Crowd: One vote, one value, one vote, one value...!

Clover Moore: The Liberal Party, with the help of the Shooters, is targeting the city, because they think they will get control of city government, if they give the big end of town extra votes.

Crowd: Boo…!

Ann Arnold: There's a battle for the city of Sydney. New legislation, put up by the Shooters and Fishers Party and backed by the Liberal state government, is designed to change the balance of electoral power in the city, in favour of businesses. It will give businesses two votes, providing they have two or more directors. Residents have one vote.

The independent and long-serving Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, insists this is an underhand bid to remove her and a successful council.

Clover Moore: I think they're very annoyed that we have progressive independent government here at the city. So by fair means or foul, they want to stop that. And I think the means that they've adopted are very foul.

Ann Arnold: The leader of the Shooters and Fishers Party, Robert Borsak, admits he wants to see a new Lord Mayor.

Robert Borsak: I think some new leadership in Town Hall would be good, some new policies, some new ideas.

Ann Arnold: He and other proponents of the Bill say businesses are being ripped off under the existing voting system.

Edward Mandla: They actually pay rates four, five times more than a residential person. So one of the arguments is maybe they should get five or ten votes. I actually think two was probably a really good compromise.

Ann Arnold: That's City of Sydney Liberal councillor Edward Mandla.

Hello, I'm Ann Arnold, and today how a divisive bill that breaches the long-held democratic principle of one vote, one value, was devised by two fringe political players and passed by the NSW government.

Clover Moore: So we're all out of Town Hall now, we're here in Town Hall Square. Thank you again for coming.

Ann Arnold: Two weeks before the legislation was passed, Lord Mayor Clover Moore rallied her supporters.

Clover Moore: This Bill is aimed at a council that is corruption free, debt free and with a strong financial position. Our CBD generates $100 billion worth of economic activity and that's 22% of the state's economy. So wouldn't you think they'd leave us alone?

Ann Arnold: Sydney's Lord Mayor is elected directly by constituents, in one of the fastest growing residential areas in the state. The current council is dominated by an independent bloc which supports the Lord Mayor. Giving double the vote to businesses could significantly change the shape of the council.

The two Liberal councillors, both first-termers, have had their eyes on the plum job of Lord Mayor.

Christine Forster: If I could wave my magic wand, which unfortunately I don't have, I would choose to be the Lord Mayor of Sydney above any job in the world.

Ann Arnold: That's Christine Forster, whose brother is the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. The other Sydney City Council Liberal is Edward Mandla. He would also like to be Lord Mayor.

Edward Mandla: Yes I would, and I've made that publicly clear and that's what I've been working towards all the time. 2016 is certainly when I'm aiming to be Lord Mayor, there's no doubt about that.

Ann Arnold: Edward Mandla sees himself as part of a concerted and successful push by the Liberal Party to get more councillors elected in local government across the state. He says their numbers are increasing.

Edward Mandla: Dramatically increasing. Not that long ago there were no Liberal Party people in local government. It was basically Liberal Party policy to keep out of that.

Ann Arnold: Edward Mandla played a key role in changing the City of Sydney legislation, working alongside Robert Borsak from the Shooters and Fishers Party, with some powerful media backing.

Alan Jones: Why isn't business marching in the streets?

Edward Mandla: Alan, business just sucks it up and says, you know, we just put our head down, bum up and we work harder.

Alan Jones: Well, listen, we'll leave it there for now, we'll come back and talk to you. Those themes and this sort of stuff has gotta be said over and over again. It is a democracy…a democratic disgrace. Good to talk to you, thank you for your time.

Edward Mandla: Thanks Alan.

Alan Jones: That's the Liberal leader at Town Hall, Edward Mandla.

Ann Arnold: Alan Jones from 2GB and others have been fuming at the existing voting system. Currently business enrolments are wiped after each election, and there's a cumbersome system of re-enrolling and having to turn up to Town Hall to vote on election day. This has led to a very low business voter turnout. But the new Bill, with its two votes for business, caused uproar. It angered some Liberals, surprised sectors of the business community, and outraged political opponents.

This is the Greens' David Shoebridge, in parliament last month.

