Tony Bleasdale
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Brad Bunting
Christopher Quilkey
Emeritus Mayor Tony Bleasdale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Blacktown | |
| In office 14 October 2019 – 3 May 2024 | |
| Deputy | Julie Griffiths Brad Bunting Christopher Quilkey |
| Preceded by | Stephen Bali |
| Succeeded by | Brad Bunting |
| Deputy Mayor of Blacktown | |
| In office 17 September 2016 – 9 October 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Kathie Collins |
| Succeeded by | Julie Griffiths |
| Councillor of the City of Blacktown | |
| In office November 1996 – 3 May 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1946 Liverpool, Huyton, England |
| Died | (aged 77) |
| Party | Labor |
| Spouse | Nina Bleasdale |
| Relations | Alan Bleasdale (cousin) Kristina Keneally (cousin) |
| Children | 4 |
| Occupation | Trade Union Official, Businessman |
Anthony John Bleasdale (1946 – 3 May 2024) was an Australian politician who served as a Labor councillor on Blacktown City Council from 1996. He was Deputy Mayor from 2016 to 2019 and Mayor of Blacktown from October 2019 until his death in May 2024.[1][2]
Bleasdale succeeded Stephen Bali as mayor at an extraordinary council meeting in October 2019 and was re-elected unopposed on 9 September 2020.[3][4]
In the 2010 Australia Day Honours, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for “service to the community as a supporter of charitable organisations, and to local government in the Blacktown area.”[5][6][7]
Migration to Australia
Bleasdale was born in Huyton, Merseyside, England, to Frank Bleasdale, a docker at the Port of Liverpool, and May Bleasdale. He was one of eight children. He was educated at St Columba’s Catholic Primary School and Woolfall Heath Secondary Modern School.
He was related to screenwriter Alan Bleasdale and was a distant cousin of former Premier of New South Wales Kristina Keneally.
At the age of 16, Bleasdale emigrated to Australia under the auspices of the Big Brother Movement, a charitable organisation that assisted young British migrants. His decision was influenced in part by the 1956 film Smiley, starring Chips Rafferty.[8]
He initially undertook training at what is now Calmsley Hill City Farm in Abbotsbury, New South Wales,[9] and worked on the Borg family farm at Quakers Road, Marayong, in the City of Blacktown.
