List of Lebanese Australians

This is a list of Lebanese Australians including both original immigrants who obtained Australian citizenship and their Australian-born descendants who are notable, have made significant contributions to the Australian or international culture or society politically, artistically or scientifically, or have prominently appeared in the news.

Politics and public service

Federal politics

Name		Chamber	Constituency	Term Start	Term End	Notes
Frank Gaha	Labor	House	Denison	1943	1949
Bob Katter Sr.	National	House	Kennedy	1966	1990	Government minister (1972)
Daryl Melham	Labor	House	Banks	1990	2013
Bob Katter Sr.	National	House	Kennedy	1993	2001
	Independent			2001	2011
	Katter's Australian			2011	present
Michael Sukkar	Liberal	House	Deakin	2013	incumbent	Government minister (2019–2022)

State and local politics

John Ajaka – former president of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Alexander Alam, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council^[1]
Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales
Karl Bitar - former national secretary of the Australian Labor Party and former general secretary of NSW Labor
Steve Bracks, former premier of Victoria
Samier Dandan, president of Lebanese Muslim Association
Jihad Dib – New South Wales Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government
Khalil Eideh, CEO of Bluestar Logistics and member of the Victorian Legislative Council
Nazih Elasmar, member of the Victorian Legislative Council
George Joseph – former lord mayor of Adelaide^[1]
Marlene Kairouz – former mayor of Darebin and member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Kororoit
Robbie Katter, member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Salim Mehajer - former Auburn deputy mayor and convicted criminal
Cesar Melhem, Victorian state secretary of Australian Workers' Union
Eddie Obeid, corrupt former member of the NSW Legislative Council, former minister for fisheries and mineral resources
Barbara Perry, NSW parliamentarian
Jim Saleam, leader of the Australia First Party
Sir Nicholas Shehadie, Lord Mayor of Sydney (1973–1975) and member of Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame
Michael Sutherland, member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Jackie Trad – former deputy premier of Queensland
Salim Wardeh, former minister of culture in Lebanon

Law and judiciary

Sam Doumany,^[2] Former attorney-general and minister for justice in Queensland

Business

Stefan Ackerie, hairstyling entrepreneur
Joseph Assaf, multicultural businessman
Ahmed Fahour, banker, former CEO of Citibank and NAB's operations, and current CEO of Australia Post
Jacques Nasser, former CEO of Ford Motors
Joseph Saba, fashion designer
John Symond, founder and managing director of Aussie Group

Sport

Matthew Abood, freestyle swimmer
Paul Akkary - former professional rugby league footballer for the Newtown Jets
Sheik Ali, Heavyweight champion wrestler
George Ayoub, Test match rugby referee, member of the Super Rugby panel for Television Match Officials
Alex Chidiac, professional women's soccer player for Melbourne City and the Matilda's
Max Basheer, former administrator with the South Australian National Football League
David Bayssari, former Balmain Tigers NRL player & Lebanon Rugby League head coach
Michael Cheika, head coach of the Wallabies and the New South Wales Waratahs
Billy Dib – boxer
Hazem El Masri, Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby league player
Yahya El Hindi – professional football (soccer) player
Nathan Elasi – professional football (soccer) player
Benny Elias, former National Rugby League player
Bianca Elmir – female boxing champion
Ahmad Elrich, International soccer player
Tarek Elrich, Newcastle United Jets soccer player
Buddy Farah, FIFA agent - Ex soccer player
Robbie Farah, South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby league player
Milham "Mil" Hanna, former Australian rules footballer with Carlton
Bachar Houli, Australian rules footballer
Safwan Khalil, Olympic champion in taekwando
Julian Khazzouh – professional basketball player
Bruce Malouf, - former Australian, NSW and Randwick rugby player.
Tim Mannah, Parramatta Eels Rugby league player
Josh Mansour, Penrith Panthers Rugby league player
Mitchell Moses – professional rugby league player for the Parramatta Eels
Andrew Nabbout, soccer player for Melbourne Victory
Robin Nahas, Australian rules footballer
Brendan Nasser, Test Match rugby player, member of the winning Australian squad at the 1991 Rugby World Cup
Roger Rasheed, international tennis coach and former player
Joe Reaiche, Former National Rugby League Sydney Roosters player
Michael Reda, International soccer player
Travis Robinson, International rugby league footballer
Reece Robinson, International rugby league footballer
Adam Saad, Australian rules footballer
Vivien Saad, Australian rules footballer
Christian Salem, Australian rules footballer
Eddie Scarf – first Australian to win an Olympic medal in wrestling
Nicholas Shehadie – former Captain of the Wallabies Australian Rugby Union
Emelia Yassir, Australian rules footballer
Robert Younis – professional football (soccer) player
Haneen Zreika, Australian rules footballer

