Frank Carbone’s tangled political past revealed

He stood up to the government on Covid rules and ISIS brides, and backed a major federal election upset win— here is an inside look into Frank Carbone, NSW’s would-be election kingmaker.

Frank Carbone’s standing as a would-be kingmaker started when he was first banished from the Labor Party after running as an independent mayor for local council.

Labor sources still say that was a mistake as it’s allowed him to grow in prominence to the point he now has been able to rock the NSW election campaign just by threatening to run.

The local mayor has grabbed a series of national headlines in recent years, beginning with his fiery claims the people of western Sydney were being unfairly targeted by Covid-19 lockdown measures stricter than what was in the east.

He again made national news last year for railing against the federal government’s plans to resettle ISIS brides in the area, while he also secured one of last year’s federal election bombshells by successfully backing his fellow Fairfield Councillor and Independent Dai Le to an upset win against Kristina Keneally in the southwest Sydney Labor stronghold of Fowler.

The Fairfield mayor was a vocal critic of a federal government plan last year to rehome ISIS brides including four women and 13 children from a Syrian camp into western Sydney, saying the region was not a “dumping ground for the government”.

Mayor of Fairfield Frank Carbone (right) clashed with The Project’s Waleed Aly over the repatriation of ISIS brides. Picture: The Project

Mr Carbone was first elected to Fairfield Council as a Labor Councillor in 2008 and four years later received more than 70 per cent of votes to become the popularly-elected mayor.

In 2016 he was dumped as Labor’s candidate for the mayoralty in a factional battle, with local MPs claiming he had property interests which conflicted with his role as mayor – allegations he was later cleared of.

Mr Carbone instead went on to contest the role as an independent – resulting in his expulsion from Labor – but he went on to narrowly win victory against his former party and reclaim the mayoralty.

His continued success at local level included him teaming up with former Liberal-turned Independent Dai Le, with the two battering Labor in the 2021 local election.

Mr Carbone won a staggering 73.5 per cent of the popular vote to remain mayor, while he and Ms Le’s independents won 10 of the council’s 13 seats.

Mr Carbone had a simple reason behind his popularity in his local area.

Frank Carbone and former deputy turned MP Dai Le, who won against Kristina Keneally after Labor parachuted her into the federal seat.

“I think people have trust (in me), when you say you’re going to deliver something for them and you do it,” he said.

“If you respect the community and fight for them, they’ll always have your back.”

“I wasn’t going to leave my community for a pay rise and a new title.”

His political ally Ms Le said the mayor wasn’t “afraid to speak out on the issues without fear or favour”.

“He’s served the community as mayor for more than 10 years, working tirelessly to earn the trust of the people in our area, which is why he is loved and respected,” she said.