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MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                     Tuesday, 1 May 2012

HON.SHAOQUETT MOSELMANE RESIGNATION FROM ROCKDALE CITY COUNCIL

Labor Duty MLC for Rockdale Shaoquett Moselmane today announced after 16 years as a Rockdale City Councillor he had resigned 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 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.


                                        ADJOURNMENT SPEECH (CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY)
 

Mr President, 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.

Can I also briefly say, Mr President, 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 Rockdale – the city where I live, and the city that I love – a better place for the entire community.

While I will continue to serve my community as a Member of the NSW 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 only been elected Mayor of Rockdale 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 and never shied away from a fight and always sought to explain whatever position I had taken. Some times in the face of jeering and at other times 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 however 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 care taker for 30 years, as I was just as proud to have recognized our council Chaplain Mr. Andrew Harper, and 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 recoginsed the hard work and commitment shown by the staff at St George Migrant Resource Centre, as I did the hundreds of volunteers that we have in our multicultural community: one of whom is Mikall Chong.

I am certainly proud to have worked with the many St George community groups including the 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 want to thank St George Football Association, the Cricket Association, Arncliffe Scotts, The Rowers Club, the St George Leagues, the Basketball Association and the St George District Netball Association and other sporting clubs of our area. I wish to acknowledge the organisers of the PCYC, the various chambers of commerce and the local business community.

I am delighted to have fought for the interest of locals – against the M5 polluting 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 Sutherland Shire Leader newspaper, the ethnic community media, print and radio and all the local community organizations – be it the local religious institutions, local schools, local sporting clubs, the many RSL's and the many mainstream and migrant community organisations.

I would have loved to have been able to name each and every one of them individually but unfortunately time does not permit me to do so.

Mr President, I'm 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.