Last year Labor’s Tania Brown made history as the first woman to be elected as Lord Mayor of Wollongong. Now, with her party securing 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, the Lord Mayor is celebrating a win for Labor women in the top tier of government.

“How good is it to see three women, Carol Berry and Fiona Phillips and Alison [Byrnes] – all women representing at that level,” she said.

“It's a great look for the region.”

Alison Byrnes has been re-elected as Cunningham MP, former Disability Trust CEO Carol Berry is stepping into Whitlam as long-serving MP Stephen Jones retires from politics, while Fiona Phillips is celebrating a decisive win over the Liberal's Andrew Constance. She has retained the marginal seat of Gilmore, with a swing of 4.89 percent in the two candidate preferred count. 

“I'm obviously very pleased,” said Cr Brown.

“The new member for Whitlam, Carol Berry, I've worked with her in her former roles, she is a quality professional who will be a fine representative. I think the people did well there.

“I'll be the very first meeting she has when she's sworn in – to talk to her about West Dapto and our needs out there, particularly around the infrastructure that's needed to deliver 19,500 homes out there. So I think it will continue to be constructive and hopefully fruitful for the region.”

What does an Albanese Government mean for us?

“Front of mind for us at council was the commitment from an Albanese Government of $10 million to the Southern Suburbs Community Centre and Library, should he win the election," Cr Brown said. 

"So we've already started discussions with the re-elected Member for Cunningham on how we can get that ball in motion.”

The Lord Mayor said the new centre in Warrawong – which will serve residents of Berkeley, Lake Heights, Cringila, Warrawong, Port Kembla, Primbee and Windang – wasn’t dependent on federal funding.

“We were committed to funding it regardless. But having this $10 million is a big help. It means that we don't have to take from our own budget to meet it, but we are committed to it, and we've started demolition. So that's all underway.”

“We would like to see [it completed in] this term of government is the commitment.

"This term of Council, so 2028 – that and Helensburgh [Community Centre and Library] are both the two big commitments that I'm working towards.”

The new Helensburgh centre is also set to be built by the end of 2028.

From polling day to 'productive' teamwork 

The Lord Mayor grew up in Unanderra in a Labor household, attending her first party meeting in the 1980s with her father, a plumber who she credits as her political mentor. On election day, she headed for home turf, supporting Labor’s campaign for Cunningham at St Pius X Catholic Primary School.

“It was a big day down on the booth,” she said. “I went to school at St Pius, and then my kids went there, and I was on the P&F, as president and secretary. So it's sort of my home booth. It's always a lovely vibe there, so many of the old neighbours are coming through.”

Cr Brown's election in September 2024 delivered Wollongong Labor a triple deck of leaders at council, state and federal levels.

“It's been productive so far, the three levels of government working well together,” she said.

“I think you can see it in our approach to the big task that is sportsfields, lighting, drainage, irrigation.

“We've been visiting the sports fields, talking to different organisations about how we can work together to tackle the big list of what's needed. So I think that's been a really constructive approach.

“I've had Council staff completing an audit of all of our 85 sportsfields and getting the list of what we need … then we can tackle it. We’re working with the state organisations, people like Football South Coast, to help them to prioritise what's needed.”

This kind of cooperation could mean council, state and federal members all contribute to buying equipment, such as sports field lighting, with joint funding arrangements helping the city save money, Cr Brown said.

“[Wollongong MP] Paul Scully, Alison Byrnes and I have been out at Coniston, I've been to Balgownie, out to Bulli, and talking to the clubs about how we tackle this together.

“So that's been neglected for too long."

The Lord Mayor is also a champion of women in sport and aims to encourage participation at every level by improving changerooms and facilities at local clubs.

“We know the big task of trying to get gender equity in the clubhouses and the amenities, and so we're all tackling that together," she said. "I'm hopeful that bears fruit, and in a few years time, we'll be able to look to a lot of improved facilities across the region.”

'We need a range of renewables'

Liberal candidates and many minor parties campaigned primarily on a “no offshore wind” platform but – like in the September council elections – single-issue candidates fared badly in the polls in Wollongong.

Asked if she saw Labor’s federal win as a mandate for renewables, Tania Brown said:  “I think there is an element of that – we know as a region, we can't put all our eggs in one basket. I think we need a range of renewables. And I think most of the community understands that we support our coal and steel industry, but we know we need renewables to make sure that those jobs continue to be delivered.

“So I think there was an acceptance of that as our future.

"But I do think it was a bit of a vote against Dutton and his personal leadership – I think that played a part in it.”

Lord Mayor on SBS

Wollongong's Lord Mayor last week featured on SBS, taking part in an episode of current affairs show Insight called 'Uninsurable', which examined the problem of homes being too expensive to insure following natural disasters.

Tania Brown was invited to talk about council’s Voluntary Purchasing Agreement, which was set up after the 1998 floods and targets very high-risk properties. She travelled to Artarmon to appear on the Insight panel and described the episode as “compelling”.

“It's looking at people who've lost homes to bushfire and flood … and they'd heard about our voluntary purchase scheme. So I was there to talk about that, and how Wollongong floods vary differently to the likes of Lismore, given that our creeks overrun, not a river breaching its banks.”

When homes are bought under Wollongong's voluntary scheme, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water funds two-thirds of the cost, with council contributing the remainder. So far, 86 properties have been purchased and demolished, with 58 more on a priority list.

Uninsurable is available to watch on SBS In Demand.