Councillor Bilal El-Hayek has been re-elected as Mayor of the City of Canterbury Bankstown during the first Ordinary Meeting of Council last night.
Mayor El-Hayek was elected unopposed by the new Councillors before a packed gallery of family, friends and supporters.
He will serve alongside Councillor Karl Saleh OAM, who was elected Deputy Mayor.
“I am honoured and humbled to be re-elected to represent one of the largest Councils in Australia,” Mayor El-Hayek said.
“I intend to continue to build on the great work this Council has achieved, and I want people to be proud to live in our City.
“The next four years will be the most significant in our City’s history, with major growth and investment expected.
“We will continue to deliver our essential day to day services and maintain and invest in our parks, roads, libraries and community facilities while at the same time ensuring fiscal responsibility.”
Mayor El-Hayek was first elected to the merged Canterbury-Bankstown Council in 2017 and served twice as deputy Mayor before being elected as Mayor in May 2023.
Deputy Mayor, Karl Saleh OAM has served as a Councillor since being elected in 2004. He previously served as Deputy Mayor on the former Canterbury Council for three terms.
Mayor El-Hayek congratulated the newly elected Councillors and imparted some words of advice.
“We must lead by example and respect each other’s views, even though we may not always agree with them. Constructive debate is healthy, disruptive behaviour is not acceptable and will be called out!”
The makeup of the new Council consists of eight Labor, three Liberals, one Community Voice of Australia, one Greens, one Our Local Community and one Independent. Nine of the councillors have been re-elected, while the remaining six are starting their first terms.
Canterbury-Bankstown’s newly elected Councillors are:
Bankstown (Darani)
- Cr Bilal El-Hayek
- Cr Khal Asfour
- Cr George Zakhia
Bass Hill (Burra)
- Cr Saud Abu-Samen
- Cr Chris Cahill
- Cr Rachelle Harika
Canterbury (Budjar)
- Cr Conroy Blood
- Cr Barbara Coorey
- Cr Clare Raffan
Revesby (Bunya)
- Cr Wendy Lindsay
- Cr David Walsh
- Cr Jennifer Walther
Roselands (Bunmarra)
- Cr Karl Saleh OAM
- Cr Sherin Akther
- Cr Harry Stavrinos.
