Edmond Atalla (born 17 July 1960) is an Australian politician and professional engineer. A member of the Labor Party, Atalla has represented

Mount Druitt Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regio ...

in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

since

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. The child of Coptic Egyptian parents, Atalla is known for his advocacy for members of Australia's Coptic community.

Early life and education

Atalla was born in

Port Sudan Port Sudan (, Beja: ) is a port city on the Red Sea in eastern Sudan, and the capital of Red Sea State. Port Sudan is Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% of the country's international trade. The population of Port Sudan was estimated in ...

, Sudan on 17 July 1960 to Coptic Egyptian parents. Atalla and his family migrated to Australia, arriving on

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

. The family settled at

Prospect, New South Wales Prospect is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Prospect is located west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and a small part of Cumberland City Council, is ...

in 1970, where Atalla attended the local public school. Atalla went on to attend Grantham High School in Seven Hills. As a child, Atalla and his family attended the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...

in Redfern, Sydney. Atalla studied a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

degree (Honours) at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

, where he graduated in 1988. During his time at the University of Wollongong, Atalla gained employment as a junior engineer with Holroyd Municipal Council before he moved to the Mount Druitt Electorate in 1987.

Career before politics

In 1989, Atalla was hired as the NSW state project engineer for CSR Readymix, where he later gained a builder's licence. In 1993, Atalla moved back to local government as an engineer for the Liverpool City Council, and was then promoted to building services manager for the citywide services in 1997, and again in 2000 to corporate manager of operations (head of the Engineering Operations Department). In 2005, Atalla became the national building systems manager, a senior position with AVJennings where he was responsible for organisations management. In August 2014, he left private and public engineering to pursue a career in politics when he was preselected to be the NSW Labor candidate for the

Electoral district of Mount Druitt Mount Druitt is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Edmond Atalla of the Labor Party. It is a 38.95 km2 urban electorate in Sydney's outer west. History Mou ...

Political career

Early political career

Atalla credits his interest into politics when he witnessed first hand the struggles of community members. This defining moment occurred in 1987 when he assisted an elderly man who could not afford to replace his set of dentures after they fell down a Council storm-water drain. Atalla was able to retrieve the dentures, however the man's inability to afford another set "struck a chord", and Atalla resolved to help ensure that all people would have better access to basic necessities. Atalla joined the Labor Party two years later, in 1989, and states he was "attracted to the principals of Social Justice including access to health and education, employment opportunities, and greater equality in wealth and power". From 2002 to 2007, Atalla was elected as the Vice President and from 2007 to 2015 he acted as Secretary/Treasurer of the

Rooty Hill Rooty Hill is a heritage-listed historic site and now parkland at Eastern Road, Rooty Hill, City of Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1802 to 1828. It is also known as The Rooty Hill and Morreau Reserve. The property is ...

Branch of the Labor Party. In 2004, he was elected to

Blacktown City Council Blacktown City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...

, and in 2006 and 2007 he was deputy mayor. Within his time at the

, he held the following positions; * Delegate – Floodplain Management Authorities of NSW (2004–2008) * Chair – Planning and Development Committee (2008–2012) * Chair – Historical Committee (2008–2012) * Vice-president – Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC)(2009–2010)

New South Wales parliament

In 2015, Atalla won the

in the

New South Wales parliament The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wale ...

by a landslide, with a total of 65.4% of the vote against

NSW Liberal Party The New South Wales Liberal Party, officially called The Liberal Party of Australia, New South Wales Division, and colloquially known as the NSW Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party is c ...

candidate Olivia Lloyd. During this time, he served on the Legislative Assembly Committee on Law and Safety. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Atalla again won the Mount Druitt seat in the

NSW parliament The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wale ...

and experienced a positive swing, gaining 66.4% of the vote. In 2019, Atalla supported

Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of New South Wales since March 2023. He has been the leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) si ...

' campaign to be leader of NSW Labor, which reportedly put him into conflict with fellow Labor MLA Marjorie O'Neill. Atalla publicly opposed plans to demolish the Coptic Church's historic church at

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

. In 2017, Atalla attended a ceremony hosted by

Pope Tawadros II Pope Tawadros II (born 4 November 1952 ) is the 118th and current Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, succeeding the late Pope Shenouda III as leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. He took office on 18 Nove ...

to commemorate the construction of a new Coptic Church at Kellyville. Atalla criticized fellow Sudanese-Australian

Yassmin Abdel-Magied Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese–Australian media presenter and writer, who had an early career as a mechanical engineer. She was named Young Queenslander of the Year in 2010 and Queensland Australian of the Year in 2015 for her engagemen ...

over her comments on

in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atalla, Edmond 1960 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party councillors Deputy mayors of places in Australia Australian civil engineers University of Wollongong alumni Australian people of Egyptian descent Sudanese emigrants to Australia Sudanese people of Egyptian descent 21st-century Australian politicians Australian people of Coptic descent People from Port Sudan