Khal Asfour: Canterbury-Bankstown mayor fires back at critics, calls on ICAC to investigate

A mayor facing accusations of improper planning processes from two NSW MPs made in parliament has challenged them to step out of “coward’s castle” during a fiery council meeting.

Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour has demanded his critics step out of the “coward’s castle” of parliament and repeat allegations against him, and council processes, in a fiery meeting which saw his biggest critic ejected.

In his mayoral minute, Mayor Asfour called the allegations levelled by Labor MP Tania Mihailuk as a “sad and sorry saga” which had taken place across the past 10 years, and said Liberal MP Wendy Lindsay had jumped on “the dirt throwing bandwagon”.

Ms Lindsay told NSW Parliament she had “longstanding concerns”, highlighting a 2016 council meeting where she alleged an “open conversation between councillors and developers” led to “many changes” to planning controls around Padstow.

The allegations came a day after Ms Mihailuk raised concerns in parliament about the mayor’s relationship with disgraced powerbroker Eddie Obeid and planning processes in Bankstown.

“(Ms Mihailuk’s) claims have been made before and investigated and found to be baseless,” the Canterbury-Bankstown mayor said.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour (centre) faces allegations from Wendy Lindsay MP (left) and Tania Mihailuk MP (right).

Mr Asfour called on NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to demand Ms Lindsay produce any evidence of wrongdoing or be stripped as chair of the Community Services Committee and be forced to publicly apologise to councillors, staff and himself.

Labor leader Chris Minns dropped Ms Mihailuk from Labor’s shadow cabinet, after first warning her to provide evidence against Mayor Asfour, or stop making allegations.

Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Barbara Coorey.

The mayor said he was guarded in his statements, as he is not afforded the same protection of parliamentary privilege, and did not intend to get down in the gutter but address smears of rumour and innuendo.

“My challenge to those hurling the allegations is: stand up. Face the people of this city. Call a news conference,” Mr Asfour said.

“Make your claims outside of the parliament, or coward’s castle as it is known. Come forward and produce any information of wrongdoing you claim you have.”

He said he could not turn the other cheek on the allegations after reading headlines calling for him to step down.

Independent Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Barbara Coorey, who made the calls, quickly interjected to say, “Name the councillor. ‘One of you’ is not respectful. It was I, councillor Coorey. I called for you to step down”.

Ms Coorey was given a warning by the mayor for interrupting him, one of three she would receive before being expelled from council chambers during the meeting.

The mayor said he had written to the ICAC Chief Commissioner John Hatzistergos asking him to examine the latest claims.

Meanwhile, clashes about the scope, powers, and funding of a council-led investigation into the claims continued throughout the meeting, with Ms Coorey making her displeasure known several times before she was asked to leave the chambers.

Speaking to the Canterbury-Bankstown Express on Friday, Ms Coorey said it was a sad day in the council’s history.

“It’s total bullying tactics to shut me down from seeking information I’m entitled to seek on behalf of my constituents,” she said.

“It’s a sad, shameful day in the history of this new council”.

The council’s CEO and general manager also addressed the meeting, clarifying the council’s investigation would focus on whether the code of conduct had been breached by councillors or staff, and it would not be investigating Ms Mihailuk or Ms Lindsay, themselves.

NSW ICAC was contacted to ask if it would be looking into the claims, with a spokeswoman responding, “The Commission cannot confirm or deny if it has received information, or whether or not it is or plans to undertake investigations”.