# City of Canterbury (New South Wales)

The City of Canterbury was a local government area in the Inner South-West region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The council area was within the northern part of the Parish of St George above Wolli Creek and The M5 but below The Cooks River. The city was primarily residential and light industrial in character, and was home to over 130 nationalities. With a majority of its residents being born overseas, the council marketed itself as the "City of Cultural Diversity." First incorporated as the Municipality of Canterbury in 1879, the council became known as the City of Canterbury in 1993.
The last Mayor of the City of Canterbury Council was Cr. Brian Robson, a member of the Labor Party, until 12 May 2016 when the City was amalgamated with the City of Bankstown, forming the City of Canterbury-Bankstown.

## Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs in the former City of Canterbury were:

### Notes

* 1 2 with a minor portion within the Municipality of Ashfield
* ↑ with parts within the Municipality of Strathfield
* 1 2 3 with parts within the City of Hurstville
* ↑ with parts within Burwood Council and the Municipality of Ashfield
* ↑ with parts within the City of Hurstville & City of Rockdale
* ↑ with parts within the City of Bankstown

## History

Indigenous Australians lived in this area for thousands of years. In 1770, the land along the Cooks River was explored by officers from HM Bark Endeavour. In 1793, the area's first land grant was made to the chaplain of the First Fleet, the Reverend Richard Johnson, and given the name Canterbury Vale.
Residential development began picking up in the area during the 1880s and the was extended to Canterbury in 1895, encouraging further suburban development which led to the area becoming heavily populated. A leading developer at this time was Frederick Gibbes, a Member of Parliament for the seat of Newtown.
After much petitioning of the State Government by local residents, the Municipality of Canterbury was proclaimed on 17 March 1879. The council first met in the home of the first mayor, Alderman John Sproule and premised were then leased in the St Paul's Church schoolroom at 47-49 Canterbury Road, Canterbury. The Canterbury Town Hall, located on Canterbury Road between Canton and Howard Streets, was opened in 1889 by the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Henry Parkes. However, over time, Campsie became a more important centre, particularly along Beamish Street and Canterbury Council planned a gradual move of civic services there when funds became available. In 1954 a Baby Health Centre by Davey & Brindley opened on Beamish Street, followed by a library next door by Davey, Brindley & Vickery in 1958 at a cost of £30,000, and the municipal administration finally moved in 1963. At the time of its opening by the mayor R. J. Schofield on 26 September 1958, the Campsie Library was reputed to be the largest municipal library in Sydney. The Canterbury Municipal Administration Building designed by architects Whitehead & Payne, built by Rex Building Company Pty Ltd, and completed at a cost of £163,000 was opened adjacent to the Library and Baby Health Centre by the mayor, James S. Scott, on 21 September 1963. The City of Canterbury was proclaimed on 16 November 1993 by the Governor of New South Wales, Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair.

### Amalgamation

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Canterbury merge with the City of Bankstown to form a new council with an area of 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 351,000. Following an independent review, on 12 May 2016 the Minister for Local Government announced that the merger with the City of Bankstown would proceed with immediate effect, creating a new council with an area of 72 square kilometres (28 sq mi).

