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Independent State Candidate for Granville Revealed Today

Independent NSW Parliament election candidate

Key Facts:

Sal El-Kheir announces candidacy for state election in Granville, NSW

Independent candidate for Granville

2027 NSW State Election

Speech embargoed til 10.15am Tuesday 

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

My name is Sal El-Kheir, and today, I am proud to announce that I will be

standing as an independent candidate for the state seat of Granville at the 2027 New South Wales State Election.

I am a long-time senior retail leader, business operator, community advocate and proud Australian. I have led large, diverse teams, managed complex businesses and supported community initiatives in regional and remote Australia. South-West Sydney has been home for most of my life. I am part of the community I want to represent.

Across the counter, people have spoken to me about far more than shopping: their children, their work and the worry of making their money last. Those conversations taught me that someone can do everything they can for their family and still be struggling.

People should not have to earn their place in NSW twice: once through their contributions and hard work, and again through their struggle to belong.

Picture a parent coming home after a long shift. There are bills on the table, dinner to make and a child still awake with a question about something they heard on the news: “Do they mean people like us?” That parent has spent years building a life here. Now they must explain why the place they call home can still make their child feel like a Stranger.

A Premier’s words can reach into that room. They can help a parent say, “Your future is here.” They can also leave that parent trying to repair a hurt they did not cause.

A Premier’s words in Chris Minns influence how neighbours see one another and whether a child feels comfortable saying where their family comes from. My criticism of Chris Minns is that I do not hear the care this responsibility demands. I want him to speak with warmth about our communities, respect for their struggles and conviction about their children’s future. Chris Minns and Labor are playing entirely into One Nation’s divisive rhetoric. Chris Minns and One Nation are two sides of the same coin.

I have worked to make people feel valued in the workplaces I led, regardless of their background, religion or beliefs. I want to carry that responsibility into Parliament. But that promise also has to survive the moment a parent opens a bill, seeks an appointment or wonders how long they can keep a roof over their children’s heads.

At the end of August, 71,317 households were waiting for social housing in NSW. Children still need somewhere to sleep and study. Illness does not wait for a housing application to reach the front of the queue.

The NSW Council of Social Services found that 47% of NSW households experiencing poverty included someone in regular paid work.

The cost-of-living crisis is also a mental health crisis. In March, Lifeline reported around 500 calls a day nationally related to financial hardship. The worry about keeping a home can prevent someone from sleeping, working or coping. A government asking people to hold on must explain why the help they reach for is not there.

Granville has a Labor member in a Labor government. Residents deserve to know what that access to power is delivering. In the 2021 Census, more than one in three renter households in the electorate were in housing stress. I will press for more social and affordable housing, effective renter protections and practical help with essential bills.

The NSW Government must answer for the literacy and numeracy gaps facing children in the Granville electorate. The NAPLAN data shows that kids are not getting the education they deserve. A family’s income should never decide whether a child gets a quality education. I will press for earlier intervention and sustained small-group teaching.

People need a healthcare system that works for them, including the NDIS. But in Granville we don’t have enough specialists to cater for a growing community, and bulk billing is declining. Families are worried about how they’ll support their children if their NDIS funding is cut. Migrants cannot become the convenient explanation for failures to provide housing and services. 

Cumberland’s target is 12,200 additional homes by 2029. Government must explain how those residents will get to school, receive treatment and move through their neighbourhoods.

My belief in dignity and justice also shapes my stand on Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. Palestinian families deserve freedom and safety. Here in NSW, I will. defend the right to speak and lawfully gather. People must be able to call for justice without their suffering being treated as though it matters less.

The accountability I ask of government must apply to me. I will report what I have asked for, the answers I receive, and what happens next.

I’m not a politician, and I don’t think like one, but I want to meet people where they are in their lives. This means staying involved until something changes. I am standing so families can live with less worry and children can grow with confidence in their future and their place here.

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