Canterbury-Bankstown council election, 2024

Canterbury-Bankstown council covers suburbs in the middle south-east of Sydney. The council’s south-western and western boundary follows the Georges River, while the south-eastern boundary follows the M5 motorway and the Cooks River, and the remainder of the boundaries are more erratic.

The council covers the suburbs of Bankstown, Bass Hill, Belmore, Birrong, Campsie, Canterbury, Chester Hill, Clemton Park, Condell Park, Earlwood, Georges Hall, Greenacre, Lakemba, Milperra, Padstow, Panania, Picnic Point, Punchbowl, Revesby, Roselands, Sefton, Wiley Park and Yagoona.

The council has a population of about 372,000 as of 2022, which makes Canterbury-Bankstown the second-most populous council in NSW, and the fifth-most populous council in Australia.

Wards
Canterbury-Bankstown is divided into five wards, with each ward electing three councillors.

Bankstown-Darani ward covers north-central parts of the council, including Bankstown, Greenacre and Chullora. Most of the ward lies within the former Bankstown council area, with a small area at the southern tip of the ward coming from the Canterbury council area.

Bass Hill-Bura ward covers the north-western corner of the council, including Chester Hill, Georges Hall, Yagoona, Birrong, Sefton, Bass Hill and parts of Condell Park.

Canterbury-Budjar ward covers the eastern end of the council, including Belfield, Campsie, Canterbury, Clemton Park, Hurlstone Park and Earlwood.

Revesby-Bunya ward covers the south-western corner of the council, including Milperra, Revesby, Panania, Picnic Point, Padstow and parts of Condell Park.

Roselands-Bumarra ward covers central parts of the council, in what used to be the western end of the former Canterbury council. This ward covers Belmore, Lakemba, Punchbowl and Roselands.

Redistribution
No changes were made to the boundaries of wards, but the names were changed. The wards were previously named after suburbs, but they are now co-named with local Aboriginal words, specifically:

  • Bankstown-Darani
  • Bass Hill-Bura
  • Canterbury-Budjar
  • Revesby-Bunya
  • Roselands-Bumarra

Incumbent councillors

Bankstown-Darani Khal Asfour (Labor) Bilal El-Hayek (Labor) George Zakhia (Lib)
Bass Hill-Bura Chris Cahill (Labor) Rachelle Harika (Labor) Charlie Ishac (Liberal)
Canterbury-Budjar Barbara Coorey (Ind) Jessie Nguyen (Ind)1 Clare Raffan (Labor)
Revesby-Bunya Charbel Abouraad (Lib) Linda Downey (Labor) David Walsh (Labor)
Roselands-Bunmarra Sazeda Akter (Liberal) Karl Saleh (Labor)  Bhadra Waiba (Labor)

1Jessie Nguyen was expelled from the Liberal Party in December 2022.

History
The City of Canterbury-Bankstown was created out of a merger of Canterbury and Bankstown councils in 2016. The 2017 guide covers the previous history of these two councils and how much of the new council came from its predecessors.

Both former councils were dominated by the ALP. Canterbury remained majority Labor right up until its abolition, although Labor was reduced to just six out of twelve seats on Bankstown after the 2012 election.

Labor won a solid majority on the new council in 2017, winning nine out of fifteen seats. That included two out of three seats in four wards.

The Liberal Party won a single seat in each of the five wards, while the Greens held a seat in the Canterbury ward.

Labor’s Khal Asfour became mayor after the 2017 election, after having previously served as Mayor of Bankstown from 2015 until the council’s abolition in 2016.

The 2021 election produced a mostly status quo result. Greens councillor Linda Eisler retired from the Canterbury ward, and her ward was won by independent Barbara Coorey.

Asfour stepped down as mayor in 2023, and was succeeded by Labor’s Bilal El-Hayek.

Council control
Labor hold a clear majority of seats on Canterbury-Bankstown council.

Candidate summary
Sitting Labor councillors Linda Downey and Bhadra Waiba are not running for re-election. Ex-Liberal independent councillor Jessie Nguyen is also not running for re-election. Sitting Liberal councillors Charlie Ishac and Charbel Abouraad were not successfully nominated by the Liberal Party.

Labor and the Libertarian Party are each running in all five wards, although the Libertarian Party only managed to run two candidates fro the Canterbury ward.

The Greens and Community Voice are each running for four wards. The Liberal Party managed to nominate for three wards, but are only running two candidates in the Roselands ward.

The Animal Justice Party, Democrats, Our Local Community and Unity are each running in one ward.

The full candidate list is at the end of this guide.