Entertainment and media

David Basheer, Sports Presenter and Commentator
Tyler De Nawi – actor
Firass Dirani,^[3] Actor
Etcetera Etcetera, drag queen
Faydee, Pop / R&B singer, songwriter
Chillinit, rapper
Kris Fade, radio presenter, host, and musician
Jan Fran, Journalist, news and current affairs commentator, TV personality
Daizy Gedeon, Award-winning Journalist and filmmaker
Joe Hasham, actor
Tamara Jaber,^[4] Singer
Paul Khoury, TV personality and voice talent
Paul Nakad, actor and hip hop artist
Daniella Rahme, TV host, actress and model
Lincoln Younes, actor, model and voice over artist.
Mariam Saab, television presenter and journalist
Daniel Sahyounie – comedian, part of YouTube comedy group The Janoskians
Natalie Saleeba, Television actress
Rob Shehadie – actor and comedian, co-creator of Here Come the Habibs
Dean Vegas - singer and Elvis tribute artist
James Yammouni – comedian, part of YouTube comedy group The Janoskians
Petra Yared, Australian television actor
Doris Younane, Actress
Susie Youssef, Comedian, Writer, Actor

Beauty pageant contestants

Sabrina Houssami, 2006 Australian representative at Miss World
Jessica Kahawaty, Beauty pageant contestant who came third in Miss World 2012 when representing Australia

Fashion designers

Steven Khalil - International Designer
Joseph Saba

Arts and literature

Mireille Astore,^[5] Artist and writer
David Malouf, writer
Sara Mansour, poet and co-founder of the Bankstown Poetry Slam

Poets and writers

Michael Mohammed Ahmad - writer
Mireille Astore – artist and writer
Saleem Haddad - writer
Ghassan Hage - academic writer
Nada Awar Jarrar – author
David Malouf – poet and author
Wadih Sa'adeh – poet
Omar Sakr - poet and author

Other

Joe Hachem, 2005 World Series of Poker champion
Mick Hawi, outlaw biker and gangster.
Fehmi Naji, Grand Mufti of Australia
Keysar Trad, Muslim community spokesman
Tarek Zahed, outlaw biker and alleged gangster.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Anthony Alexander Alam – Political Leader Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine from www.alhs.org.au
^ "Anthony Alexander Alam - Political Leader". Australian Lebanese Historical Society. 2002. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
^ McWhirter, Erin (6 February 2010). "Underbelly's Firass Dirani - the day I met John Ibrahim, the King of the Cross". heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
^ "Tamara Jaber Biography". Take 40. 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
^ Kazzi, Antoine. Brilliant Faces. Sydney: El-Telegraph, 2009. (ISBN 9780646519135) page 83. This project that describes the achievements of 300 notable Arab Australians was funded by the Australian Government.
^ Hunter, Fergus (12 November 2021). "Senior Comanchero bikie detained in Lebanon after Interpol notice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2023.

[alam-1] Anthony Alexander Alam – Political Leader Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine from www.alhs.org.au

[2] "Anthony Alexander Alam - Political Leader". Australian Lebanese Historical Society. 2002. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.

[3] McWhirter, Erin (6 February 2010). "Underbelly's Firass Dirani - the day I met John Ibrahim, the King of the Cross". heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 11 April 2010.

[4] "Tamara Jaber Biography". Take 40. 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.

[5] Kazzi, Antoine. Brilliant Faces. Sydney: El-Telegraph, 2009. (ISBN 9780646519135) page 83. This project that describes the achievements of 300 notable Arab Australians was funded by the Australian Government.

[Hunter-6] Hunter, Fergus (12 November 2021). "Senior Comanchero bikie detained in Lebanon after Interpol notice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2023.

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