Our Local Community (OLC) is an

Australian political party The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia. Federally, 12 of the 151 members of the lower house ( ...

that competes in

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The party was formed in 2013 by former Parramatta mayor Paul Garrard, and is currently registered with the

New South Wales Electoral Commission The New South Wales Electoral Commission, known as the NSWEC or the NSW Electoral Commission is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NS ...

(NSWEC). Unlike many other

local government political parties in Australia Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

, OLC competes in and has members on several different councils. As of July 2024, there are four OLC councillors on

Parramatta City Council The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, ...

, three on

Cumberland City Council Cumberland Council, trading as Cumberland City Council, is a local government area located in the western suburbs of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Council was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of parts of the Citie ...

and two on Canada Bay City Council.

History

OLC founder and then-

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

councillor Paul Garrad was a member of the Labor Party until 2004 when he was not preselected to run for the state electorate of Granville. He was re-elected to council at the 2012 local elections after forming Woodville Independents. In 2013, Garrard founded OLC, which had around 300 members in its first year.

2017 elections

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, OLC won two seats in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and two seats in

. The party also contested Canterbury-Bankstown. Cumberland Labor councillor Steve Christou defected to OLC in 2019, as did directly-elected Labor mayor of Canada Bay Angelo Tsirekas in October 2021. OLC councillor Andrew Wilson joined

The Small Business Party The Small Business Party (SBP) is a political party in New South Wales, Australia. Their party advocates for the small business sector. The party was founded in 2017 by Angela Vithoulkas, a City of Sydney councillor and café-operator. The p ...

in 2021.

2021 elections

At the 2021 local elections, the party won an additional 3 seats in Canada Bay, and contested Fairfield and

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

for the first time. An additional two seats (including Steve Christou) in both Cumberland and Parramatta were also gained. On 13 December 2023, Tsirekas was dismissed mayor of Canada Bay by Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig after an investigation from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over allegations he accepted benefits from a developer group in return for "favourable planning decisions". Cumberland councillor Eddy Sarkis left OLC after losing party preselection in February 2024.

Cumberland book ban

In May 2024, OLC's councillors in Cumberland were involved in a controversial ban of

same-sex parenting Same-sex parenting is parenting of children by Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples generally consisting of Gay men, gay, lesbian, or bisexual people who are often in civil partnerships, domestic partnerships, civil unions, or same-sex marria ...

books from the eight libraries in the

public library system. During a council meeting on 1 May, Christou requested that the motion "''That Council adopt the 'Library Strategy 2024 - 2027' as outlined in Attachment 1 of this report''" be amended with "''subject to the following being undertaken: That Council take immediate action to rid same-sex parents books/materials in Council's library service''". The ban was passed with the support of the two other OLC councillors, Paul Garrard and Helen Hughes. On 15 May, the ban was repealed with Garrard and Hughes voting against it, while Christou continued to support it.

2024 elections

At the 2024 local elections, the party intends to seek re-election in Canada Bay, Cumberland and Parramatta, as well as contest Canterbury-Bankstown,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and several rural areas. The party has pledged to ban

Welcome to Country A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is an event intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular A ...

and smoking ceremonies if elected to a majority in Cumberland.

State and federal politics

Although the party is registered for local elections in New South Wales, it is not registered for state elections or with the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...

for federal elections. However, a number of OLC members have contested elections as independents. Michelle Garrard achieved 4% of the vote in

at the 2019 state election, running on behalf of the party. Christou ran in

at the 2022 federal election. He had 3.5% of the vote. In May 2024, Paul Garrard said the potential for OLC to run candidates in state elections "has been discussed" but the party "is not there yet".

Ideology and ideals

Paul Garrard has described OLC as "

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

" and Christou has described it as "

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

". The party's stated aims are to "encourage participation by the community in a wide range of activities and services, to improve local infrastructure in the best interests of residents and the wider community and endeavour to provide an active voice in addressing various social issues".

Election results

Council-by-council

Mayoral

References

{{reflist Political parties established in 2013 2013 establishments in Australia Local government political parties in Australia Political parties in New South Wales Conservative parties in Australia