Assessment
Labor has a strong vote in Canterbury-Bankstown which typically translates into a strong majority in a system of three-member wards.

Labor currently holds two out of three seats in four of the five wards. They should at least retain those seats, and their one seat in the Canterbury ward.

The Liberal Party should retain the two council seats in wards where they are running a full ticket. Independent councillor Barbara Coorey should also be able to retain her seat in Canterbury, assisted by the absence of the Liberal Party.

This leaves three seats in play.

In Bass Hill, Labor already holds two seats, and it’s hard to see them winning all three. This means the third seat would go to either Community Voice, the Libertarian Party or independent Talal Saifo.

In Canterbury, Labor and independent Coorey likely will each retain their seat. This leaves the second Labor candidate, the Greens, Unity or independent Christine Barakat, and it’s hard to pick. If Labor wins a second seat this would give them a total of ten seats.

In the Roselands ward, the Liberal Party could still have a chance of winning, but they can only accrue below the line votes with voters having to mark three times as many boxes as voters for other groups above the line. Other contenders could include Animal Justice, Community Voice, Libertarian, Our Local Community or independents Rana Sharif or Mohammad Mahbub Rahman.

2021 results

Party Votes % Swing Seats won
Labor 83,724 47.44 0.0 9
Liberal 52,960 30.01 +0.6 5
Independents 25,347 14.36 +9.8 1
Greens 6,608 3.74 -4.8
Our Local Community 5,105 2.89 -7.2
Animal Justice 2,746 1.56 +1.6
Informal 12,039 6.39

Vote breakdown by ward
The following table shows the vote in each ward.

Labor topped the primary vote, with a majority in three wards. The Labor vote dropped to just 34% in the Canterbury ward, where they faced competition from the Greens and an independent.

The Liberal primary vote ranged from 23.7% in Canterbury to 36.5% in Revesby.

The vote for independents varied from 8.3% in Revesby to 24.5% in Canterbury, most of which was for Barbara Coorey.

Ward ALP % LIB % IND % GRN %
Bankstown 58.3 30.6 11.2 0.0
Bass Hill 51.9 30.1 18.0 0.0
Canterbury 34.1 23.7 24.5 17.7
Revesby 41.9 36.5 8.3 0.0
Roselands 53.2 28.9 17.9 0.0

Election results at the 2021 City of Canterbury-Bankstown election
Toggle between primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party, the Greens, Our Local Community, and independent candidates Barbara Coorey and Saud Abu-Samen.

Candidates – Bankstown Ward

  • A – Libertarian
    1. Vanessa Hadchiti
    2. Roy El Kazzi
    3. Kristofer Seremetkoski
  • B – Liberal
    1. Cr George Zakhia
    2. Long Phan
    3. Selina Akhter
  • C – Independent
    1. Mahmoud Hussein
    2. Yasmeen Shadid
    3. Michel Antonios Tawk
  • D – Community Voice
    1. Amer El-Adib
    2. Mohammad Kabir
    3. Yousef Abu-Samen
  • E – Greens
    1. Abrar Ahmad
    2. Nahed Fraitekh
    3. John Ky
  • F – Labor
    1. Cr Bilal El-Hayek
    2. Cr Khal Asfour
    3. Erika Lam

Candidates – Bass Hill Ward

  • A – Labor
    1. Cr Rachelle Harika
    2. Cr Christopher Cahill
    3. Ayman Awad
  • B – Community Voice
    1. Saud Abu-Samen
    2. Allan Winterbottom
    3. Huzaifa Khan
  • C – Libertarian
    1. Elvis Sinosic
    2. John Hadchiti
    3. Wissam Ibrahim
  • D – Independent
    1. Talal Saifo
    2. Nabil Omari
    3. Doha-Donna Elomari

Candidates – Canterbury Ward

  • A – Independent
    1. Christine Barakat
    2. Waroud Dargham
    3. George Daibes
  • B – Unity
    1. Carol Xie
    2. Chuan-Hui Huang
    3. Bei Zhong
  • C – Labor
    1. Cr Clare Raffan
    2. Con Vaitsas
    3. Louis Pan
  • D – Independent
    1. Cr Barbara Coorey
    2. Aliki Xanthakos
    3. Stephen Haran
  • E – Libertarian
    1. Joshua Moore
    2. Julie Morkos Douaihy
  • F – Greens
    1. Conroy Blood
    2. Linda Eisler
    3. Bradley Schott
  • Ungrouped
    • Martin Vella

