OLC founder and then-
Parramatta 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. In 2013, Garrard founded OLC, which had around 300 members in its first year. 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 in 2021.
2021 elections At the
2021 local elections, the party won an additional 3 seats in
Canada Bay, and contested
Fairfield and
Randwick for the first time. 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 books from the eight libraries in the
Cumberland 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 On 15 May, the ban was repealed with Garrard and Hughes voting against it, while Christou continued to support it.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 and several rural areas. ==State and federal politics==