More than 100 invited guests joined a special night of celebration in Sydney on Friday 26 May to mark the recent election of Bilal El-Hayek as Mayor of the City of Canterbury Bankstown at ANIC headquarters at Chullora.
Born in Lebanon, the father of four is the first Muslim ever to hold the position of mayor of one of the largest Australian Local Government Areas (LGA) with the highest number of Muslim residents.
The gathering was hosted by The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) in conjunction with the Alliance of Australian Muslims (AAM) and those present included high-profile figures from the three levels of government along with religious and other community leaders, elders and local business owners.
The special interview with the new mayor in this edition of AMUST provides readers an insight into the background, achievements and future plans of the man charged with leading Canterbury Bankstown into the future, while the ANIC celebrations gave those present the chance to learn more about Bilal El-Hayek from some of those who really know him best.
From Migrant to Mayor: Bilal El-Hayek’s message to young Australians
And family aside, who better to pay tribute to the son of Lebanese immigrants than his political mentors and heroes including Federal Ministers Tony Burke and Jason Clare, along with Jihad Dib, who earlier this year became the first ever politician to be inducted into the NSW Cabinet holding the Holy Qur’an.
Australia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, ANIC president Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman (the driving force behind the highly successful and enjoyable night which was literally put together within a fortnight) and successful barrister and ANIC spokesman Bilal Rauf also spoke about El-Hayek passionately.
The overwhelming consensus from all of the speakers was that Canterbury Bankstown, with a population of some 380,000 residents (roughly a third of them Muslims) could not have a better man than El-Hayek to assume the role as mayor of Australia’s third most populous LGA.
He replaces former Mayor Khal Asfour, who remains on Council and also received high praise from the guest speakers as did other well known, veteran Council members Khodr Saleh and Linda Downey.
Sheikh Shadi was full of praise for Bilal El-Hayek, describing him not only as a proud Muslim but “a proud member of the Canterbury Bankstown family, who serves everyone.”
Mayor Bilal El-Hayek with Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman.
“I have never seen an area where all of the MPs, both federal and state, and the councillors (and I include general manager Matt Stewart who is the engine behind the Council) work so well together and tonight is a reflection of that.”
“I applaud the election of Bilal El-Hayek as mayor and the ongoing process that is the growth and prosperity of this Council.”
The new Mayor often refers to Federal Employment Minister and Leader of the House of Representatives Tony Burke as his mentor and it was an emotional Mr Burke who took to the microphone and addressed his protege: “we are so tremendously proud of you because what we as MPs hope for the whole community, we are seeing in you.”
“And if we can see it, there are young people in our local community and ultimately throughout Australia who will also see it.”
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