Khal Asfour: Canterbury-Bankstown mayor to step down after 12 years, slams ‘witch-hunt’

High-profile Sydney mayor Khal Asfour, who sensationally withdrew from Labor’s NSW Upper House ticket, will step down from his position after more than a decade in the role.

Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour will step down from the role after 12 years. Picture: Tim Hunter.

High-profile mayor Khal Asfour, who sensationally withdrew from Labor’s NSW Upper House ticket before March’s state election, will step down from the mayoralty after more than a decade in the role.

Mr Asfour, first elected to the now-merged Canterbury-Bankstown Council in 2004, exclusively revealed to The Daily Telegraph after 12 years as mayor – in three stints across the pre-merged and de-merged councils – he will call it quits.

A Labor council caucus will be held on Tuesday to pick the new mayor, but Mr Asfour will remain as a councillor.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to relinquish the role, I really love this city,” he said.

“I’ve been mayor for over a decade, athletes know when it’s time to hang up the boots – it’s the right time.”

Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour (left) said it was a hard but correct decision to stand down. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Mr Asfour was on Labor’s state election Upper House ticket before a parliamentary probe was launched into council during his time as mayor after former Bankstown MP Tania Mihailuk raised corruption allegations against him under parliamentary privilege.

He previously described the NSW parliamentary inquiry into him as a “witch-hunt” and cited a “smear campaign” as the final straw that led to his withdrawal in January.

“It was a personal vendetta against me, an attack on my character with all sorts of allegations that were thrown around publicly, which had an impact on myself and my family,” Mr Asfour said.

The Daily Telegraph revealed in January Mr Asfour charged ratepayers for a health spa treatment and alcohol on overseas trips and claimed thousands of dollars for luxury clothes.

Mr Asfour labelled the last six month as a “witch-hunt”, describing it as a challenging time for him and his family.

The parliamentary inquiry’s report said it was “troubled” by various expense claims and the costs of his Masters of Business Administration degree, which were “not in line with community expectations”.

However, a Canterbury-Bankstown spokesman said the claims were all within the rules and approved under council’s policies, and its own investigation cleared Mr Asfour of any wrongdoing in relation to Ms Mihailuk’s parliamentary claims. Mr Asfour has continuously denied any wrongdoing and called the inquiry a “public lynching”.

Mr Asfour said the last six months had been a “really challenging time” although it hadn’t factored into his decision to step down.

“I always aimed to serve (as mayor) for 10 years, but for reasons like Covid I ended up serving 12,” he said.

“Even if that witch-hunt hadn’t occurred and I was elected to parliament, I had always planned to step down.

Pictured here in 2011 when deputy mayor of Bankstown council, Khal Asfour (left) served in positions both in the pre- and post-merger councils.

“I’ve been mulling over this for a while, it was not a snap decision – but I feel really good about it.”

Mr Asfour said he would be “pursuing other business interests”, which wouldn’t have been possible if he remained as mayor.

“All good things come to an end and I just feel it’s right to call it a day,” he said.

Two of Mr Asfour’s 12 years as mayor came during the Covid pandemic, which brought onerous restrictions on Canterbury-Bankstown residents with multiple lockdowns.

“Local government is so important and even with the challenges of our merger, Covid and how the Liberal state government treated residents, our strength as a community shone through,” he said.

“I’m really proud to have led through that time.”

Mr Asfour said he’ll remain “passionate about our community” and he would work to “see Canterbury-Bankstown prosper”.

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