydney.pdf
    Shows them preferencing Alex number 2.

  4. The HTV by ‘Brodie Lane’ below is not what we are handing out – its a draft version head office knocked up and it was cancelled due to Alex Greenwich’s unethical and dishonest conduct and his apparent deal with the Liberals. We are not preferencing Mr Greenwich. The correct HTV will be up in just a moment. Eddie :)

    • Besides being a serial spammer of this comments section Eddie, you’re a clever candidate. You know, as well as many others in this electorate do, that Alex Greenwich is nowhere near as popular as he tells people he is, and by spamming this comments section with a sentence saying you are not preferencing him, you’re hoping to attract the many, many other voters in this electorate who don’t want to see him returned. Clever politics.

      You also know as well as I do, that his supporter base is made up of many left-wing leaning voters, but also a significant number of conservative leaning voters who, will desert him if he preferences the Greens or the ALP, likewise his left-leaning supporters would desert him if he preferenced Liberal. Exactly the same as Clover.

      Well, if they want to try and appeal to both the left and right sides of politics, one day (very soon in fact), the dilemma that this behaviour has gotten him/them in is going to cause their demise.

      • What a lot of total hogwash. Alex Greenwich is incredibly popular and he appeals to a very broad base – the LBBTI community , Young parents who like his advocacy on their behalf for inner city education , animal rights campaigners, social housing residents and their supporters , and many other demographics within THE state seat of Sydney . FYI since you are so illinformed Alex Greenwich is an independent and he does not trade or allocate preferences. Your prediction of his demise is frankly laughable . He will enjoy a stunning and well deserved victory tomorrow .

        • He is not an independent – he is a member of the Clover Moore Party.

          He does not preference because of the exact reason that I’ve stated.

          His demise has already begun, and you, my friend, are the one who is misinformed.

  5. Just to clear up any confusion…Here is everyone’s registered how to vote cards from their websites – clearly shows everyone directing preferences toward Alex, and Alex not preferencing anyone.

    Greens
    http://htv.greens.org.au/htv.php?electorate=Sydney
    Shows them preferencing Alex number 2

    Labor
    https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/…/Sydney_-_13.3…
    Clearly Shows Labor preferencing Alex after Greens and random parties

    Liberal
    http://nsw.liberal.org.au/wp…/uploads/2015/03/Sydney.pdf
    Shows them preferencing Alex number 2

    Alex Greenwich
    http://bit.ly/1EgbP8I
    shows he’s not giving preferences to anyone

  6. Just to clear up any confusion…here is everyone’s registered how to vote cards from their websites – clearly shows everyone directing preferences toward Alex, and Alex not preferencing anyone.

    Greens
    http://htv.greens.org.au/htv.php?electorate=Sydney
    Shows them preferencing Alex number 2

    Labor
    https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nswlabor/pages/1661/attachments/original/1426544523/Sydney_-_13.3.15.pdf?1426544523
    Clearly Shows Labor preferencing Alex after Greens and random parties

    Liberal
    http://nsw.liberal.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Sydney.pdf
    Shows them preferencing Alex number 2

    Alex Greenwich
    http://bit.ly/1EgbP8I
    Shows he’s not giving preferences to anyone

    • The HTV by ‘Brodie Lane’ below is not what we are handing out – its a draft version head office knocked up and it was cancelled due to Alex Greenwich’s unethical and dishonest conduct and his apparent deal with the Liberals. We could not possibly recommend preferences to a candidate who has said he will consider supporting a Liberal minority government. The correct HTV will be up in just a moment. Eddie

    • Edwina, please explain to me how it is “unethical” for an independent politician to weigh up supporting either major party in parliament? And what dishonest conduct are you alleging? He is an Independent, elected to get the best result for his electorate. He would be absolutely foolish not to consider supporting a Liberal government if that gave better outcomes to the burghers of Sydney. Otherwise, the people of Sydney would have already voted for the ALP, or the Liberals.