David Shoebridge: As with so much of this government's ugly right-wing agenda, that is pretty much the trifecta, isn't it, some sort of low-hanging fruit from the anti-intellectual right of the Liberal Party, we've got the shock jocks and we've got the Daily Telegraph joining together to deliver poor policy, an attack on democracy, an attack on citizens' rights and an attack on longstanding legal rights. It is an unprincipled Bill that is being rammed through this parliament with a set of amendments that you seem to have been making up on the run. It is an undemocratic dog's breakfast, it should be voted down by this Chamber, it should never have been brought; it's a disgrace.

Ann Arnold: At the last election for the City of Sydney council, in 2012, there were about 100,000 voters enrolled. Only a small fraction of businesses, classed as non-residential voters, actually voted.

NSW Local Government Minister, Paul Toole:

Paul Toole: In 2012, there was 1,709 non-residential voters. Now, this is out of a possible 80,000 non-residential voters and clearly it shows that it was very difficult for people to go through the process, to get on the non-residential roll.

Ann Arnold: The figure of 80,000 potential business voters is disputed. But there is no doubt the last election turnout was tiny. Liberal councillor Christine Forster says businesses should be voting.

Christine Forster: If you look at the rates revenue that the City of Sydney collects, about 78%, 79% of the rates revenue that the City of Sydney collects comes from the businesses. Obviously the residents need the businesses, the businesses need the residents. This is a big economy, we account for 8.5% of Australia's GDP right here in the City of Sydney. It's the global city and businesses are a crucial part of that.

Ann Arnold: The proponents of the new legislation say that because businesses provide most of the rates revenue, they should have double the voting power. But many in the Liberal Party are deeply uncomfortable with that, as are some senior business people.

Patricia Forsythe is the executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, which represents the big corporations.

Patricia Forsythe: We had always argued for a vote. Two votes was not our position. It's probably still not our position. We couldn't get a handle on why. To that extent, we were critical of what the government has done.

Ann Arnold: I understand you're a former Liberal, a former MLC, and some of your Liberal contemporaries are uncomfortable with the idea, they feel that it is actually undemocratic. Do you share that view?

Patricia Forsythe: I do. But that's a personal view, but I suspect it's more broadly shared with some of my members.

Ann Arnold: Patricia Forsythe, from the Sydney Business Chamber.

Alex Greenwich: The coalition is in many ways a political opponent of mine, but there are good people in the coalition who do value democracy.

Ann Arnold: The Independent member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, was lobbying his fellow state politicians about his alternative Bill. It would have put businesses on the roll permanently, and offered postal voting, but with one vote only.

Alex Greenwich: Well, a number of coalition backbenchers are deeply concerned about the legislation. And they have raised a number of concerns with me, particularly around the two votes for business, one vote for resident, but other drafting issues within the legislation as well.

Ann Arnold: MP Alex Greenwich.

City of Sydney Liberal councillor Christine Forster also disagrees with two votes for businesses.

Christine Forster: Look, I've expressed that to people, yes, that's my personal view, that it's difficult to defend the idea of giving two votes to one entity.

Ann Arnold: You would have found other people in agreement with that within the Liberal Party?

Christine Forster: Certainly, there's certainly been an agreement, I think, amongst people within the Party

Ann Arnold: Christine Forster calls herself a 'small l' Liberal.

Christine Forster: I describe myself in my pre-selection as a 'small l' Liberal, 'big L' lesbian, to much amusement. So I guess that pretty much sums it up that I'm pretty dry on economic issues but pretty wet on social issues.

Ann Arnold: Her Liberal colleague on Sydney City Council, Edward Mandla, is further to the right.

Edward Mandla: I am in the moderate faction. I always laugh that I am in the far right of the moderate faction, but it's a faction that allows you to be whatever you want to be and freely express your own ideas and pursue your own passions.

Ann Arnold: Edward Mandla was instrumental in the city voting legislation. He's not a resident of the Sydney City area, he lives in suburban Beecroft. It's a prerequisite to be on the electoral roll if you want to stand for office. He was on the roll in the non-residential or business category. At the time of his election in 2012 he was on the roll by proxy; a business owner in Potts Point had given Edward Mandla his voting entitlement. Now he rents a couple of desks in a shared office space in York Street for his small business in IT recruitment.

Councillor Mandla argues that two votes for business is fair.

Edward Mandla: If we look at the average household, if most households have an average of two people, it's only fair that that gets applied to businesses also. As we look at a business premises, they actually pay rates four, five times more than a residential person. So one of the arguments was maybe they should get five or ten votes. I actually think two was probably a really good compromise.

