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A Wellington taxi driver stabbed seven times says new laws requiring cameras in cabs won’t work.

The new law comes into force in four months, but Assyrian driver Schlemon Yako says he wants shields – not cameras.

Mr Yako picked up a job from Kilbirnie last Saturday. Near the destination in Wilton, the passenger turned on him, stabbing him seven times.

Driven by the thought of seeing his wife and four children again, he fought off his attacker, clutching at the knife with his hands.

Mr Yako’s wife is overjoyed he lived, but it wasn’t the same ending for Hiren Mohini’s family – the Auckland driver who was stabbed to death last year.

His death sparked a law change, and by August 1 this year, every taxi will be required to have a security camera.

Mr Yako’s boss, KiwiCabs director Muneer Oraha, says only three out of his 89 cabs have the cameras. They’re too costly, he says, and won’t work.

Mr Yako agrees.

He says he’s planning to quit the night shift, but says if or when he gets a shield that’ll change.

Below is a link to the news video on the stabbing.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Stabbed-taxi-driver-says-cameras-wont-work/tabid/309/articleID/204568/Default.aspx

• Record  swing of 21% in Smithfield - one of the largest in the state
• Liberal Premier Barry O'Farrell recognises Smithfield as key victory in news conference.

Liberal Candidate Andrew Rohan has made political history by becoming the first ever Liberal MP for Smithfield and the first Assyrian Liberal to be elected to parliament.

A record swing of more than 21% against sitting Labor MP Ninos Khoshaba brought an end to the Labor era in Smithfield and western Sydney, an area that has been under Labor for 100 years.

This is the second time Andrew Rohan and Ninos Khoshaba come head to head. In 2007 Mr Rohan lost the election trailing behind Khoshaba 13,171 to 24,959, but this time it was a defeat Labor could not have stopped.

With many more votes to be counted including pre polling, absentee and postal, the current percentage shows Rohan on 55% with Khoshaba on 45%.

Rohan supporters jumped in jubilation as the seat was called last night at the Liberal victory party at Club Marconi in Bossley Park. Mr Rohan then took to the stage to say a few words, and thanked the campaign team and the volunteers.

“I’m glad and honoured to have such great people in my life, and to all those who helped make history today thank you, you have helped make Smithfield and New South Wales number one again”

In a statement to local media Mr Rohan also said “''My office door will always be open for people who want to speak to me and I will try to help them in any way I can,'' he said.

After a night of celebrations Mr Rohan attended church this morning and said he was going to start work soon after.

We are only 48 hours away from a historic election for the state of New South Wales, and four Assyrians are asking for your votes in a major battle for the state of NSW.

The first candidate is Liberal Andrew Rohan who is a local from Bossley Park and a Fairfield Councillor, who would make history to become the First ever Liberal and First Assyrian Liberal member of parliament should he win the State seat of Smithfield this Saturday.

The second candidate is Fairfield Liberal Charbel Saliba who is a local and CEO of the Assyrian Sports and Cultural Club. Mr Saliba is pushing for better resources for the area as well as aiming at reducing the Fairfield seat margin this Saturday as Labor braces for a backlash in Western Sydney including Fairfield.

The third candidate is the first female Assyrian to run for the Christian Democratic Party. Her name is Eileen Nasr, and was born in Baghdad Iraq and emigrated to Australia 20 years ago. She is a family woman and local family business owner who is fighting for a better Fairfield.

The Fourth candidate is the current Labor MP for Smithfield Ninos Khoshaba who is recon testing the seat. Mr khoshaba was elected to Parliament in 2004. While many may predict a Labor retain for Smithfield, there is no doubt Mr khoshaba and Labor are fighting to keep the vulnerable seat in the face of a statewide Labor wipeout.

Below is some more information about these candidates.

Andrew Rohan (Liberal Party of Australia for Smithfield)

Andrew Rohan has lived in Bossley Park for over 30 years with his wife Janet and his two children.

He has owned and operated a business for the last 20 years. Mr Rohan also has a master’s degree in petroleum geology and has undertaken in oil exploration projects in Australia and overseas.

Mr Rohan has been involved in the community and church projects and activities for more than 20 years and after serving as a director of the Assyrian Australian Association and working on many community programs he was elected to Fairfield City Council in 2008 as one of 4 Liberal councillors.

During his time in council Mr Rohan has supported and fought for many local issues such as the Fairfield Youth Centre, Fairfield City Farm when council announced it be shut down, for more free car parking in the Fairfield LGA and in bringing accountability and integrity to Fairfield Council.

Some community needs Andrew Rohan is fighting for or the Liberal Coalition has committed too include:

• The Liberal Coalition and Andrew Rohan have committed to providing funds for local health with an afterhours GP clinic for Fairfield hospital and 100 new beds and 50 nurses for Fairfield Hospital

• The Liberal coalition has also committed to funding an upgrade to the roundabout on Cumberland highway and Smithfield roads after Andrew Rohan recognised the dangers of the area being one with the most accidents in the state.

• Mr Rohan is also fighting for funding a full time problem gambling councillor and program at the Assyrian Resource Centre to help curb problem gambling in the Assyrian community.

• The Liberal coalition has also promised a ‘strategic plan’ for the Smithfield/Wetherill Park Industrial area to further reach its potential.

