- 6 minutes ago
Australian Story - Season 31 Episode 15 - A Seat at the Table Mohamed Semra
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:15Hello, Mohamed Semra is an impressive man making a big impact but he's had to overcome more than
00:22most along the way. He's just 27 and he's one of the country's youngest mayors. He runs a local
00:29council in Melbourne's dynamic inner west. He came to Australia as a refugee from Sudan
00:35and he knows there's a lot riding on whether he fails or succeeds.
00:43It's now my great pleasure to introduce our Mayor, Councillor Mohamed Semra.
00:50I was advised that I should change my name, that I'm not going to be elected with a name
00:56like Mohamed because it's not Australian. On behalf of the city of Melbourne, I welcome
01:01you all, especially those becoming Australian citizens today. I am Australian and I love
01:08my country and I want to contribute to its betterment. Congratulations.
01:15We don't really see people that look like us in higher places and that's really important.
01:27African mums, they always point him out and say, this is Mohamed, he's the mayor, he's a role model.
01:37I wish I was in high school seeing that my mayor looked like me and looked like one of my
01:43brothers
01:43because it means that that now opens a door that maybe I didn't even know was available
01:47to me. Being the first to do something is difficult and it's hard but I've always wanted to sit at
01:57the table.
01:58If my mum can travel all the way from Sudan not knowing how any of it was going to turn
02:04out,
02:04then I could pull my hands up for local government.
02:16Now I know how ABCs, next time when she sing along with me.
02:26Yay, high five. Good job. I came to Australia three years old with my mother and my five siblings.
02:36We came as Sudanese refugees. It was no longer safe for us to be there.
02:44Because I'm a mother and father, sometimes, for my kids. It's hard for me.
02:53I'm at my sister's house, expecting my brother and there's another four siblings that can't make it today.
03:00Everyone gets very, very busy.
03:07My mum will show you the men's leadership, you know, coming to a whole new country not knowing what to
03:11expect,
03:11not knowing how she was going to be received.
03:13It smells beautiful, as always.
03:18Mohammed is a very, very good boy. The best Mohammed.
03:26Thank you mum.
03:27This is the best tasting meat you can ever have. I'm not being biased just because I'm Sudanese.
03:32The thing with Mohammed is, he always tell the truth.
03:36Even as kids, like, he never lied.
03:38Never lied.
03:39He never lies, yeah.
03:42Them, the other kids, like, Mohammed's not like.
03:44Yeah, we'll tell, like, a little while I lie as a mother.
03:48Okay. Yeah? MashaAllah. That's so good.
03:51He was a bit of a nerd.
03:53He was a big nerd as, when he was younger.
03:57While we would watch cartoons and things, he would be like, no, okay, guys, let's, let's put the news or,
04:04like, let's watch the history.
04:05Let's, let's see what's going on in the world.
04:07And as kids, we didn't want, we didn't want to watch the news, you know.
04:11Be careful your arm, mate. You play around too much.
04:13When I was younger, I wanted to be a lawyer. And if I didn't be a lawyer, I wanted to
04:18become a basketball player.
04:22Alright, alright, alright. Let's start again. I was getting my flick around.
04:25In my teenage years, I was a bit of a troublemaker.
04:30But I think it was me kind of acting out a bit, because I did grow up with a very
04:35severe stutter.
04:36And it was a debilitating stutter. So every time I would speak, my head would rock and my tongue would
04:41come out.
04:42I always felt like I had a lot to say, but it was frustrating that I couldn't.
04:50Kids will mimic his stuttering to make fun of him.
04:54He went from being shy to being, like, really, let me get them first.
05:02When I was around, you know, 13, 14, 15, I was being bullied at times because of my stutter.
05:11And sometimes I would get into fights. And, you know, there were times where I would get suspended.
05:17And at one point, I almost got expelled.
05:19Let's make it quick. Easy.
05:21This is the park where we always come after school to come and play some ball.
05:25Instead of going and doing something you shouldn't be doing.
05:30Sometimes life can be troublesome. Sometimes things can be happening at home.
05:34But the basketball court is where your boys are. You kick back, you have a laugh.
05:38Then you enjoy yourself.
05:41It's easy to feel like no one is there to support you.
05:45And you might fall into more antisocial behaviour.
05:51That all changed when my English teacher identified that, you know, I was very articulate when it came to writing.
05:58He was lively.
06:02That's the best way to describe him.