Ann Arnold: But it wouldn't be Edward Mandla's Liberal colleagues in parliament who would put the Bill up. It was the Shooters and Fishers Party. The major parties were circumvented. This was how the Shooters and Fishers Robert Borsak introduced the Bill to parliament.

Robert Borsak: I will however thank Councillor Edward Mandla for his advice. He strongly believes in the principle of no taxation without representation, a sentiment that is shared by many, including myself. I'd also like to thank 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones, who has been a driving force for this change for a long time. Without his assistance, I doubt that the government would have been persuaded to support this sensible and long-overdue bill. I would like to also thank the Daily Telegraph, and in particular Andrew Clennell and Alicia Wood who have also been supportive of the proposal to allow those who financially support the City of Sydney through rates to have a say in the council and how the council is run.

Ann Arnold: The Bill is based on recommendations of a NSW parliamentary committee which looked at local government elections more broadly, and the City of Sydney in particular. The committee was dominated by Coalition members, and the deputy chair was the Shooters and Fishers Robert Borsak.

The committee recommended Sydney adopt the model used by Melbourne City Council, which is the only one in Australia that has two votes for business. That was introduced by the Kennett government. Perth and Adelaide allow businesses just one vote. (Correction: Hobart also has one vote.)

Brisbane has no business vote.

The parliamentary committee heard from the Melbourne Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle. Here he is on RN's Breakfast program:

Robert Doyle: I think people have to remember where local government franchise came from. It wasn't about citizenship. It was about property and property rights. And the evidence I gave suggested that perhaps Sydney's model had been exclusive, and Melbourne's more inclusive.

Ann Arnold: In February, however, a review of the Melbourne system recommended that the two votes for business go back to one. That review was led by senior Victorian Liberal Party figure Petro Georgiou. He concluded that corporations should be seen just like other 'persons', and therefore only have one vote.

The deputy chair of the New South Wales parliamentary committee, Robert Borsak, wasn't aware of the new Melbourne report when he was working on the Sydney Bill.

Robert Borsak: No, we weren't aware of that at all.

Ann Arnold: And when the Liberal Party first decided to back Robert Borsak's business voting Bill, they were also unaware of those criticisms of Melbourne's system. NSW local government minister Paul Toole:

Paul Toole: We didn't see those reports that came out, but still it is only a report. We don't know what the Victorian government's response is going to be to that particular report.

Ann Arnold: The first version of the Bill was flawed. It alienated one of the key target groups, small business, because it gave the votes to landlords, not the business tenants in, for example, arcades and food courts. It also left the way open for two business votes to be applied to other councils. There was a backlash, with councils across the state voicing their opposition.

In Parliament House, there was confusion. Independent MP Alex Greenwich says government members were asking him how the Shooters and Fishers Bill came about.

Alex Greenwich: They've asked me what I know about how the Bill has been derived. That's not clear to me. A number of MPs have raised concerns about it, concerns about the process that has led to it. Whether that is based on factional disputes between the moderates and the hard right of the Liberal Party, who knows. We know we don't have a lot of the hard right of the Liberal Party left, thanks to ICAC. But who knows where the mistake and mishap happened.

Edward Mandla: This is something I've been passionate about for a long time. I had to push my case to everybody.

Ann Arnold: Liberal Councillor Edward Mandla found a fellow traveller in Robert Borsak, from the Shooters and Fishers Party. Edward Mandla had given evidence to the parliamentary committee looking at local government elections, where Robert Borsak was the deputy chair.

Edward Mandla: I actually saw his eyes narrow a couple of times when he heard the testimony coming from people. And he just sort of called out saying this is wrong, you shouldn't have taxation without representation, no wonder the City of Sydney rarely talks about business. All you have is the situation where you take money from them but you don't have to actually do anything for them. And they've got no way to really complain.

Ann Arnold: After the committee hearings, there were more meetings between Mandla and Borsak and their staff.

Edward Mandla: He did like my testimony to the parliamentary enquiry, and we did have subsequent meetings and we went through it in fine detail. He's extremely passionate about Sydney being one of the great cities of the world. And he and I discussed that it's starting to look a bit like Legoland. We are stuck in '70s building heights, and there's just no creativity going on.