  7. Labor is not preferencing Alex Greenwich in Sydney. Absolutely not. Alex called Labor chasing preferences and we are not preferencing him.

  8. If he didnt do deals then he is a bad politician to leave it up to chance like that. It’s naive to think that you don’t have to deals to get in, when everyone else around you is.

    This type of naivety won’t serve him well when in parliament and everyone is playing hard ball.

    Look at the shooters party and the power they wield thru deals. You can’t fight that without counter deals.

  9. When established parties encourage their voters to choose an independent its because they know they are going to lose. I don’t know Alex’s political affiliations beyond being an independent candidate; all I know is as an independent he has been a good mp for Sydney. So who cares. Ideally all candidates would be independent because then they would have to represent their constituents rather than their party!

  10. Wow, Alex just did a massive dump on his mates in ALP head office. If they were really giving him his preferences, then they wont be any more. His bridges are totally burned.

  11. Sadly this article seeks to build on yet another Labor party lie, and fails to mention that the Greens are also preferencing me, and that the Labor Party’s Assistant General Secretary John Graham and Penny Sharpe have both called me to say that Labor will directing preferences to me on polling day. This information was provided to the Star Observer and they chose to omit it.

    No deals have been done with any political party, and I am not directing preferences to any party or candidate. My registered and authorised how to vote card clearly shows this.

    Just like the other sitting Independent, Greg Piper, all parties are directing preferences to sitting Independents. The parties make these decisions themselves.

    It is indeed a sad day for Sydney’s LGBTI community, when our community paper seeks to give oxygen to a false allegation designed to unseat a proud and effective advocate for our community.

  12. Alex hasn’t preferences anyone as he doesn’t want to put any voters offside – however clover has preferenced other parties in the past, independent or otherwise

  13. He’s an independent – he doesn’t owe preferences to the Greens, Labor, the Liberals or anyone else. This reads like a political hatchet job to reduce his vote

    • Preferences are not about owing anything – its about demonstrating who’s policies and beliefs match yours. In order of…well, preference. Preferences don’t mean you 100% agree with who you preference. Alex preferencing no one speaks more about him wanting to get elected, then this independent retorhic.

      • Alex Greenwich is NOT an independent. He belongs to the “Clover Moore Independents” party, as nonsensical as the Liberal party are “liberal”.

    • Adrian your vote as has much value as it always has.. the question is will Sydney be a part of the big discussions of state or will we remain on the outer occasionally opting in …

  14. The first candidate that supports introducing a bill that making sexual orientation or gender identity conversion therapy illegal gets my vote – otherwise forget about it!
    NSW should be the first to do this in Australia!
    California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia in the US have all made sexual orientation or gender identity conversion therapy illegal!
    I am an independent supporter and hate all political parties!

  15. Who else are the Liberals going to pereference? The Greens? Lets be realistic! There are no recipricol preferences so there is little danger of a deal being done.

    • Simon why do the Libs feel so comfortable giving Alex their only preference when they are now advertising in other seats to just vote 1

    • Check out the Greens and Labor preferences. Everyone else is preferencing Alex Greenwich. I am not sure what you can really calculate from all the major parties, from left to right, dedicating their pereferences to him, except he is such a great candiadate.

        • Nikola Kovas you are just poor Eddie’s little troll here. The people of Sydney vote tomorrow. Alex Greenwich will enjoy a well deserved stunning victory. Eddie will get the failure at the polls she truly deserved for running a childish , vindictive and dishonest campaign . The good people of Sydney are not stupid .

          • I am a member of the Greens Chris, which indicates just how little you know about the inner-workings of the Sydney electorate!

    • I’m the labor candidate and our final HTV as I’ve added does not preference Alex because of his grubby campaigning and that he is being preferenced by the liberals. No one is buying the ‘I had absolutely no idea’ line.

    • I am a little unconvinced a deal was done. However, Labor would seeminly have little chance in the inner city considering their option for premier is an anti-gay advocate.