John Ajaka was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2007 to 2021, representing the Liberal Party.
16 Facts About John Ajaka
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John Ajaka was the first Liberal Party Lebanese Australian member of an Australian parliament.
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John Ajaka was appointed as Minister for the Illawarra from 2013 to 2015 in the O'Farrell and first Baird ministries.
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John Ajaka was not appointed to the Berejikilian Ministry in 2017, instead being appointed as President of the New South Wales Legislative Council until March 2021.
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John Ajaka was born in Bulli, New South Wales, to migrant parents from Lebanon.
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John Ajaka was schooled at St Joseph's Primary School and Marist College Kogarah where he served in the Army Cadets, graduating as the second-highest-ranking officer in his group, and served briefly in the Australian Army Reserve.
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John Ajaka subsequently studied law and opened his own practice in Rockdale.
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John Ajaka was later elected as a City of Rockdale councillor, serving in that role until his election to parliament.
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John Ajaka was elected to the Legislative Council at the 2007 state election.
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John Ajaka made his inaugural speech to the Legislative Council on 9 May 2007, in which he called for greater acceptance of migrants within Australian society and declared his intention to oppose racial prejudice and injustice in his role as an MP.
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John Ajaka strongly criticised the police practice of referring to the ethnic backgrounds of criminals, contravening his own party's policy on the matter.
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John Ajaka was appointed as the Minister for the Illawarra and the Minister for Disability Services on 2 August 2013; and became of member of the O'Farrell cabinet.
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John Ajaka was re-elected during the opening of the 57th Parliament on 7 May 2019.
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John Ajaka resigned as President of the Legislative Council on 24 March 2021.
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John Ajaka was appointed as the CEO of Liverpool City Council in December 2022.
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An investigation from the Office of Local Government identified "areas of concern" and concluded that John Ajaka had been "denied procedural fairness".