Ann Arnold: Edward Mandla. Robert Borsak says he was initially surprised to be paid a visit by Mandla and a couple of associates.

Robert Borsak: When I questioned why are you coming and talking to me about this, I'm a Shooters and Fishers Party person, even though I may be sympathetic, there's nothing I can do. They said, well, the current Premier isn't keen on doing anything. And I was really quite surprised by it, and it did actually confirm to me what I had already been told by other members of the committee, that the problem was O'Farrell.

Ann Arnold: The Premier at the time was Barry O'Farrell. He and Robert Borsak fell out last year, over a deal to allow hunting in national parks.

Robert Borsak said he didn't recall the names of the two other men with Edward Mandla on that first visit. Only that one of them had a business in the city.

Robert Borsak: I think one of them had a property-based business, it might have been in parking and rental of business premises, that sort of thing. The other one I can't…I don't know.

Ann Arnold: The businessman in property was John Preston. He manages three buildings in the city, including 33 York Street, where he says Edward Mandla rents a couple of desks. John Preston is also a member of the Liberal P arty. In recent times he has become a frequent attendee of Sydney City Council meetings. He has written articles for The Big Smoke website, critical of the Council, and advocating for a greater business vote. The Shooters and Fishers' Robert Borslak says he learnt a lot from John Preston and Edward Mandla.

Robert Borsak: Look, I'm no expert on the intricacies of the machine that is the City of Sydney Council. I know a little bit about what goes on, but they spent a bit of time with me explaining the possible opportunities, and said that they were willing to help support me and supply me with background information, which is what they did.

Ann Arnold: And what are the possible opportunities?

Robert Borsak: They could harness some of the balance sheet. They could be doing things, reducing taxation, reducing fines, removing on-street parking in certain areas, extending parking in other areas. There's a lot of things they could be doing to get people into the city rather than what they saw as happening as a movement of driving traffic out of the city. I think once you remove cars, you're going to also remove a lot of foot traffic out of the city, and encouraging bike parks and all those sorts of things, which are all very nice in theory, but they do tend to have a dampening effect on business.

Ann Arnold: Robert Borsak.

Alan Jones: So here is Clover Moore happy to desecrate our beautiful city with gridlock-inducing bike paths, and a young bloke is doing something about it. He's on the line. Jai, good morning.

Jai Martinkovits: Alan, good morning.

Alan Jones: What's the principle of what you are doing?

Jai Martinkovits: Well, what we're doing is we are speaking to those people who are most effected, those people who work in and use Castlereagh St. And what they are really upset about is Clover's primeval octopus-like a monster that she is trying to strangle Sydney's CBD with. And Castlereagh Street is just one example of this.

Alan Jones: This is a jihad on motorists, a jihad on motorists....

Jai Martinkovits: Well, it is, and of course it's going to have a gridlock effect…

Ann Arnold: The young man Alan Jones was praising had set up the Save Our Streets campaign opposing bike lanes in the CBD. His name is Jai Martinkovits. He's one of a number of people linked to the Liberal Party who are working behind the scenes against the Clover Moore administration.

They include staff working for Councillor Edward Mandla. Chris Abood, who Edward Mandla calls his chief of staff, is an old school mate. He was the other person with Mandla and John Preston at that initial meeting in the Shooters and Fishers office. He continued to work with Robert Borsak's staff on the Bill.

When the Lord Mayor held her rally against the business voting bill, Chris Abood was watching from a window upstairs in Town Hall.

Clover Moore: They want our environmental programs cancelled, our bike lanes pulled out and our cultural and arts programs stopped.

Crowd: Boo…!

Ann Arnold: The council spent nearly $60,000 on promoting and staging the rally. The funding was voted on and endorsed by 8 out of 10 councillors.

It was a very wet Saturday. After morning downpours, the crowd was smaller than expected, less than 400 people, and got scant media coverage. Supporters talked up the rally on Twitter, and a social media war erupted. Chris Abood was sniping from above. He tweeted a photo of a few dozen people outside, when most people had been moved inside out of the rain.

Referring to the Sydney Morning Herald, Chris Abood* later tweeted that the only article about the rally was in 'the arsehole SMH'. *Correction. The program incorrectly said it was Michael Tiyce, not Chris Abood, who tweeted this. The ABC apologises to Michael Tiyce.