06:05But I remember thinking your written work's very good and yet you're not really able to articulate or express it.
06:20I was like, okay, this is a one, two week program. How is it going to fix something I've experienced
06:25my whole life?
06:28They were teaching us techniques to go into the word.
06:33If I was stuck on the word apple, it would go, apple. Right? So it's just that first word, apple.
06:42And I imagine it like a wave.
06:45I saw myself at the beginning of the program, how bad it was, to the end of the program, not
06:53stuttering at all.
06:58I came back to school and for the first time in my life, I could present my English presentation in
07:05front of the whole class.
07:06I could order McDonald's instead of telling my mum and my sister to go for me. So it gave me
07:12a lot of agency.
07:13The work that is being done here is transformative.
07:17Now he's able to do the job that he was, yeah, born to do. Talk.
07:23And we will invest in our young people and the future of our young people. Thank you very much.
07:29I would not be sitting in this chair and I would not be mayor if it wasn't for speech therapy.
07:41In one hand, I had a stutter and that was something only I was going through.
07:46But also, at the same time, I was experiencing racism and that was more of a shared experience.
07:57When I was in year 10, me and my friends decided to go to the Apple store to look at
08:01the new iPhones that had been released at the time.
08:03It happened years ago.
08:05This will all started, eh?
08:08It's definitely when something started.
08:10Two security guards start circling our table and I'm like, you know, is there a problem?
08:17The security guard goes, no, but there's going to be.
08:19Oh, what do you mean by that?
08:21The security guard goes, you know what I mean.
08:25You understand that, you know, certain people are walking around with preconceived notions and ideas about who you are?
08:32We go, let's record what's going on, because we want the world to see this.
08:37There's no reason for this.
08:38These guys are just a bit worried about your presence in our store.
08:42They're just worried you might steal something.
08:45Why don't we steal something?
08:47Why don't we have security?
08:49Guys, guys, end of discussion, end of discussion.
08:52I need to ask you to leave our store.
08:54I remember thinking to myself, oh my goodness.
08:58It was so shocking.
08:59Yeah, not only is it shocking, but we have this on camera.
09:03We had uploaded it online and it went mega viral.
09:09A group of students in Melbourne have accused Apple of being racist.
09:14Ironically, it was all caught on video by an iPhone.
09:18Apple's been forced to apologise after a group of teenage boys was asked to leave a suburban store.
09:26They had issued a public statement, an apology to us.
09:31That was a moment that really taught us what it meant to advocate for yourself.
09:36Stand up for yourself, not let injustice happen.
09:39That day changed everything for me.
09:41It gave us a wider outlook on life.
09:43And it also set the stage for me in joining the school leadership team.
09:50I remember I went and spoke to a year 9 student.
09:55I would have been year 11 and I go to him,
09:57I'm thinking about becoming a school captain and putting my hands up.
10:01And he goes, he laughs at me, he was like,
10:03School captain, that's a white thing.
10:07You know, when did leadership become a white thing?
10:10And so if I wasn't convinced that I was going to run for school captain,
10:15I was after having that conversation.
10:19He spoke as the year 12 captain to probably 1200 students at the time,
10:24spoke eloquently, clearly.
10:25He just blossomed.
10:28When I finished high school, I started volunteering.
10:33I went and joined organisations like the Centre for Multicultural Youth.
10:38Also, I went and volunteered in Uganda.
10:43I never considered politics as a pathway for myself.
10:48Never crossed my mind.
10:49Until mid-2020.
10:57It's the most drastic coronavirus countermeasure yet.
11:01The total lockdown of at least 3,000 residents in public housing towers
11:05in Flemington and North Melbourne, effective immediately.
11:13I met Mohammed in July 2020.
11:16We both had family and friends and community members in the public housing estates.
11:22Locked inside, residents of nine public housing towers are facing a grim reality.
11:28There will be no one going in other than residents who are returning home
11:32and no one will be allowed out.
11:36The residents were talking to us and saying,
11:38I feel like I'm in prison.
11:40In my own home.
11:42I had no phone.
11:44I didn't see my son.
11:45I didn't see my son.
11:47I had no phone.
11:49Bring my son and my phone down.
11:50Give me heart of the girls out of my soul.
11:52A lot of the community went down and volunteered at the local community-run centre.
11:58Hey boys, can I get one more person outside? One more person, yeah?
12:01It was the volunteers who were asking for money to be donated
12:04so that we could send up halal food or culturally appropriate foods.
