Eli Melky’s life has been a whirlwind

Councillor Eli Melky’s story isn’t one that is well known, but it ought to be.

Eli Melky with his wife Gianna, sons James and Lee, and daughter Gabriella. Picture: EMMA MURRAY

Eli was born on June 30 1966, in a small village in Lebanon called Betteram el-Koura.

Eli’s Mum Nada and Dad Ibrahim also had two daughters, Iman and Raja.

“It was a wonderful childhood. Before the war, I never felt unsafe. And there was this real feeling of belonging that I had there. It was fantastic,” he recalls.

That idyllic and peaceful childhood would end just after Eli’s 10 birthday.

“Civil war had broken out, and in July 1976 the war arrived on our doorstep,” Eli said.

“The enemy launched a very destructive attack, and took our town.

“The children next door were executed in front of their parents.”

Eli’s father Ibrahim was a senior military figure, and he and a brave band of fighters fought valiantly to try save their town.

Meanwhile, Eli’s Mum Nada with the quickest desperation imaginable gathered as many children as she could fit in to the back of a van, and drove for their lives.

“Mum was driving, we were under fire, we took all the back roads,” he recalls.

“We were passing vehicles that were destroyed by cannon fire.”

Eli’s road to salvation would take him and his family through Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and the Philippines, before finally arriving in Sydney.

Eli Melky has come a long way from war-torn Lebanon. Picture: EMMA MURRAY

“I didn’t see Dad for a number of weeks, and didn’t know whether he was dead or alive.

“You saw the real savageness of war.

“There were some serious visual effects that will remain with you for a long time.”

Prior to the Civil War, Eli had felt a deep sense of belonging and peace in his old home.

His new home, in Adelaide, would not be so accommodating.

He was picked on every day after school.

“I didn’t know a word of English. That was a good thing- I couldn’t understand the abuse,” Eli says now with a laugh.

“Every day you had to fight someone. Someone wanted to fight you.

“I felt like a total foreigner. We just had to try and exist in Australia.” Eli’s parents consoled him that soon it would be all over and they would return home.

The Melky family didn’t return to Lebanon for five years.

When they did, their house was gone. War had stolen their life in Lebanon.

So, they came back to Australia. But Eli would no longer be brutalised by the bullies.

“Mum and Dad owned a Deli right across the road from school,” he said.

“I’d work there, and it was my job to fill the fridge.

“I’d have to lift and stack these crates.

“I’d actually lift and stack them all twice. I did the job twice so that it would make me stronger.”

With this new-found strength, Eli fought back one day when he was attacked by two other boys.

The tables turned. And he was never attacked again.

“The two who hurt me the most, after that, we became best of mates.

“That’s apparently how it works!”

Not only did he stack the crates twice, he also completed Year 12 twice- just so he could have another crack at winning the Athlete of the Year Award.

“Running was my big thing. I wanted to win Athlete of the Year. I didn’t get anywhere the first year. So I went back,” he said.

Eli was vying with his great mate Ian Gould for the Award.

The 800m final would decide it.

Always an exceptional athlete, Eli’s sportsmanship has also been first class.

Eli had badly injured his foot in the Long Jump.

Ian Gould fell over at the beginning of the 800.

Eli stopped to help his mate get up.

They both ran on, and tied for first place.

Eli won Athlete of the Year for the sportsmanship he had shown.

“Having tried so hard to win, I ended up getting it for sportsmanship- that was a lesson there!”

Meantime Eli’s family had bought the Pinelodge Cafe in Hindley Street.

“One day I was having a blue with Mum in the cafe.

“She wanted me to marry someone of my own nationality.

“I said, ‘I’ll marry whoever I want!’

“A girl walked in, and I pointed and said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl!’”

That girl was Gianna Dussin from Alice Springs.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen!”

Gianna worked next door at the NT Tourism office.

The two became friends and began to spend more and more time together, before Gianna got a job opportunity in Darwin.

Eli Melky and his wife Gianna. Picture: EMMA MURRAY

A week after she left, Eli was at work at his second job selling cars, and was clearly down in the dumps.

His boss said to him, “You’re in love!”

“He said, ‘hop on a bus and go see her’.

“I went to surprise her. I knocked on her hotel door with an engagement ring!

“She said yes!”

On October 13 this year it will be Eli and Gianna’s 30th Wedding Anniversary.

“I am eternally grateful to be spending my life with Gianna. Even though we have been together for 30 years, every day feels like a fresh day, it feels exciting,” Eli said.

The Melky’s have three children, Lee 26, James, 23, and Gabriella, 6.

“Lee is a visionary. He’ll achieve a great deal with whatever he does in life,” Eli said.

“He is very compassionate and he’s a team person.

“James has all athletic talent in the world, and he has a great brain.

“He is very, very capable in business and in life.

Gabriella is 6 years old and when she came along, it “rejuvenated us as people.”

Eli says, “‘Little Miss Princess’ is the life of the party, boss of the household and the boss of her two older brothers, who absolutely adore her.

“I think she’ll be the one who ends up running the family business, while the boys’ will have their own businesses.”

Eli Melky is a staple of Alice Springs. Photo: EMMA MURRAY

Business is a key tenet of Eli’s life.

After working his parents’ family businesses, he and Gianna took on their own.

They had cafes and a limousine service, they ran party buses and winery tours, and had a security company.

Then in 2000, Eli became a finance broker.

“I haven’t looked back since then. We moved to Alice in 2001, and we saw the natural fit with broking and real estate.”

Golden Home Real Estate was born and has now grown in to RealEstateCo.

Eli has run since he was 5.

Out of 20,000 competitors, he finished 9th in the Adelaide City to Bay Run.

At his peak, he was running 10kms in 31 minutes, and has also won the Masters Mile.

Eli has been an athletics coach and also coached basketball teams from Alice, and taken them interstate to play.

In 2011 he started on the radio, and has become a successful broadcaster, now hosting One-on-One on 8HA.

Also in 2011, after someone defecated on his car, he decided to run for local council.

Eli has been on council ever since.

“I’d like to think I’ve contributed to the town that’s given me so much, but I’ve still got a lot more to do,” Eli said with steely determination.

If one thing is for certain, Eli Melky isn’t afraid of hard work.