Also tweeting photos that day and ridiculing the numbers was Michael Tiyce, the president of the East Sydney Liberals. In an apparent reference to Clover Moore's strong following among the gay community, Michael Tiyce tweeted 'Who paid for the Grindr advertising?' Grindr is a homosexual dating site. A spokeswoman for Town Hall says the council did not place an ad on Grindr.

In parliament, Peter Phelps, the government whip in the Legislative Council, had this to say:

Peter Phelps: There was the protest of course at the Town Hall, a protest so small that they had to use the smallest public room at the Town Hall to give the impression for photographers that it was packed out. It was a tiny, tiny protest of minimal support. As my good friend Michael Tiyce said, who was there, he has stood in longer lines waiting for coffee than there were at that protest.

Ann Arnold: Taxidermied animals, on stands and mounted on walls, are a feature of the parliamentary office of the Shooters and Fishers Party. Robert Borsak says that hunting isn't his only passion. As an accountant by profession, he has a natural interest in business issues.

The City of Sydney Bill was also a chance to lift the profile of his party.

Robert Borsak: Someone said to me the other day, 'This is just a smart-ass exercise in getting more exposure.' Yes, I put my hand up for that. But people need to know and understand that there's a lot more to us than just playing the country issues, playing the shooting issues or the fishing issues. We're a part of this community, and it plays quite well to our constituents who know and understand what we should be doing with society, especially economically speaking.

Edward Mandla: I think at the end of the day Robert decided he was going to put the pedal to the metal and he was going to run with this, and he would see this would be a feather in his cap.

Ann Arnold: Councillor Edward Mandla. Government support was essential to getting the Bill up. Robert Borsak hoped the new Premier, Mike Baird, might be more willing than his predecessor Barry O'Farrell. But still, he says, government backing might never have happened if he hadn't gone to Alan Jones and the Daily Telegraph.

Robert Borsak: That was the next stage of what I had to do. If I'm going to get the opportunity even with a new Premier to try to I suppose pressurise them, then I need people to help me advocate for that. You don't have a very big pulpit when you're a cross-bencher. Alan Jones for example had been campaigning on issues around the City of Sydney for a long time.

I know the Daily Telegraph's also a great campaigning newspaper that, whether you love them or loathe them, the reality is that they have an opinion and they're prepared to put it forward. So I approached both of them and asked them would they be prepared to support me in what I was doing, and that's not a conspiracy, that's not them calling the agenda, it's simply a congruence of ideas.

Ann Arnold: Robert Borsak.

In the end, the government came on board. It made some amendments, but kept the controversial two votes for businesses in the City of Sydney.

The Premier's office referred Background Briefing to the Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole. He said the government would have preferred to put up a more complete package of local government election reforms. But the government agrees with the underlying premise of Robert Borsack's Bill.

(To Paul Toole) One objection has been that it's a fundamental principle of our democracy that you can't buy votes, and there is a perception that business, in being given two votes, is effectively able to wield its financial muscle.

Paul Toole: I think what we see is, from the City of Sydney, where the non-residential community is actually providing 80% of the city's rate revenue and less than 2% of them have a say in how the City of Sydney looks, I think it's fair that they also get to play a part in the way in which this global city is shaped. It is unique, quite special, and if we are going to continue to grow it into the future, it's important that we ensure democracy is being upheld here so that all stakeholders have a say.

Ann Arnold: Would democracy not be upheld by making voting easier and encouraged for all businesses to have one vote each, rather than two?

Paul Toole: It is still an individual vote but what we are saying is, it is capped. It is capped up to a maximum of two. If we got a corporation and we see hundreds of directors in there, it is still two individual directors that may be appointed to have a vote in the City of Sydney elections.

Ann Arnold: NSW Local Government Minister Paul Toole.

The former Premier, Barry O'Farrell, is now on the backbench after admitting to a 'massive memory fail' at the Independent Commission Against Corruption over a gift of a $3,000 bottle of wine. He supported the business voting Bill, but he was furious that it was a Shooters and Fishers Bill and not a government one. In parliament he launched into a scathing attack on his old foe Robert Borsak, likening him to Borat, the Sacha Baron Cohen character.

Barry O'Farrell: In a speech worthy of his namesake Borat Sagdiyev, he utterly failed to mount any case for the legislation. Despite an alleged business background, if his speech is anything to go by he couldn't give away presents on Christmas Day.

