It is my greatest honour and privilege to be elected to represent the people of Bankstown as the new Mayor of this great City. I also congratulate Clr Allan Winterbottom on being elected Deputy Mayor.

My election follows Clr Tania Mihailuk's decision to resign and focus on her obligations as the State Member for Bankstown.

I would like to pay tribute to former Mayor Clr Mihailuk on her achievements, strong leadership and dedication to serving the community. I look forward to working with her in my capacity as Mayor to deliver many great initiatives for the benefit of Bankstown.

Since being elected as an East Ward Councillor in 2004 and Deputy Mayor in 2008, I have been involved in and worked hard to deliver important infrastructure improvements, encourage business growth and provide support to our community organisations and service clubs.

Being a life long resident of Greenacre, it is an honour to represent our culturally diverse city.

With a capital works budget of $52.4 million this financial year there is a big job ahead to continue delivering projects for the benefit of ratepayers.

Some of the major initiatives over the coming year include the new Central Library and Knowledge Centre, embarking on modernising our library services at all branches and further roll out of the Town Centre Improvement Program.

As Mayor I intend to continue this work and focus on the community's priorities, delivering value for money services while maintaining Council's strong financial position.

I look forward to continuing to ensure Bankstown remains a city of progress and leading a Council committed to delivering positive outcomes for all of our community.