“The idea would be to improve roads encompassed by the area and other major infrastructure, as well as reducing local unemployment and boosting the economy – issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the state government” Andrew Rohan said.

• The Liberal Coalition is also committed to providing the state and wester Sydney region with close to 1000 more teachers.

• Mr Rohan said he is committed to supporting local business

• The Liberal Coalition has committed to providing William Stimson Public School in Wetherill Park close to $20,000 for maintenance and on top of this funding the school can then also apply for up to $200,000 in school upgrades fund. This is one of many more schools which will be funded in the Fairfield and Smithfield area under a Liberal government.

Charbel Saliba (Liberal Party of Australia for Fairfield)

A message from Charbel Saliba

I have lived with my family in the Fairfield area for the last 27 years. Since migrating to Australia from Lebanon in 1983, Fairfield has been my home.

I am passionate about Fairfield and our local community because it’s where I have raised my four children; it’s where I have played sport and where my friends and relatives live.

I understand the challenges many families in our area face, the difficulties in finding employment, running a small business or simply walking our streets safely in the at night.

As the CEO of a local sporting and cultural club, I speak with residents every day and have a strong understanding of the issues and concerns in our community.

The people of Fairfield deserve more resources for our schools, hospitals, police and public transport services.

I know that by being your local member in a Barry O’Farrell Liberal government, I can do even more for our community.

Eileen Nasr (Christian Democratic Party for Fairfield)

Assyrian born in Iraq, Eileen migrated to Australia 20 years ago and lived in the Fairfield area.  She has been married to George for almost 17 years and they have two boys. 

Eileen has training in Education, Accounting and computing, and has substantial experience in administration, sales and branch management.

She also has a Diploma in Air Conditioning and she and George currently own a local air conditioning business.

Eileen wants to ensure her children and other young Australians enjoy the wonderful benefits of Australian values and way of life that she has experienced.

If elected, Eileen will fight to:-

• Improve education policies and school conditions,
• Assist local small business,
• Encourage a ‘face lift’ to the city of Fairfield,
• Improve Fairfield Station,
• Create family friendly areas, kids’ playgrounds, youth recreational areas, and provide a movie theatre.

Ninos Khoshaba (Australian Labor Party for Smithfield)

Born in Iraq on 24 March 1970, Khoshaba is the eldest of three children to parents Anwar Khoshaba and Athour Khoshaba. He migrated from Iraq to Australia in 1970 when only four months old.

He is the son of former Fairfield Mayor Anwar Khoshaba. Ninos attended school in Fairfield at the Our Lady of the Rosary primary school and then high school in St John’s Park.

Ninos was elected to Fairfield Council as a Labor party councillor in 2004. After working for Chris Bowen the Labor federal member for the seat of prospect (now called McMahon) he was elected to parliament as the state member for Smithfield following the exit of Mr Carl Scully.

Mr Ninos Khoshaba has been pushing for extra funding for local schools including safety crossing lights and has been vocal in addressing the need for more police in the area. During the past four years Ninos has also funded many road projects.

Ninos has also lived in the Smithfield for most of his life and is married to his wife Angela and has three young children.

Liberal Candidate for Smithfield, Andrew Rohan said today he would fight

to fund a full time gambling councillor and program at the Assyrian

Resource Centre in Fairfield to help curb problem gambling in the area.

Andrew committed to fight for the programs funding after a report was

submitted by Dr Judith Stubbs to a gambling enquiry found that Fairfield
residents on average spend 75% of their income on gambling.

The report also concludes that gambling is a major problem in the Vietnamese
and Assyrian communities.

Following last year’s by-election in Cabramatta the NSW labor party funded a
similar program in the Vietnamese community.

Mr Rohan says the findings show that gambling is as much as a problem in the
Assyrian community as it is in the Vietnamese community and that such grant
is needed to provide a full time problem gambling councillor at the Assyrian
Resource Centre.

It’s also important to note that gambling councillors are most sought after
in the Fairfield region.

This comes as no surprise, as there are close to 4000 poker machines located
in Fairfield alone with more than 40 clubs and hotels with many of those
clubs listed as some of the most profitable in the entire state of New South
Wales.

“The facts show our community has a major problem with problem gambling
and we cannot just continue to ignore it. We must invest money into
programs which can help problem gamblers”, said Andrew Rohan.

It’s estimated the program will cost $100,000.

• Death of Lina Yakubova shocks Assyrian community worldwide
• Death comes a week after the shock death of Dr Donny George

Young Assyrian movie maker Lina Yakubova has died at a hospital in Los Angeles. It’s believed the cause of death was from undiagnosed liver cancer. she was 35 years of age.

• ‘Independent’ investigation into council misconduct was reviewed by a former ‘Labor mayor’.

 A flyer which was today being distributed to thousands of households in the Smithfield Electorate areas of Smithfield, Greystanes, and Wetherill Park has created a storm in the Assyrian community.

The political flyer states alleged facts about the Liberal Party candidate Andrew Rohan.  One of the facts states Mr Andrew Rohan was a director of the Assyrian Australian Association (AAA) and Nineveh Club when it went into liquidation.

Assyrian Levies president Gaby Kiwarkis had been called into council for a meeting and told he should make changes to the wording on the plaque because it was mentioning Turkey.