Man: Why are you backing him?

Barry O'Farrell: I would prefer this to be a government Bill, not put together by some fluke from the Upper House.

Ann Arnold: Robert Borsak agrees it should have been a government Bill. But he says Barry O'Farrell only has himself to blame.

Robert Borsak: It's a Bill that they should have actually run. You know, he was Premier of this state for the best part of three years, or over three years. As with a lot of things with him as Premier, he sat on his hands. I think he should put himself in the slot and criticise himself for that.

Ann Arnold: There was a perception that the Shooters and Fishers, in putting up the Bill, were getting back at the Lord Mayor. When she was previously a member of parliament she had taken a strong anti-gun position.

(To Robert Borsak) There was a Shooters and Fishers Facebook page, someone had commented on there, queried why you were getting involved in this issue, and the response on your page from whoever manages your Facebook page was 'Clover Moore's one of the most gun-hating politicians in New South Wales', or words to that effect.

Robert Borsak: Well, I think that's right. But look, that's not the motivation for doing this sort of stuff. The reality is, if she doesn't support us, well, we don't support her. It's as simple as that.

Ann Arnold: Robert Borsak.

2GB Breakfast broadcaster Alan Jones attacks her relentlessly.

Alan Jones: Because this vandal Clover Moore has decided there should be a two-way cycle path from King Street…you got that? King Street to Chinatown. Surely this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. An administrator has to be put in. The woman has to be sacked. The state government have the power to do that. How much more vandalising do we allow this woman to do? This has got to be on ongoing campaign, but at the end of the day Baird has gotta say 'I'm sorry Clover, your number is up'. It's 6.30.

Ann Arnold: With her spiky black hair and choker necklaces, Clover Moore is a celebrity among celebrities. From her personal website you can order a retro 1990s poster of Clover, as she is usually known, for $100.

Clover, we are here in your office. Who's on your wall behind me with you?

Clover Moore: Well, there's Lady Gaga with a wonderful green wig giving me a kiss. There's Princess Mary and her charming husband when they visited. There's a photo with Bill Clinton at a climate change conference. There's one with Kylie Minogue who was another ambassador for the New Year. And I think probably the most wonderful photo up there is the one with the four women. There's Councillor Marcelle Hoff who was my deputy, there's Governor Marie Bashir, there's Governor General Quentin Bryce, and I'm there. We're up on the steps of Town Hall, and a woman in the crowd called out, 'Go girl!' And we all waved. And of course I'm the only woman left standing out of that group! And I tell you what, the New South Wales government is doing their best to get rid of me!

Ann Arnold: You're a woman under pressure.

Clover Moore: Yes indeed.

Ann Arnold: Are you feeling that pressure?

Clover Moore: I think after that debate that went through legislative council, legislative assembly, I'm just appalled, shocked and very angry about the action they've taken, about the standard of the debate which reflects the calibre of the people who are governing us in New South Wales.

Peter Phelps: Madam Deputy President, I can understand Alex Greenwich putting forward his own proposals and condemning this Bill. After all, when Clover pulls the strings, Alex dances to the tune. Little Alex there with his wooden nose, dancing down Macquarie Street, strings being pulled by Clover Moore…

Ann Arnold: In parliament Peter Phelps, the Government Whip in the upper house, was referring to Alex Greenwich, the Independent member for Sydney, the state seat that Clover Moore previously held.

Natasha Maclaren-Jones, Deputy-President: Order! I do say, I do remind the member that he is skating on thin ice at this stage.

Peter Phelps: I do, I apologise for that. If he is a puppet, then maybe her hand is in a different location.

Ann Arnold: Peter Phelps.

While all proponents of the Bill have emphasised that it's not about Clover Moore, it's about business having more of a say, discussions always seem to come back to the Lord Mayor.

A word search of Hansard found that on the day the Bill was passed, she was mentioned 32 times in the Upper House, mostly by Labor, and 66 times in the Lower House, mostly by the Liberals and Nationals.

The Daily Telegraph regularly lampoons her. There had recently been a front page dominated by a mocked-up photograph of just Clover Moore's disembodied head inside a tumble dryer. Under the title 'Spin Cycle', the story made exaggerated claims about the size of the Lord Mayor's media team.