### Council dysfunction and ICAC Operation Dasha

On 26 March 2018, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) commenced investigations and a public inquiry (known as Operation Dasha) into allegations concerning actions of the former Canterbury City Council between 2013 and 2016, "where public officials including councillors Michael Hawatt and Pierre Azzi, the former general manager, Jim Montague, and the former Director City Planning, Spiro Stavis, dishonestly and/or partially exercised their official functions in relation to planning proposals and/or applications under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 concerning properties in the Canterbury City Council local area."
Among the decisions Stavis presided over were the variations of Council's controls approved by Council and justified under Section 4.6 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, particularly along the Canterbury Road Corridor. With the appointment of Administrator Richard Colley as head of the new City of Canterbury-Bankstown on 12 May 2016, Colley ordered a halt to development proposals along the corridor until a comprehensive review was completed, noting "One of the first things that I came across following the amalgamation was what I saw as the ad hoc development on Canterbury Road, most of it non-compliant with the former Canterbury Council's residential development strategy, particularly in terms of height and bulk and size, and the effect on Canterbury Road itself". Former mayor Brian Robson admitted that the last 2012-2016 Council term "started getting messy with certain councillors trying to push the barrow of individual developers ... after that we started getting messy with individual spot rezonings."
The review report presented to Council in July 2017 declared that as a result of previous actions taken by the former Council, the Canterbury Road Corridor "is a noisy, polluted and harsh environment, generally unsuitable in its current state for housing" and presented 14 recommendations including: Appropriate zoning, urban design and built-form controls along the corridor; Measures to address environmental issues, such as noise and pollution; Traffic, transport and car parking issues; Providing good access to parks, community facilities, public transport and shops; and completing a new city-wide Local Environmental Plan (LEP) by 2020, to guide all development. All the recommendations were subsequently adopted by Council, with the Canterbury Bankstown Mayor, Khal Asfour, noting on Council's rejection of one planning proposal in the corridor: "This kind of development won’t be approved on my watch, this proposal involved rezoning land reserved for employment to build an eight-storey residential complex, which would have been an inappropriate development for that location. We remain committed to our City and its residents. We will consult them and protect them from overdevelopment, and make no apology for that."
ICAC also undertook investigations into the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Stavis as Director City Planning, and whether he had been appointed through a dishonest and politically-motivated process influenced by Councillors Hawatt and Azzi. The public inquiry heard evidence that the previous Director had resigned following sustained pressure by Hawatt and Azzi over decisions on certain development applications, and they had pressured Montague in accepting Stavis as the acceptable candidate as Director, when he was not the most qualified for the position compared to other candidates, to the point of "blackmail and threats". This included an aborted attempt by Hawatt and Azzi to dismiss Montague from his position as General Manager in a Council Meeting in January 2015, amidst allegations that "Montague had spent more than $42,000 of council funds on lunches over the past five years and that he had mishandled the recent employment of the council's new director of city planning."
In July 2018, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire, was drawn into the inquiry regarding possible corruption through his association with former Liberal councillor Hawatt. It was alleged that Maguire had acted on behalf of a "mega big" Chinese client, asking for help in buying into development-approved projects, in return for a commission from the developer for both himself and Hawatt. As a consequence, Maguire resigned from the Liberal Party, and from his roles Parliamentary Secretary for the Centenary of ANZAC, Counter Terrorism, Corrections and Veterans. After initially refusing to resign from Parliament, Maguire resigned from parliament on 3 August 2018.
The ICAC investigations for 'Operation Dasha' are ongoing. In March 2017 Administrator Richard Colley adopted a new Code of Conduct for Canterbury Bankstown noting: "Honesty, fairness and transparency are the values underpinning our new council’s code of conduct policies, ensuring residents can be confident the decisions we make are in their best interest". The Code of Conduct was the first in the state to be approved by ICAC.

## Council
### Final composition and election method

Canterbury City Council was composed of ten Councillors, including the Mayor, elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor was directly elected since 1976 while the nine other Councillors were elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing three Councillors. The final election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council, prior to its abolition, was as follows:
The last Council, elected in 2012 until its abolition in 2016, in order of election by ward, was:
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes |
| Mayor | Brian Robson | Labor | Mayor 2011–2016. West Ward Councillor 1999–2011. Deputy Mayor 2003–2004, 2007–2008. |
| Central Ward | Mark Adler | Labor | Elected 1999–2016. |
| Central Ward | Ken Nam | Liberal | Elected 2008–2016. |
| Central Ward | Fadwa Kebbea | Labor | Elected 1999–2016. Deputy Mayor 2009–2010, 2014–2015. |
| East Ward | Con Vasiliades | Liberal | Elected 2012–2016. |
| East Ward | Esta Paschalidis-Chilas | Labor | Elected 2012–2016. |
| East Ward | Linda Eisler | Greens | Elected 2008–2016. Elected Canterbury-Bankstown Council Canterbury Ward 2017. |
| West Ward | Karl Saleh | Labor | Elected 2004–2016. Deputy Mayor 2008–2009, 2012–2013, 2015–2016. |
| West Ward | Michael Hawatt | Liberal | Elected 1999–2016. |
| West Ward | Pierre Azzi | Labor | Elected 2012–2016. Deputy Mayor 2013–2014. |

