Hopefuls running for Cumberland in 2024 local government elections

An ex-mayor anxious about overdevelopment and an aspiring MP are among those contesting the council elections in western Sydney. Read about the returns, debuts and exits ahead of the poll.

Former Holroyd Mayor Mark Pigram at his home in Westmead.

A former mayor frustrated over soaring development is among those hoping to contest a seat in the Cumberland local government elections in September, when Liberals are expected to return to the chamber after a three-year hiatus.

If Liberals are endorsed, independent councillor Joseph Rahme intends to represent the party again for the Granville ward and lead the chamber as the mayor – ahead of a tilt at the state seat of Granville.

“I really think I can elevate Granville and represent it well,’’ he said.

“I think for 42 years I’ve lived and breathed Granville.’’

The state seat of Granville is one of NSW’s safest and is held by Labor incumbent Julia Finn. The last time the Liberals held it was when Tony Issa defeated David Borger in 2011.

Lifelong Granville local Joseph Rahme. Picture: Angelo Velardo

Ms Finn said she believed Cr Rahme genuinely cared about Granville but would not know why the community would vote for the Liberals.

But Cr Rahme’s first priority is retaining his spot on the council.

“Either way I’ll be running and I’ll be gunning for mayor,’’ he said.

“I haven’t been happy with the way the area’s been managed especially more recently.’’

Cr Rahme said the shift has not been local politics and were used by some councillors to “grandstand and virtue signal”.

Fellow independent Michael Zaiter is likely to return as a Liberal candidate.

Other familiar faces to return for the Liberals will be former Cumberland councillor Ned Attie and former Auburn councillor Steve Yang, who is understood to be running for the Regents Park ward.

Two of the shock exits will be the ward’s Labor councillors Kun Huang and OAM recipient Sabrin Farooqui who lost the branch’s preselection in February.

Sabrin Farooqui was not preselected for Labor. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Kun Huang also failed to win preselection. Picture: Damian Shaw

Instead two candidates who live outside the ward will run. Enver Yasar, who lives at Potts Hill in the Bankstown area, will run as No. 1 on the Labor ticket while Rafah Chalabi, who lives just outside the ward in Granville, could also be elected as the party’s No.2.

“I’m a person who’s well connected to the area,’’ she said.

Mr Yasar was a staffer with former NSW Premier Luke Foley and Parramatta federal MP Julie Owens, while Ms Chalabi works with Auburn MP Lynda Voltz and Ms Finn.

Mr Yasar was nominated to run by the Gallipoli Turkish Cultural Foundation at Auburn, where he was the government relations adviser and “still helps them out”.

Mr Yasar, 41, said while his detractors thought that might be a conflict of interest, it was “not consequential”.

Enver Yasar. Picture: Facebook

Rafah Chalabi. Picture: Facebook

Under the NSW Electoral Commission laws, candidates who are not enrolled in the local government area they represent should be nominated by a registered political party or two electors.

If nominated by two electors, the electors must be enrolled in the council area or ward for which the candidate is being nominated.

Mr Yasab, a Turkish migrant, who grew up in Auburn since he was five, defended his shot at representing the Regents Park ward despite living in the Bankstown area.

“I lived pretty much most of my life in the area, in Auburn,’’ he said.

“I ran a community co-operative for years.

“My background is in Cumberland – in the ward I’m running in – which is great.’’

Before moving to the Bankstown area, Mr Yasab, who works for Laing O’Rourke as a communications adviser for the Metro West project, said he lived at Guildford and Auburn.

A disappointed Cr Farooqui said constituents encouraged her to run as an independent but she would remain with Labor Party after losing preselection.

“It is sad and people are upset, and they are contacting me and Kun – they want us to run,’’ she said.

“I don’t want to leave Labor. In the future I hope to be back.’’

After a 12-year hiatus, former Holroyd Mayor Mark Pigram is considering a return to the council as an independent after being dismayed with overdevelopment, particularly in his suburb of Westmead where 6000 extra homes are planned south of the train station.

Mark Pigram when he was the Holroyd Mayor in March 2001.

“It’s across the whole council,’’ he said.

“The way this council is letting development go berserk … it’s not the community it used to be.’’

Mr Pigram served on Holroyd Council between 1991 and 2012, before it merged with Auburn and parts of Parramatta to become Cumberland. He was the mayor from 2000 to 2002.

Also in the Wentworhville ward, Sujan Selven could become the council’s first Greens candidate if successful in September.

Former Holroyd councillor Nadima Kafrouni-Saba is understood to be making a comeback with the Liberals.

Serving councillors returning as candidates are Labor Mayor Lisa Lake and her party cohorts Suman Saha, Ola Hamed, Diane Colman, Mohamad Hussein and Glenn Colman.

Former OLC turned independent Eddy Sarkis and fellow independent Greg Cummings also plan to run again while Paul Garrard, Helen Hughes and Steve Christou are planning to return for the OLC.