Home 
News & Media Speeches Election of NSW's first Liberal Lord Mayor
News & Media Speeches Election of NSW's first Liberal Lord Mayor | Election of NSW's first Liberal Lord Mayor |
|
On behalf of the Liberal family, may I be the first to congratulate you on your election as
You have set history as the first ever Liberal Lord Mayor in NSW’s history, and we Liberals are very proud of your great achievement. I know that your family is equally if not more proud of this historic moment. Your long suffering wife Susan, your ever patient children Tanya, Steven, Natalie and Pierre, and your grandchildren Xavier, Sofia and Lara, now also assume the role of the city’s first family. Unfortunately, with your election as Lord mayor, my heart goes to the Issa family for the next 12 months.History will also record that you join other great Liberals like the first Aboriginal ever to be elected to our federal parliament, our very own the late Senator Neville Bonner and also the first ever Chinese to be elected into any Australian parliament, the Hon Helen Sham-Ho. Both Australians. Both from ethnic communities, yet standing equal, shoulder to shoulder with other diverse Australian leaders. On that note, I too acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, but I also break with tradition that I acknowledge the successive waves of hardworking migrants who over the last two centuries, and with our Aboriginal forebears, have helped to make this island continent a great and respected nation and our home. It is not a coincidence that we on this side of the chamber bear the highest percentage of ethnic representation ever in this place which should inspire all Australians that it is not where you come from or what colour skin you bear, but one’s ability and one’s resolve to fight for things which we believe in. Lord Mayor, some have said you must not be elected. Others have said you could not be elected. I say thank God you are elected as our Lord Mayor. With your leadership and fatherly skills demonstrated during the election campaign, you are our demonstration of what should be possible. That a person born without a silver spoon, from perhaps the wrong side of the train line, through sheer determination and opportunity, have been able to muster enough majority support to be elevated to where you are today. Congratulations also to Clr Paul Garrard as Deputy Lord Mayor. I thank the Independents for their support and their hard bargain. May I take this opportunity to say how extremely delighted I am to also have new councillors in this chamber, namely Clrs Scott Lloyd, Andrew Bide, Mike McDermott, Glen Elmore, Mark Lack and Prabir Maitra. May I extend my hand in friendship to all of you, regardless of your political allegiances. And I look forward to working with each and every one of you over the next four years. I look forward in being inspired by your great ideas and your talents you bring to this city, to improve this community that we share and lead together. May I also give my sincerest respects to (Labor) Clr Paul Barber, the former Lord Mayor, and his wife Leanne Barber. Despite the partisan politics we play on a small number of occasions, I for one have the utmost respect for you Clr Barber for your tenure as Lord Mayor. You inherited what was a dog’s breakfast, yet you won our respect with your best foot forward and grace under fire. A monumental task lies ahead of us for the next four years. Whether it be finances, jobs, development, housing and living affordability, our environment, capital and social infrastructure, anti-corruption, we must inspire and draw out from each other innovative solutions for our times. I hope that at the end of these four years, we will be proud of what we have achieved.
Write Comment
|
||||||