## Mayors and General Managers
### Mayors

| Mayor | Party | Term start | Term end | Time in office |
| John Sproule | Independent | 16 June 1879 | 10 February 1880 | 239 days |
| John Campbell Sharp | Independent | 10 February 1880 | 19 February 1883 | 3 years, 9 days |
| Thomas Austen Davis | Independent | 19 February 1883 | 14 February 1884 | 360 days |
| Benjamin Taylor | Independent | 14 February 1884 | 3 February 1886 | 1 year, 354 days |
| James Slocombe | Independent | 3 February 1886 | 13 February 1888 | 2 years, 10 days |
| John Campbell Sharp | Independent | 13 February 1888 | 24 August 1889 | 1 year, 192 days |
| James McBean | Independent | 24 August 1889 | 12 February 1890 | 172 days |
| James Charles Stone | Independent | 12 February 1890 | 11 February 1891 | 364 days |
| John Quigg | Independent | 11 February 1891 | 19 February 1892 | 1 year, 8 days |
| Patrick Joseph Scahill | Independent | 19 February 1892 | 15 February 1895 | 2 years, 361 days |
| Sydney Robert Lorking | Independent | 15 February 1895 | 16 February 1899 | 4 years, 1 day |
| George Wallace Nicoll | Independent | 16 February 1899 | 16 February 1900 | 1 year |
| Jeffrey Denniss | Independent | 16 February 1900 | 11 February 1904 | 3 years, 360 days |
| Benjamin Taylor | Independent | 11 February 1904 | 16 February 1906 | 2 years, 5 days |
| Jeffrey Denniss | Independent | 16 February 1906 | 10 February 1908 | 1 year, 359 days |
| John Edward Draper | Independent | 10 February 1908 | February 1910 | 2 years |
| John McCulloch | Independent | February 1910 | February 1911 | 1 year |
| Patrick Joseph Scahill | Independent | February 1911 | February 1912 | 1 year |
| John Edward Draper | Liberal Reform | February 1912 | 10 February 1913 | 1 year |
| George Frederick Wells Hocking | Labor | 10 February 1913 | March 1914 | 1 year |
| James Augustus Wilson | Labor | March 1914 | February 1917 | 2 years |
| Arthur Preston | Independent | February 1917 | February 1920 | 3 years |
| George Frederick Wells Hocking | Labor | February 1920 | 11 December 1922 | 2 years, 304 days |
| John Henry Ewen | Citizens' Progress Party | 11 December 1922 | 7 December 1925 | 2 years, 361 days |
| Norman Rydge | Labor | 7 December 1925 | 20 December 1926 | 1 year, 13 days |
| Eric Howard Stephenson | Labor | 20 December 1926 | 19 December 1927 | 364 days |
| Asa North | Labor | 19 December 1927 | 10 December 1928 | 357 days |
| George Harold Bramston | Citizens' Progress Party | 10 December 1928 | 8 January 1932 | 3 years, 29 days |
| Stanley Parry | Independent | 8 January 1932 | August 1947 | 15 years, 211 days |
| Harold McPherson | | 7 August 1947 | December 1948 | 1 year, 121 days |
| Colin Williams | | December 1948 | 6 December 1949 | 1 year |
| Samuel Warren | | 6 December 1949 | December 1951 | 2 years |
| Herbert Reuben Thorncraft | | 6 December 1951 | December 1953 | 2 years |
| George Herbert Mulder | Labor | December 1953 | December 1956 | 3 years |
| Stanley Charles Reuben Squire | | December 1956 | December 1957 | 1 year |
| R. J. Schofield | Independent | December 1957 | December 1958 | 1 year |
| Stanley Charles Reuben Squire | | December 1958 | 10 December 1959 | 1 year |
| R. J. Schofield | Independent | 10 December 1959 | December 1962 | 3 years |
| Ronald Gordon Pate | | December 1962 | 8 December 1963 | 1 year |
| James Schofield Scott | Labor | 8 December 1963 | 10 December 1965 | 2 years, 2 days |
| Alfred James Pate | Independent | 10 December 1965 | December 1967 | 2 years |
| James William Eccles | | 5 December 1967 | December 1968 | 1 year |
| Allan Mulder | Labor | 8 December 1968 | December 1969 | 1 year |
| James William Eccles | | December 1969 | December 1970 | 1 year |
| James Beaman | | December 1970 | September 1971 | 281 days |
| Colin Gordon Williams | | September 1971 | September 1976 | 5 years |
| John Mountford | Labor | September 1976 | October 1980 | 4 years, 30 days |
| Kevin Moss | Labor | October 1980 | September 1987 | 6 years, 335 days |
| John Gorrie | Labor | September 1987 | September 1995 | 8 years |
| Kayee Griffin | Labor | September 1995 | January 2004 | 8 years, 122 days |
| Robert Furolo | Labor | January 2004 | 21 October 2011 | 7 years, 273 days |
| Brian Robson | Labor | 1 November 2011 | 12 May 2016 | 4 years, 193 days |