Clover Moore: It was based on untruths. I thought that was shocking and I thought it was tasteless. You know, that was the day that one of those American journalists was beheaded. I thought that was so horrible.

Ann Arnold: While opinions of Clover Moore are deeply divided, some of her political opponents are complimentary. This is Liberal Councillor Christine Forster.

Christine Forster: Look, Clover has been a...I often describe her as arguably Australia's most successful ever independent politician. She's kind of bestrode the city like a behemoth. She was the independent member for Sydney for 28 years, she's been the Lord Mayor for 10 years, she's a dominant, highly successful politician, and I respect what she's achieved enormously. And she's done some great stuff for the city.

Ann Arnold: Councillor Christine Forster. Since that interview, the Prime Minister's sister has announced she's now making a tilt for the NSW Upper House.

Although there have been claims the City of Sydney Council neglects business, two of the biggest interest groups say they have enjoyed good working relationships with Sydney City. The Property Council of NSW, and the Sydney Business Chamber, which represents the top end of town, both also support bike lanes, because employees of their member companies want to ride to work. And they support the council's green star ratings on building developments. But both want something more from the city administration.

The head of the Property Council of New South Wales, Glenn Byers, supports two votes for business and says more development is needed in the Sydney city. Demand for office space is soaring, and more development is needed.

Glenn Byers: There's obviously going to be some golden rules on CBD development that the city doesn't like to see broken. Things like the sun plane lines over neighbouring parks in Martin Place. We all understand that. But let's have a look for some of the parts of the CBD where you can up those floor space ratios, allow a bit of extra development, and in doing so make the space for those workers and tenants and corporates of the future.

Ann Arnold: Glenn Byers, NSW executive director of the Property Council of Australia.

Patricia Forsythe, from the Sydney Business Chamber, believes Clover Moore's administration has in many ways been good for business.

Patricia Forsythe: They've really done some superb things in recent years, things around the Chinese engagement, Chinese New Year, and the strategy that sits around that. They know they've got a role to play. They do that. They've been excellent working with the retailers, for example, around Christmas time. They had very strong consultation around their small bars policy, around the night-time economy. That's the really positive side.

Ann Arnold: But Patricia Forsythe says they still have some major differences. An example is the controversial Barangaroo site, a former industrial area on the harbour on the western side of the CBD.

Patricia Forsythe: We and many of the groups like us are absolutely passionate advocates for what is happening at Barangaroo, a place that will embed Sydney as a really important banking and finance centre within the Asia Pacific. It's part of our global reach. We think the design had to be spectacular. We have to go tall. We had to do much of the things that are down there.

We were extremely disappointed when, having argued that the Lord Mayor should be on the Barangaroo Development Authority, for example, where after a relatively short period of time she resigned because she didn't like…I don't know whether it's designs or direction. That, for me, was a symbol of where we thought there'd been a disconnect between what business had been talking about.

Ann Arnold: Patricia Forsythe, from the Sydney Business Chamber.

As Clover Moore and her supporters see it, the business voting legislation is a second attempt to oust her from power. The first attempt was two years ago, when the state government ruled that no-one could serve as both a state and local government politician. Clover Moore had been a state member and Lord Mayor simultaneously. She retained her Lord Mayoralty, and her ally Alex Greenwich won her state seat.

In parliament last month, Labor's Ron Hoenig warned that attacks, or perceived attacks, on Clover Moore have backfired before, and will backfire again.

Ron Hoenig: Now, this concept of trying to get rid of Clover Moore, the Tories are like Lady Macbeth, aren't they; out damned spot. But no member of this House, no member of the other House and no executive government has been able to get rid of her for 34 years because she has outsmarted them all. She has outsmarted the Tories and she has outsmarted the Labor Party. There is something that the reactionary forces have never understood about Clover Moore. And it does not matter where in the City of Sydney you go, she resonates in those particular areas and turns everything you say to an advantage.

Clover Moore: And this at a time when there is a stench of developer donation, corruption hanging over this government, which is being played out in the ICAC day by day. Wouldn't you think they'd get their own house in order before mucking ours up?

Crowd: [cheers, applause]

Ann Arnold: Background Briefing's co-ordinating producer is Linda McGinness, research by Anna Whitfeld, technical production by Steven Tilley, the executive producer is Chris Bullock, and I'm Ann Arnold.