It was all smiles at Labor's Newcastle local government campaign launch on Friday after a month dominated by bullying allegations and branch brawling within the party.
With the City Hall as a backdrop, lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the city had significantly benefited from the party's decade of council dominance. This included $1 billion worth of spending on public infrastructure.
"During my tenure as our city's lord mayor, we have delivered record investment in the city's physical, cultural and social infrastructure," she said.
"I'm proud of the investments that are supporting our communities and ensuring Newcastle remains the best place to live."
While some see the Greens as the greatest threat to Labor's hold on Hunter politics, it was the independents that drew Ms Nelmes' ire.
"People that aren't actually in political parties have a tendency and a track record of creating the most disruption and causing the most chaos, because those are the people that no one knows what they stand for," she said.
"If you look at the City of Newcastle's track record, every time the city goes off the rails it's with candidates that aren't known to the community, without the backing of Labor movements and community organisations that have a structure in place and an ideology that people will know what to expect."
Although the ongoing revitalisation of inner Newcastle tended to attract the majority of headlines, Ms Nelmes also acknowledged the challenges on the city's western fringe relating to infrastructure, housing and environmental sustainability.
"We have been very clear that [state government] plans that were approved in 2013 that do not consider our natural environment, the expectation of homeowners today and also our road network out there are unacceptable," she said.
"We have stood up and fought hard for our communities in Minmi and Fletcher and Maryland because the road network cannot take the type of development that is proposed from that historical approval. Also, the wonderful biodiversity corridors and waterways are going to be affected."
Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley backed her local government colleagues to continue to deliver for the city.
"A decade ago, the capital budget for this city was $30 million. I can proudly announce that today it is five times that amount, almost $150 million.
"I look at the progress of the art gallery and I can remember the former [council] administration actually turning back a $7.5 million grant to build the art gallery. I remember because I was working for the federal Member for Charlton. I got on the phone and I said, "we'll have your $7.5 million for the Glendale interchange".
Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia Senator Tim Ayres was also on hand to support the Newcastle team.
"Newcastle is undergoing a rapid transformation," he said. "I stand by lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes and her team in achieving our shared vision of renewable powered clean jobs in the Hunter."