### Town Clerk/General Managers

| Town Clerk/General Manager | Term start | Term end | Time in office |
| Neil Quigg | 7 July 1879 | February 1880 | 223 days |
| Edwin Tyrell Sayers | February 1880 | December 1882 | 2 years |
| Samuel Mantle Burrowes | 5 January 1883 | September 1883 | 243 days |
| Hector Innes | 5 September 1883 | 15 August 1888 | 4 years, 345 days |
| Benjamin Taylor | 15 August 1888 | 20 October 1902 | 14 years, 66 days |
| Frederick John Davis | 20 October 1902 | 2 March 1907 | 4 years, 133 days |
| Samuel Ernest Marsden | 2 March 1907 | 1 October 1910 | 3 years, 213 days |
| Charles Lipson Iverson | 1 October 1910 | 1911 | 0–1 year |
| Harold Linden Dunstan | 1911 | October 1912 | 0–1 year |
| Frederick Haworth JP | October 1912 | 22 February 1914 | 1 year |
| James Lane Sutton | June 1914 | 12 March 1929 | 14 years |
| Robert Brouff | 2 December 1929 | 1934 | 4–5 years |
| Edgar Jay | September 1934 | 1941 | 6–7 years |
| Claude Hunt | 1941 | 1942 | 0–1 years |
| Robert Brouff | 1942 | 1948 | 5–6 years |
| Selwyn Lofts | 1948 | 1965 | 16–17 years |
| Jack Wheeler | 1965 | May 1973 | 7–8 years |
| Jack Whitmarsh | May 1973 | 1982 | 8–9 years |
| Jim Montague PSM | 1982 | 12 May 2016 | 33–34 years |