Candidates – Revesby Ward

  • A – Greens
    1. Natalie Hanna
    2. Kath Jordan
    3. Ned Cutcher
  • B – Community Voice
    1. Alwalid Al-Miziab
    2. Hicham Arabi
    3. Rizwan Arif
  • C – Labor
    1. Cr David Walsh
    2. Gemma Ashton
    3. Oliver Pocock
  • D – Libertarian
    1. Marika Momircevski
    2. George Trousas
    3. Mario Azar
  • E – Liberal
    1. Wendy Lindsay
    2. Jennifer Walther
    3. Richard Noonan
  • F – Democrats
    1. Phillip Pearce
    2. Phan Nguyen
    3. Garry Dalrymple
  • Ungrouped
    • Marlene Marquez-Obeid

Candidates – Roselands Ward

  • A – Our Local Community
    1. Harry Stavrinos
    2. Raymond Moujalli
    3. Maria Difrancesco
  • B – Labor
    1. Cr K Saleh
    2. Sherin Akther
    3. H Saleh
  • C – Community Voice
    1. Solaiman Hossain
    2. Faizun Pally
    3. Sameer Mahmud
  • D – Independent
    1. Ali Shikder
    2. Rachael Pickering
  • E – Animal Justice
    1. Dorlene Abou-Haidar
    2. Louise Ward
    3. Brad Stafford
  • F – Independent
    1. Rana Sharif
    2. Taher Shaikh Mohammed
    3. Elsadig Mohammed
  • G – Greens
    1. Anisha Gautam
    2. Shilpa Rajkumar
    3. Zoe McClure
  • H – Libertarian
    1. Mark Smaling
    2. Carmel Nicholls
    3. Raymond O’Reilly
  • I – Independent
    1. Mohammad Mahbub Rahman
    2. Maria Mostain
    3. Fahmida Khandakur
    4. Rakibul Alam
  • J – Liberal
    1. Mohammad Zaman
    2. Cr Sazeda Akter
  • Ungrouped
    • Imad Kadeh

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136 COMMENTS

  2. Current 1 gr 1 ind 1 alp in Canterbury ward.. all other wards 2 alp 1 lib. The Revesby ward is marginal and one seat could change
    Hands. If if this changed Labor retains a majority as NP suggested

  3. If the Muslim votes are credible. Local council elections are a perfect time to put Labor last. The Islamic community have overwhelmingly and always supported Labor. I suspect nothing will change at all levels of government.

  4. I am a catholic this doesn’t. mean I will vote for a catholic liberal candidate

  5. I don’t think council Labor would cop a huge backlash from the Muslim community. The council raised a Palestinian flag at the council chambers last year. The Labor mayor and previous mayor are Arab.

  7. I’m wondering if the latest political action by every Labor councillor in the last Canterbury Bankstown council meeting, which is a move by council to boycott divest and ban Israeli businesses is a move to stop a potential haemorrhage of Muslim votes? . The move is touted to possibly cost 60 to 100 million dollars which ratepayers will be forced to pay. Will this reinforce the Labor base? … Thoughts ?

  8. I condemn all these council actions against Israel. I support a peaceful two-state solution provided that both countries end up becoming democracies with respect for all human rights and prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, gender, sexual orientation and/or disability. It is unacceptable how Hamas treats women and how they view Christians, Jews, non-religious people, Westerners and LGBT people.

  9. Nether Portal,
    I’ve been an elector in this LGA (and its predecessors) for over 40 years and have never heard of any ‘Hamas’ candidates.
    Please let me know who you believe to be ‘Hamas” candidates.

  10. The recent decision of the Labor councillors to boycott Israeli products services and individuals may have the potential of costly litigation against the council for anti semitism and breaching Australia’s own racial vilification laws. The councillors who voted for it will pass on the cost of court action onto ratepayers

  11. @Watson Watch read the comment again. I didn’t mention there being Hamas candidates in Australia. But by backing the BDS movement the councillors are being silent on Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel and Palestine and are doing nothing to help end the Israel-Palestine war, which is what should be the priority here, not banning and sanctioning businesses and individuals and going off a socialist agenda for the sake of not losing votes to Muslim independents. The Greens are anti-Israel and anti-Taiwan, the only war they’re on the democratic side of is being pro-Ukraine.

  12. Minutes of all Canterbury Bankstown Council meetings are available on the council website.

    From reading the minutes of recent meetings, it is easy to see that CantWard’s alleged vote never happened.

  13. Nether Portal,
    What is the BDS movement, and what has it got to with Canterbury Bankstown Council?

  14. Watson, the BDS movement is basically to boycott and sanction any businesses that do dealings with Israel as a form of ‘retaliation’ against their continued occupation of so called Palestinian territories. I think NP and Cantward are arguing that many Canterbury-Bankstown councillors support this movement, which I feel is wrong because these businesses have technically not broken any laws and their links back to Israel may be very tenuous.

