Abbott to campaign in City for lesbian sister

This year’s campaign for the City of Sydney Council elections will include appearances from one of the nation’s most powerful politicians.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be joining the campaign to aid his sister Christine Forster, who is number two on the Liberal ticket for Council. Ms Forster said Mr Abbott would “be a great asset to the campaign.”

Ms Forster said she was pleased her brother would be assisting the campaign in spite of their different views on issues, including same-sex marriage.

Mr Abbott appears supportive of Ms Forster’s bid in spite of her more progressive views in this area. Speaking on 2UE radio, Mr Abbott said he was “proud” of his sister and thought “she’d be a terrific councillor on Sydney City Council.”

In April this year, Ms Forster publicly confirmed she was in a long term same-sex relationship with her partner, who lives with her in Surry Hills. She supports the Council’s 2011 ‘declaration of support’ for same-sex marriage and is “absolutely in favour” of marriage equality, she said.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party have begun developing campaign themes they hope will help them dethrone Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP. Federal Member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull was on hand at a Liberal campaigning event last Friday to announce a 10 per cent rate cut for Sydney residents and businesses.

The Liberal Party have proposed this would be funded by a 5 per cent cut to Council operating costs and a $250 million reduction in capital spending. Liberal Lord Mayoral candidate Edward Mandla said: “After 24 years, Clover Moore has lost her way. Council has been wasting money on Clover’s nutty schemes.”

Mr Mandla has vowed not to spend “one more cent” on bike paths until there it is clear they deliver value for ratepayers. Ms Forster echoed these sentiments and said “safety on the streets” was another priority for the Liberal Party. Kings Cross was in need of “a crackdown” and the Liberals would show “zero tolerance to anti-social behaviour in the streets,” she said.

“We’re not just talking about Kings Cross, we’re talking about the whole city,” she said.

The Liberal Party is committed to providing 35 more council funded rangers and extra CCTV cameras. A Liberal Council would also fund a one-way shuttle bus which would ferry pedestrians out of Kings Cross once the trains had ceased to run. The shuttle would link up with existing Night Bus services.

Liberal are keen to improve Sydney’s affordability after recently being ranked the seventh most expensive city in the world.