Here are some good news as we edged towards Christmas and the end of the year. In the past recent months, we have seen 2 Chinese Australians announced as new Mayors for their cities.

Now, this is nothing new, as there already are and has been Chinese Australian and other Asian Australian Mayors, including the trailblazers of Harry Chan (first Lord Mayor for Darwin), John So (first Lord Mayor for Melbourne), Alec Fong Lim, Katrina Fong Lim, and some of the young trailblazers of Anthony Tran and Jasmine Nguyen – who are currently mayors for the local councils in Victoria.

However, it is still always a good feeling to write about this topic, so let’s get to it.

MAYOR NICKY LUO – CITY OF MONASH (VIC)

Nicky Luo was elected as Mayor on November 14, 2023.

She migrated to Australia with her family in 1977, and is now raising her own family with 3 children. Nicky volunteers in the community providing education, support, assistance for residents of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She is multilingual and other than English speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and Hakka.  You can read more about her here: https://www.monash.vic.gov.au/About-Us/Council/Councillors/Nicky-Luo .

MAYOR SAM NGAI – KU-RING-GAI COUNCIL (NSW)

Sam Ngai was elected as Mayor in September, 2023.

Sam is the first Hong Kong-born local mayor in New South Wales in 20 years. Ngai says that new migrants tend to not consider a career in politics when setting their families up for success in Australia. You can read more about him here: https://www.sbs.com.au/language/chinese/en/article/sam-ngai-the-first-hk-born-chinese-mayor-in-nsw-for-20-years/avm45fe42

If there are others we are missing out, please let us know!~~