Ned Mannoun

Ned Mannoun (born 15 January 1982) is a retired Australian politician who was the previous Mayor of Liverpool City Council between 2012 and 2016. He also served as the Deputy Mayor of Liverpool between 2010 and 2011, and the unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the electorate of Werriwa in the 2016 Federal Election. 
== Early life and education ==
Nader Mannoun was born in Boston, the middle child to Kalil and Lelila. His father, Kalil, was a small business owner who migrated to the United States from Sierra Leone, where he was born.
Mannoun studied at Saint Jude’s School in Boston, a Catholic primary school in Waltham. At the age of 10, Mannoun, along with his family, moved to the Liverpool LGA in Sydney, Australia and has resided there since. Mannoun studied at Moorebank High School until Year 10, where he was expelled after starting a petition and protest at school due to a teacher throwing a drink bottle at a student.
Immediately after leaving high school, Mannoun held multiple casual jobs – including working in sales, telecommunications, forklift driving and starting his own mobile phone accessory business.
== Professional life and early political involvement ==
In 2008, Mannoun soon started up his own small business with limited capital. His business, called Skills Training Australia, trained over 2000 individuals in three years. Mannoun soon sold the business to Interskills in May 2011, a disability employment service provider from South Australia.
During this time, Mannoun was elected to the Liverpool City Council in 2008. Part of the South Ward Liberal ticket, Mannoun was nominated to serve as Deputy Mayor between September 2010 and September 2011.https://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2008/council/?page=Liverpool
== Mayor of the Liverpool City Council ==
On the 8th of September 2012, Ned Mannoun was elected as the Mayor of the Liverpool City Council. Mannoun made history as being the youngest popularly elected and the first ever Liberal mayor in the Liverpool LGA. On the way, Mannoun and the Liberal tickets in the North and South Ward polled 43 percent of the first preference vote - the strongest result ever history in a Labor stronghold.
During his Mayorship, Mannoun established several committees designed to boost Liverpool’s credentials as becoming Sydney’s third CBD. Chairing the Building Our New City Committee , Mannoun presided over many achievements including accelerating civic infrastructure in order to beautify the CBD, such as the Civic Place project. 
A political promise made during the 2012 campaign, Mannoun ensured the rollout of a wireless CCTV network in the Liverpool CBD . This subsequently quelled safety concerns in the area which was known for having high levels of crime and antisocial behaviour. Part of this program, the rollout also included free, high speed Wi-Fi in the city centre as a 21st century city.
Other achievements during his tenure was successfully delivering, on time and on budget, the $60m Carnes Hill community and recreation precinct. At the time, it was the largest project ever undertaken by the Liverpool City Council which activated and reinvigorated the area.
Mayor Mannoun was also responsible for direct negotiations with the University of Wollongong and the University of Western Sydney to open campuses in the Liverpool CBD, who started operations in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
=== Werriwa 2016 Election ===
Mannoun was preselected as the Liberal candidate for Werriwa in the 2016 Federal Election, which resulted in him taking leave from his Mayoral duties as he campaigned against Australian Labor Party Anne Stanley (politician)|Anne Stanley. Considered an outsider from the outset, internal polling from the Liberal Party showed that it was a very tight race, which resulted in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull giving him a shoutout at his last National Press Club (Australia)|National Press Club conference before the election on the 30th June, 2016. 
Mannoun ended up losing to Stanley, however he achieved a +0.51% swing against Labor , who have held the seat for nearly one hundred years.
=== ICAC Investigation ===
In September 2015, Shooters, Fishers and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MLC Robert Borsak used parliamentary privilege to make incendiary claims about Mannoun’s business and council dealings. Claims included Borsak stating that there had been a “dramatic increase” in council staff associated to the Liberal Party and stated “It is widely acknowledged amongst developers, that if you want to get your high-rise development approved, it helps to give a unit to Ned's father”, among other things. 
Mannoun vigorously denied the “cowardly lies” aired by Borsak, and noting that Borsak’s son, who works for the United Services Union, was “Out there running amok in Liverpool Council,". Mannoun wrote to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and invited them to investigate his dealings in council and outside of public office.
Soon after the 2016 Federal Election, where he ran as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Werriwa, Mannoun’s offices and house was raided by the ICAC. Mannoun stated that he was delighted that the ICAC accepted his "invitation to forensically examine Liverpool Council's procedures and decisions" . Despite seeking Liberal preselection for Mayor in the 2016 Local Government elections, he soon withdrew and quit politics to spend time with family during the ongoing ICAC investigation. 
This investigation lasted 11 months, which eventually found no evidence he used office to obtain illegal development approvals or failing to declare any political donations made. 
== After politics ==
Soon after quitting politics, Mannoun started working in the private sector as the director of Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE Asia Pacific), the largest commercial real estate services company in the world. Having held this position for nearly two years, Mannoun returned back to his previous employment at We Will Pty Ltd, as its Principal Consultant. 
Mannoun became an Honorary Fellow at Western Sydney University in September 2017 for his achievements and efforts as Liverpool City Council Mayor. Other recipients at this event included Lord Mayor of Sydney Lucy Turnbull 
Despite quitting politics, Mannoun’s wife, Tina Ayyad, was elected as a Councillor to the Liverpool City Council in 2016 and currently serves on Council.https://pastvtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/LGE2016/liverpool-city-council/south-ward/index.htm
Ned remains active in the community and local government issues.
== Personal life ==
Mannoun married his wife, Tina Ayyad in 2009 and currently have three children: Solomon, Jacob and Eden-Rose. They currently reside in Middleton Grange, Middleton Grange.
In 2014, while Mayor, Mannoun donated one of his kidneys to his son Solomon, who was in end stage renal failure. He became an advocate for organ donation and regularly promotes this through his social media.
Mannoun is an ardent supporter of English Premier League side Liverpool Football Club. During his tenure as Mayor in 2013, Mannoun, along with Australian footballers Craig Johnston, Rene Licata and businessman Richie Williams went to the United States to meet with Liverpool FC owners Fenway Sports Group to discuss potentially establishing a sister club in the Australian Liverpool. However talks broke down and the A-League eventually opted to create the new Macarthur FC. 
Category:Australian politicians
Category:Australian people