## Demographics

At the 2011 Census, there were 137,454 people in the Canterbury local government area, with an equal proportion of male and female residents. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.6% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Canterbury was 35 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.5% of the population. of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52.9% were married and 10.8% were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the City of Canterbury between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 0.02%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 5.76%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Canterbury local government area was approximately half the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Canterbury is significantly lower than the national average.
Selected historical census data for Canterbury local government area :
| Census year | Census year | Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 |
| Population | Population | Estimated residents on Census night | 129,935 | 129,963 | 137,454 |
| Population | Population | LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | | | |
| Population | Population | % of New South Wales population | | | 1.99% |
| Population | Population | % of Australian population | 0.69% | 0.65% | 0.64% |
| Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | Cultural and language diversity | | | |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Chinese | | | 11.6% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Australian | | | 9.7% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Lebanese | | | 9.5% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | Greek | | | 9.5% |
| Ancestry, top responses | Ancestry, top responses | English | | | 8.9% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Arabic | 12.2% | 10.1% | 13.2% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Greek | 11.1% | 10.4% | 9.8% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Mandarin | 1.7% | 2.7% | 5.6% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Cantonese | 2.7% | 3.3% | 5.5% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | Language, top responses (other than English) | Vietnamese | n/c | 2.2% | 3.8% |
| Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | Religious affiliation | | | |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Catholic | 43.4% | 41.7% | 25.6% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Islam | 5.1% | 5.1% | 16.6% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Eastern Orthodox | 15.8% | 13.4% | 13.6% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | No religion | 11.1% | 13.4% | 12.5% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | Religious affiliation, top responses | Buddhism | n/c | n/c | 6.1% |
| Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | Median weekly incomes | | | |
| Personal income | Personal income | Median weekly personal income | | A$366 | A$430 |
| Personal income | Personal income | % of Australian median income | | 78.5% | 74.5% |
| Family income | Family income | Median weekly family income | | A$839 | A$1,149 |
| Family income | Family income | % of Australian median income | | 81.7% | 77.6% |
| Household income | Household income | Median weekly household income | | A$1,007 | A$1,029 |
| Household income | Household income | % of Australian median income | | 86.0% | 83.4% |

## Coat of arms and logo

Coat of arms of the City of Canterbury :
* NotesThe arms of the City of Canterbury, granted by Letters of the King of Arms, College of Arms, designed by H. Ellis Tomlinson on the occasion of the centenary of the Municipality of Canterbury, consist of:
* Adopted23 April 1979
* CrestOn a wreath of the colours, within a circlet of six mullets each of eight points or, a mount vert issuant therefrom a cross formy fitchy sable entwined with a rose argent, barbed, seeded, stalked, leaved and slipped proper.
* EscutcheonArgent a bar wavy azure between three choughs proper, each holding in the dexter foot a cross formy fitchy sable, on a chief gules a lion couchant guardant. Argent a bar wavy azure between three choughs proper, each holding in the dexter foot a cross formy fitchy sable, on a chief gules a lion couchant guardant.
* SupportersOn either side a sea-horse argent gorged with a collar wavy azure charged with two Polar Stars or, one being manifest, and holding in the mouth a sprig of Canterbury Bell proper with five flowers azure.
* MottoLatin: Magnum Nomen Habemus ("We bear a great name")
* BadgePerched upon two sprigs of Canterbury Bell in saltire proper each with three flowers azure a chough proper holding in the dexter foot a cross formy fitchy sable.
* SymbolismThe shield is based on arms of Canterbury, Kent, England, which displays a gold lion on red above the three choughs, attributed as the arms of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury 1162–1170. To the choughs is added a blue wave for Cooks River, and each holds a distinctive black cross from the arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the top of the shield, the gold lion is taken from the former council seal. The Crest is set in the colours of white and blue, the NSW colours, and refers to the foundation and naming of Canterbury by the Reverend Richard Johnson, appointed as the State's first chaplain in 1786. A ring of gold stars from the State arms encloses a grassy mound representing Johnson's grant of Brickfield Hill in which is fixed the Canterbury cross to denote his foundation of the Church in the place named Canterbury Vale. His Yorkshire origins are indicated by the White Rose of York. The Supporters are a marine version of the White horse of Kent, England, of which the City of Canterbury is the capital. These 'sea-horses' denote coastal or river traffic, charged with the Polar Star from James Cook's arms. In their mouths are sprays of the Canterbury Bell flower, also taken from the former seal.

### Logo

In 1990, the council's Engineering Department produced the logo in everyday usage until 2016, it consisted of two C's in black and white, intersected by a wave in light blue, which represents the Cooks River and is taken from the council arms issued in 1979.

## Sister cities

* Eunpyong-gu, Seoul, South Korea. A special friendship garden in Loft Gardens at Campsie commemorating the relationship begun in 1988, in the design of the Taegukgi, was unveiled in November 2000 by the mayors of Canterbury and Eunpyong-gu.
* Patras, Greece.