Canterbury-Bankstown council election, 2021

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 378,000 as of 2019, which makes Canterbury-Bankstown the most populous council in NSW, and the fourth-most populous council in Australia.

• Wards
• Redistribution
• Incumbent councillors
• History
• Candidate summary
• Assessment
• 2017 results
• Vote breakdown by ward
• Results maps

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

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

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

Roselands 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
One small change was made, effecting just two wards.

There were no changes to Bass Hill, Canterbury or Revesby wards.

Parts of Punchbowl south of Canterbury Road and Punchbowl Road have been transferred from Bankstown Ward to Roselands Ward.

This aligns the ward boundary perfectly with the former council boundary, such that two wards lie entirely within the former Canterbury council area, and the other three lie entirely within the former Bankstown area.

Incumbent councillors

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 has served as mayor since the 2017 election, after having previously served as Mayor of Bankstown from 2015 until the council’s abolition in 2016.

Candidate summary
Both Labor and Liberal are running full ticket. Five out of nine Labor councillors are running for re-election. Two out of five Liberal councillors are running for re-election.

The sole Green Linda Eisler is retiring, but the Greens are running in her Canterbury ward.

Former Bankstown councillor Allan Winterbottom is running for the Our Local Community party.

There are five independent groups running, one in each ward.

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

Assessment
Labor would need to lose two seats to fall short of a majority. They could easily lose their second seat in Revesby ward, where they polled just 38.6%. It is quite possible to see the Liberal Party winning a second seat here if they do well.

It’s hard to see Labor losing another seat, with their second seats reasonably secure in Bankstown, Bass Hill and Roselands with a primary vote of about 55%. But there was no strong independent presence in Bankstown and Roselands wards, so if one was to appear it could chip away at both major parties.

2017 results

Vote breakdown by ward
The following two tables show the vote in each ward before and after the recent redistribution.

Labor polled about 55% in three wards, easily winning two seats in each ward. Their vote was lower in the other two, with 37% in the Canterbury ward and 38.6% in Revesby.

The Liberal vote was lowest at 23% in Canterbury and highest at 37.6% in Bankstown.

Independent party Our Local Community, headed by two former independent Bankstown councillors, ran in three wards. They polled 17% in Bass Hill and 20% in Canterbury but did not win a seat.

The Greens ran in three wards, with a vote ranging from 9% in Revesby to 19.5% in Canterbury. This was enough to win a seat in Canterbury.

The redistribution had a small impact on Bankstown and Roselands, slightly increasing the Labor vote and lowering the Liberal vote in Bankstown, and vice versa in Roselands.

Pre-redistribution vote numbers

Post-redistribution vote numbers

Election results at the 2017 City of Canterbury-Bankstown election
Toggle between primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party, Our Local Community and the Greens.

Candidates – Bankstown

• A – Independent
  1. Pierre Gaeagea
  2. Fouad Noujaim
  3. Grace Karajian
• B – Liberal
  1. Cr George Zakhia
  2. Thu Tran
  3. Anm Masum
• C – Labor
  1. Cr Khal Asfour
  2. Cr Bilal El-Hayek
  3. Erika Lam

Candidates – Bass Hill

• A – Independent
  1. Saud Abu-Samen
  2. Issam Hindi
  3. Nguyen Leemen
• B – Liberal
  1. Cr Charlie Ishac
  2. Nicholas Gad
  3. Fahmina Hoq
• C – Labor
  1. Cr Rachelle Harika
  2. Christopher Cahill
  3. Yusra Metwally

Candidates – Canterbury

• A – Independent
  1. Barbara Coorey
  2. Nicholas Hatzis
  3. Jan Maher
• B – Labor
  1. Cr Clare Raffan
  2. Ray Mason
  3. Tina Flaskas
• C – Greens
  1. Marie Healy
  2. Lyn Bearlin
  3. Lyn Ryan
• D – Liberal
  1. Jessie Nguyen
  2. Jeff Tan
  3. Brendan Chow
• Ungrouped
  • Linda Harris (Independent)

Candidates – Revesby

• A – Our Local Community
  1. Allan Winterbottom
  2. Zac Lupeski
  3. Jacqueline Winters
• B – Labor
  1. David Walsh
  2. Cr Linda Downey
  3. Gemma Ashton
• C – Independent
  1. Scott Parker
  2. Jan Parker
  3. Nicholas Campbell
• D – Liberal
  1. Charbel Abouraad
  2. Andrew Mortimer
  3. Mary-Therese Sukkar

Candidates – Roselands

• A – Independent
  1. Mahbubur Rahman
  2. Mohammed Abu Sofian
  3. Faizun Pally
• B – Liberal
  1. Sazeda Akter
  2. Joseph Tannous
  3. Anthony McKinley
• C – Labor
  1. K Saleh
  2. Bhadra Waiba
  3. Md Kabir
• D – Animal Justice
  1. Dorlene Abou-Haidar
  2. Louise Ward
  3. Shan Sun

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