Parramatta’s ‘Westie wannabe’ Andrew Charlton struggles to name three local restaurants

Labor’s eastern suburbs drop-in candidate for Parramatta Andrew Charlton was unable to name three local restaurants when put on the spot by a reporter. Watch the video.

Labor’s eastern suburbs drop-in candidate for Parramatta Andrew Charlton was unable to name three of the area’s restaurants when put on the spot by a local reporter.

And he’s also made a meal of his glossy brochure pitch to voters, ­incorrectly spelling a historic local suburb and wrongly declaring that the name Parramatta was Aboriginal for “meeting place”.

The two serious campaign gaffes have even led NSW Transport Minister and Western Sydney-based state MP David Elliott to say, “this bloke is so confused if he was in charge of the submarine contracts he’d order fly screens”.

In the interview, posted recently to YouTube, Mr Charlton is seen struggling to name his three favourite eateries when asked by IndianLink News host Pawan Luthra.

“We thought we would grab Mr Charlton for some quick and easy questions we are sure he’s got all the answers to,” Mr Luthra said in the video, introducing Labor’s ­candidate.

A video image of Andrew Charlton scrambling to name three Parramatta restaurants he likes. Picture: YouTube

“Parramatta has a buzzing night-life with a long list of wonderful ­places to eat. Your three favourite restaurants?”

“Hoo … well, the first one would have to be Chatkazz, just around the corner, which is fantastic and I have been to a few times,” Mr Charlton ­replied, referring to a popular local chain of Indian street food eateries recently named “one of the best ­Indian restaurants in Sydney” by this newspaper.

Mr Charlton’s first pick was popular Indian street food eatery Chatkazz.

“Another one is the Container Café, which is just around the corner from my home, I just moved to North Parramatta, which is fantastic,” he said, naming a local diner whose website describes it as “a family friendly outdoor cafe providing quality food and beverages to the North Parramatta community” and which was paid a visit by Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week.

“And the third one … oof … geez, there are a lot of good ones,” an ­increasingly nervous Charlton said, appearing to play for time.

“Um, I would, I would have to say, um, I went to an iftar (fast-breaking Ramadan meal) with the Parramatta Mosque, the food there was ­fantastic.

“I’ll have to come back to you on the name.”

Mr Charlton’s second pick from The Container Cafe in North Parramatta, near the new home he just moved to. Picture: Facebook

Asked by Mr Luthra about his favourite dish, Mr Charlton revealed that he was once a vegetarian and said he still likes a “vegetable ­biryani”.

News of the interview came as Mr Charlton, a former Accenture managing director who recently left his $19m Bellevue Hill mansion to campaign for the seat, copped more flak for an error-laded campaign document pitching himself to locals.

His third pick was food eaten at Parramatta Mosque.

Andrew Charlton brochure A Better Future for Parramatta, which explains that Parramatta means “meeting place”.

In one part of the brochure, entitled A Better Future for Parramatta, Mr Charlton’s campaign refers to “Rose Hill”, a suburb whose name was changed to the one word “Rosehill” sometime in the 19th century.

In the document’s introductory letter, appearing over Mr Charlton’s signature, it is stated that “Our First Australians named this land Parramatta, meaning ‘meeting place’.”

Some of Chatkazz’s delicious offerings.

However, according to the City of Parramatta’s own website, the name comes from “the Aboriginal word for ‘place where the eels lie down’.”

Mr Elliott suggested that Mr Charlton must think he has already won the seat because “Parramatta is where eels lie, it has nothing to do with meeting places — that’s what the name Canberra means”.

“Rosehill became one word in the late 19th century so he’s only 140 years behind, and Parramatta is more densely packed with hospital­ity venues than just about any place else, so not being able to name three will be seen as near-criminal in the eyes of the local community,” Mr ­Elliott said.