Jihad Dib (born 1973) is an Australian politician who was elected at the

2015 New South Wales state election A general election for the 56th Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of th ...

to the Legislative Assembly as the member for Lakemba representing the Labor Party. He was the only

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

MP to represent the Lakemba seat which had the highest proportion of Muslims in NSW and the first Muslim MP in the NSW lower house.

Early life and career

Dib was born in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and migrated to Australia with his family when he was two years old. He began his career as a teacher at

Ulladulla High School Ulladulla High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in the town of Ulladulla on the south-east coast of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1974, the school enrolled approximately 1, ...

. He was principal of Punchbowl Boys High School from 2007 to 2014. Dib is acknowledged for changing a tough school into a respected community facility. He had previously served on the

Australia Day Council The National Australia Day Council (NADC) is a non-profit social enterprise owned by the Australian Government and is the national coordinating body for the Australian of the Year awards and Australia Day. It was established in 1979 and inco ...

of New South Wales, the New South Wales Police Commissioner's Advisory Panel and the SBS Community Advisory Committee, and was awarded a Pride of Australia award in 2013.

Political career

Following the resignation of Shadow Minister for Education

Linda Burney Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian politician and is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australi ...

to contest the the federal seat of Barton, Dib was appointed to replace her in the portfolio. He served as Shadow Education Minister in the shadow ministries of

Luke Foley Luke Aquinas Foley (born 27 July 1970) is a former Australian Labor Party politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from 2015 to 2018. Foley was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Counci ...

and

Michael Daley Michael John Daley (born 1 November 1965) is an Australian politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from November 2018 to March 2019. He is currently a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assemb ...

. Following the 2019 election, Dib was appointed as Shadow Minister for Youth, Juvenile Justice, Skills and TAFE and Shadow Minister Assisting on Multiculturalism in the

shadow Ministry of Jodi McKay The Shadow Ministry of Jodi McKay was the Labor opposition from July 2019 to May 2021, opposing the Berejiklian government in the Parliament of New South Wales. It was led by Jodi McKay following her election as leader of the party and NSW Lead ...

. In 2021, he was moved to the Emergency Services, Energy and Climate Change portfolios in the

frontbench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

led by

Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician who is the leader of the NSW Labor Party. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Kogarah for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South ...

. Dib's seat of Lakemba was abolished by the

New South Wales Electoral Commission The New South Wales Electoral Commission is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NSW Government Department of Premier and Cabinet. ...

prior to the 2023 election and Dib registered to contest the neighbouring seat of

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

Personal life

Dib is married to Erin, who graduated as a Japanese teacher in the same year as he graduated, and with whom he has three children. His brother is boxing champion

Billy Dib Bilal Dib (born 17 August 1985), known as Billy Dib, is an Australian professional boxer. He held the IBF featherweight title from 2011 to 2013, and the IBO super-featherweight title in 2008. Early years Dib was born on 17 August 1985 at ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dib, Jihad Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian headmasters 1973 births Place of birth missing (living people) University of Wollongong alumni Australian Muslims Lebanese emigrants to Australia Australian schoolteachers 21st-century Australian politicians