  15. Yoh An,
    Thanks for the explanation.

    There is no evidence that any Canterbury-Bankstown Councillors support that movement.
    Therefore, they are not arguing, they are slandering.

  16. Watson watch The meeting did happen and the BDS was approved by ALL Labor councillors. It was tabled by councillor Cahill and all amendments were rejected. The vote and the meeting are available on the council website. It’s there for all to see with the threats and intimidation of some councillors coming from the public gallery. This will be another expense the residents of Canterbury Bankstown cannot afford with residents council rates trebling

  17. Yoh An,
    Check the council video starting at 9minutes and going 1.05 hours into the council meeting. The facts are council are investigating Israeli businesses, contract and individuals. I also refer you to the daily telegraph Article regarding the move by Labor councillors to sanction Israeli businesses and the history of the previous Marrickville council undertook with their BDS costing the ratepayers millions.

  19. CantWard,
    I have read the minutes of the two most recent Canterbury Bankstown Council meetings, held on 27th June and 23rd July 2024. Your alleged motion is not in the minutes for either of these meetings. Meeting minutes are required to show a true and accurate record of the meeting. Tabloid newspapers are not bound by that requirement.

    Thanks for your posts. I now know that there is at least one person who believes what’s in the Daily Telegraph.

  21. Nether Portal,
    There is no other source.

    The meeting minutes are the official legal record of all motions moved and voted on at that meeting. This is the case for councils, corporations, and associations. There is only set one set of minutes for a meeting.

  24. Nether Portal,
    Business papers are not minutes.
    The minutes of Canterbury Bankstown Council held on 23 July 2024 is a 20 page document.

    The allegations made by part of the BSA movement are false.

  25. Watson, what np sent is a list of agenda items for that meeting, with the bds motion listed as ‘on notice’. So it is true that they intended to discuss the matter and it is just like questions on notice for parliament where ministers have to respond in writing instead of orally.

  26. Yoh an,
    I’ve read though what np sent. The alleged motion isn’t in the list of agenda items for that meeting.

  27. @Watson Watch can you read page 193 and tell me what it says? I’m pretty sure it says BDS motion.

  28. Nether Portal,
    The only motion on page 193, is “that CEO undertakes a REVIEW…”.
    A review does not ban, boycott or divest anything.

    The claim made about Canterbury Bankstown Council is just BS without the D.

  29. Fair point Watson, the exact terms of the motion relate to council conducting investigations into which businesses have potential links to Israel – but NP and Cantward are not wrong to argue that this may be the first step towards actually enacting a plan to boycott businesses with any Israeli links, no matter how weak.

  30. Watson watch: It’s blatantly clear you are a biased Labor supporter. Did you bother to view the Canterbury Bankstown council meeting pointing out that it’s exactly the intention of the Labor councillors to sanction and divest Israeli businesses? That fact is lost to you isn’t it? The fact that it’s supported by Labor shows their attitude is anti Israel and anti semitic and should not be on a council agenda let alone passed with overwhelming Labor bias

  33. Sydney City enacted a ban after an inquiry.Marrickville council also enacted a ban after a vote. The Labor councillors vote are being applauded by all in the BDS movement and are advertising it as such
    It’s become blatantly obvious that Labor do not represent all constituents and their move has divided the electorate to boost their Palestinian supporter voter base

  36. As of 12.00am cut off time the Liberal party had not submitted or lodged for any candidates in the council elections in Canterbury Bankstown. This has also happened to the northern beaches, Camden, Georges River and Shoalhaven.
    I do not know if it’s a glitch in the system by the NSW electoral commission or not.
    Many of the independent’s registered support and will preference the Greens and Labor.

  37. The Liberal party were in trouble even before this nomination debacle. There were expulsions for branch stacking. In 2022, Nine reported that Cr Sazeda Akter was absent from council meetings and in hiding during the federal election campaign.

    The NSWEC knocked back the Liberals’ request for an extension of the deadline.

  40. The Liberals have found themselves in a difficult situation Votante sources say that an unknown candidate had been chosen, and the party waited until the last minute to select Stephanie Tran, a young lawyer, for the Canterbury Ward. It remains unclear what role expelled Liberal Jessie Nguyen played in choosing her replacement, given her ongoing connections with the party and with Tran being relatively unknown and not from the area, the Liberals would have faced challenges in establishing a presence, especially since the party’s brand had suffered from Nguyen’s expulsion and the resulting prolonged absence of representation.

