MEDIA STATEMENT – Jeff McCloy

I acknowledge that some people could see my decision to donate to the Hunter campaigns as inappropriate.

I did this with the intention of achieving a better outcome for the Hunter. These donations were given with no intention of seeking political favour. This is a fact.

I have always been a vocal and active supporter of ensuring the Hunter receives better funding and treatment from government.

I have supported and championed numerous causes, campaigns and community projects towards this aim, they include:

· Sack the safe seats campaign in 2003

· Anti Graffiti campaign 2008

· Hunter Advantage project 2009/10

· Fix Our City 2009/10.

Sack the Safe Seats was a campaign designed to ask voters to think about their vote and not let the region be taken for granted.

Hunter Advantage was a national awareness campaign promoting the benefits of the Hunter region as a place to do business.

Fix Our City was a highly successful grassroots community campaign created to encourage the NSW Labor Government to act on the Hunter Development Corporation’s Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report. This campaign attracted massive support from local businesses, community groups and the general public. The campaign also exposed some of the local politicians as having little interest in seeing our region succeed or understanding the catalysts projects required for regional prosperity.

In 2012 I made the decision run for position of Lord Mayor of Newcastle to see real change happen in Newcastle, this is now occurring. My mayoral salary is donated to charity.

Along with taking an active role in promoting the Hunter Region the McCloy Group has supported numerous charities. In the past eight years alone we have donated $2.7 million to a broad spectrum of causes including, ASPECT, Salvation Army, Surf Life Saving, Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children, Art Gallery Foundation, Oz harvest and John Hunter Children’s Hospital.

For more than 30 years I have lived by the words “ Do It Anyway” a written verse from Mother Teresa, I have no intention of changing this attitude for doing what I believe is in the best interests of the region. In hindsight, I would have made the donations differently. However they were not entered into for personal gain, rather merely following what I believe is my constitutional right to be part of the political process.

Jeff McCloy