MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday, 1 May 2012

RETIREMENT FROM ROCKDALE CITY COUNCIL

Labor Duty MLC for Rockdale Shaoquett Moselmane today announced that after 16 years as a Rockdale City Councillor he had retired from Council. "I stood for Local Government 16 years ago as a passionate 30 year-old because I loved, and indeed still do love, Rockdale and its people," Mr Moselmane said. "Over the last 16 years, it has been an honour and a privilege to serve the people of Rockdale as their Councillor and their Mayor." "I thank the people of Rockdale for their faith and support over the past 16 years." "From my humble beginnings, I can honestly say that to this day I have never lost sight of the main reason that I am here to serve the people." "I am proud to have fought for the interest of locals against the M5 polluting stack, fighting against Council rate rises, or for 94 year-old Mrs Joan Coleman and the people of Arncliffe who simply wanted to keep their Commonwealth Bank branch from closing down," he said. "What I will miss about Local Government is the ability to make a difference in people's lives right at their doorstep," he said. "I am resigning from my position at Council to make way for the new Councillors who will be elected at the upcoming Local Government elections as we will soon be in caretaker mode," he said. Mr Moselmane served as a Councillor on Rockdale City Council for 16 years from 1995 to 2012. He served four terms as Mayor - from 2001 to 2002, 2002 to 2003, 2005 to 2006 and again in 2009. Mr Moselmane said that he would continue to serve the people of Rockdale in his capacity as a NSW Upper House MP. "I will continue the fight for Rockdale's residents and will always be their servant as a NSW Upper House MP," he said.

Media Contact:

Shaoquett Moselmane MLC

(02) 9230 2526

ADJOURNMENT SPEECH ROCKDALE CITY COUNCIL

The Hon. SHAOQUETT MOSELMANE [6.36 p.m.]: It is with a heavy heart that today I officially announce my resignation as a Councillor at Rockdale City Council after 16 years of service to the people of the St George region. Yesterday I wrote to the general manager, Ms Meredith Wallace, to formalise my immediate resignation from council. May I also briefly say what a pleasure it has been working with Ms Wallace as Rockdale City Council's first female General Manager. She has certainly done her position justice. Since I was elected in 1995 I have served as mayor on four separate occasions and have dedicated my time to making the city of Rockdalethe city where I live and the city that I lovea better place for the entire community. While I will continue to serve my community as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, and indeed as the Labor duty MLC for the electorate of Rockdale, I wish to take this opportunity to briefly reflect on my time on council. When appointed to this House in December of 2009 I had been elected Mayor of Rockdale only a few months earlier. I resigned that post but wanted to continue to serve as a Councillor and remained on Council. I have lived in Rockdale for the past 36 years. I am proud of what I have done for this beautiful city and for the wellbeing of all its residents, ratepayers, visitors, and tourists. I will miss the challenges and the debates on council. I enjoyed the democratic process, never shied away from a fight and always sought to explain whatever position I had taken, sometimes in the face of jeering and at other times in the face of applauding residents. It is an enormous privilege to serve the community of Rockdale and I look forward to continuing to do so into the future. I am proud that I have had the honour of recognising some members of my community while a member of this House. I am delighted that I was able to recognise staff such as Ms Carey, a caretaker for 30 years, as I was just as proud to have recognised our council chaplain, Mr Andrew Harper, Ms Anne Field, a former Rockdale City Councillor, and Mr. Sam Zorbas for his 33 years with Rockdale State Emergency Service. I am proud that I have recognised the hard work and commitment shown by the staff of the St George Migrant Resource Centre, as I did the hundreds of volunteers that we have in our multicultural community. One is Mikall Chong. I am certainly proud to have worked with the many St George community groupsthe Chinese, Greek, Italian, islander, subcontinent, Arabic, South East Asian and the many migrant groups who enthusiastically went out of their way to serve the community of Rockdale. I am proud of our St George youth and all the mums and dads who dedicate their time to serving the young members of our community. I thank St George Football Association, the Cricket Association, Arncliffe Scots, the Rowers Club, the St George Leagues Club, the Basketball Association, the St George District Netball Association and other sporting clubs of our area. I acknowledge the organisers of the Police Community Youth Club, the various chambers of commerce and the local business community. I am delighted to have fought for the interest of locals against the M5 pollution stack, for the Coptic community to build St Mary and St Minas Cathedral, or for Mrs Joan Coleman and the people of Arncliffe, who simply wanted to keep their Commonwealth bank from closing down. Finally, I thank the local St George and Sutherland Shire Leader newspaper, the ethnic community media, print, radio and all the local community organisations, including local religious institutions, local schools, local sporting clubs, the Returned and Services League clubs and the many mainstream and migrant community organisations. I would love to have been able to name each and every one of them individually but, unfortunately, time does not permit me to do so. I am proud of my record of achievement while on Rockdale City Council. Rockdale has truly become a wonderful city. I will miss the staff and Councillors irrespective of political affiliation. They are all wonderful people. I thank them for their support and thank the people of Rockdale for giving me the opportunity to serve and represent them.