  41. YL_Machinist & Volante: I agree rampant Branch stacking hasdismissed the best and most effective candidates for the liberal party in C/B . It appears the Liberals were playing petty politics with the Liberal moderates overruling and electing a representative from Fairfield who does not has ties in the area. Canterbury ward will be interesting to watch as most the candidates are favouring labor with the exception of the Barbara Coorey and the libetarian candidate who hasnt shown alliance yet. Roselands ward Cr Sazeda Ackter has not been very vocal in any council meetings she has been replaced by her Husband Mohammad Zaman. who has previously been sidelined because of business dealings . it would be interesting to see what happens between now and election day given labor have used their majority and have opposed any council demerger despite overwhelming support from with the community.

  42. Cantward: The Canterbury Ward election is shaping up to be quite interesting. However, I have reservations about Barbara Coorey. Feedback suggests she’s lost favour, partly due to unfulfilled campaign promises like the demerger and multiple instances of being censured. Given that Labor is likely to maintain control, I doubt any independent promises will gain traction on the council. In fact, I foresee Labor consolidating more power, and with preferences, there’s a chance a Green candidate could return in this ward. With no Liberal presence, the competition for 2nd and 3rd place is going to be exciting.
    Roselands could be lost for the Liberals, very hard to win as it seems the Liberals will be under the line grouped, missing the 3rd candidate probably due to Liberal blunder. Winning under these circumstances, especially when relying on under-the-line votes, will be challenging.
    Finally, while Labor’s opposition to the council demerger may be frustrating for some, it is also a reflection of the broader political process where majority decisions are made, even if they don’t align with all community opinions.

  44. According to reports on facebook there has been deliberate vandalism of Corflutes by pro Palestinian supporters citing BDS affiliation in Ashbury against Independent Barbara Coorey. It’s been less than a week.

  45. @CantWard what do you expect though at this point? All this vandalism from pro-Palestinian protesters is getting out of hand. It’s a free country so anyone can have their own personal views and has a right to peacefully protest but vandalism is a crime. Vandalising corflutes is still illegal but certainly not as bad as vandalising someone’s property, or worse, an important site like a war memorial, Parliament House, or a national park amongst other important sites that have been vandalised before.

  46. Nether Portal, I imagine the Corflutes were on private property as none are permitted in public. I don’t know if there were Cameras to identify the vandals.
    Whats astounding is The Labor councilors attitude in pushing for a Boycott of Israel on a council level has certainly added to the Division in the community which was purely only orchestrated to secure the Islamic vote. All Islamic community candidates will still preference Labor despite this.
    IMO The labor party will have a clean sweep in this election for 2 reasons #1 is due to the absolute stupidity of the Liberal party who have committed political suicide by only endorsing left faction Liberals and forgetting the others in 3 wards #2/ Most Candidates running are labor party tie ins preferencing their votes towards Labor who are desperately trying to erode and hemorrhage the independent and community partys votes.
    This has been specifically targeted to the Muslim voters in Bankstown and Roselands wards trying to splinter the party vote before it grows legs on a state and federal level.

  47. The story I believe is that most councillors passed a motion to review its ties with Israel in accordance of BDS. Barbara Coorey is one who opposed it. The Canterbury ward is the least Muslim ward. The Greens may snatch this ward because of the influx of young voters, yuppies, apartment dwellers and renters following the apartment boom and the proximity to the Inner West. The most Muslim part of the ward is on the western edge i.e. Belfield and Campsie, and also happens to be the least Green part. The Greens may see room for growth on the issue of Palestine.

    There’s a Unity Party group. I wonder if it’s the same Unity Party that got a state Legislative Council seat and several elected councillors back in the late 1990s and 2000s.

  48. Volante: The Boycott Sanction and Diversify motion against Jewish people and Israel was passed only by the majority Labor councillors.
    No others in The Liberals and Barbara Coorey Opposed the BDS motion.
    It only passed because of the Labor vote majority.
    It’s all in the recorded video along with the threats and intimidation thrown at those opposing the motion. I hope that the new council enable a live stream of council meetings.
    The Unity Party is a Labor lite movement Erica Lam who is Running 3rd in Bankstown ward was Unitys lead Candidate years ago. Other notable Candidates are Joshua Nam and Strathfield state member Jason Yet San Li.

  49. More anti semitic vandalism directed to Barbara Cooreys corflutes in Earlwood according to Facebook posts.
    There are corflutes of below the line Liberal candidates from Roselands ward being endorsed in Bankstown ward – what gives ?

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