12:10It was the volunteers who would be receiving health information
12:13and translating it in language.
12:17And it hit me that we need more people on the decision-making table
12:22that represented and reflected the makeup of the community.
12:29And I told myself, I want to run a local council this year.
12:38The city of Maribyrnong is the heart of Melbourne's inner west.
12:45Footscray is at the centre.
12:47It's a real melting pot.
12:52We have more than 80 countries represented
12:55and more than 100 languages.
12:57It has played a big part in who I am and my identity.
13:01I would never move south of the arrow.
13:04I'm born and bred in Maribyrnong and hopefully I'm here until
13:08I can see my kids are kids.
13:11Young people like me aren't supposed to run for office.
13:14I wasn't born to a wealthy...
13:16I ran as an independent.
13:19Because of COVID, 2020 elections looked a lot different.
13:23We weren't allowed to have any gatherings.
13:25We weren't allowed to do any door-knocking.
13:26So I had put my hands up not understanding that no one knew who I was.
13:34I remember when he first ran for council.
13:37He was still young, maybe 21 at that time.
13:40Vote for our community.
13:41Vote for change.
13:43Vote one, Muhammad Sama.
13:45Putting myself out there was very scary.
13:56What happened in the end, I lost.
13:58It was a very public loss.
14:02Obviously, it's a public statement that, you know, your community don't want you to represent them.
14:14The first time I came across Muhammad Semra, I thought, who is this kid?
14:21G'day, how are you going?
14:22Come on in.
14:23I was a newly elected Member of Parliament and Muhammad had started Endeavour Youth Australia.
14:32Endeavour Youth Australia is a business I started in 2021.
14:35We go out into schools and we run workshops and programs on confidence building,
14:41communication strategies and leadership development.
14:46When most 20-year-olds are off having a great time,
14:50Muhammad was focused on lifting up other young people.
14:56It's 2023, a year out from the next council elections and I wasn't going to run.
15:04Then I was invited to a business leaders lunch with President Barack Obama.
15:10I was one of four young people that was invited.
15:13One thing that stuck with me was he shared his experience of losing his first congressional race.
15:20And I didn't think Obama lost.
15:25I remember the win.
15:30I told myself that I owed it to my community and I owed it to myself to go for it
15:38again.
15:39Hey guys, my name is Muhammad Semra.
15:41I'm currently running as an independent for the upcoming Malvolong City Council elections.
15:44And if I'm elected, I want to prioritise supporting our small businesses because they are the background of our economy.
15:50I was up against candidates that had support and machines behind them.
15:56I would say it was me, my mum and my brother.
16:01As you can see, we have potholes in the area that have gone unadressed for a very long time.
16:08I looked on a lot of doors.
16:10I would say probably door-knocked more than 80% of the houses in my ward.
16:15See, it's raining.
16:16And I'm out here trying to door-knock.
16:18It was hailing and some stranger offered me the umbrella.
16:23Some people, very nice.
16:26When Muhammad is coming, oh, Muhammad, you're beautiful, you're handsome.
16:31We like your colour, we like your perfume.
16:35Some people, they say like this.
16:37Some people, go away, you're black.
16:40We don't need you.
16:41Over the past two weeks, I've had 15 of my places either defaced, taken down or destroyed.
16:46It is this hardening...
16:47As an older sister, that was really difficult for me to see.
16:51And I would say it was heartbreaking.
16:53Hey guys, the time has come.
16:55You will receive your ballot in the mail.
16:57The first time he ran, he wasn't successful and I was worried that this would be a deterrent.
17:02But Muhammad surprised us all and came back swinging.
17:05I hereby declare Muhammad Semra as elected councillor.
17:08When the news came out, it was the biggest thing that has ever happened to me before.
17:15Hey guys, I have some good news.
17:17I've been elected to Melbourne on City Council.
17:19Start jumping up and down and celebrating.
17:22This is a journey that we're definitely going to go on together.
17:25But the weight of the responsibility, I think, also came with the excitement.
17:34Walking into Town Hall as a councillor is, you know, how do I put it into words?
17:44You think about the table your whole life, the decision-making table, and understanding that you are now a key
17:51part of that.
17:52All of that came to my mind.
17:55Hey guys, Muhammad Semra here. Just got sworn in to Melbourne on City Council with my wonderful councillors.
18:00We both thought, there's no way we're going to get an African person elected here, let alone get two Africans
18:05elected in Melbourne.
18:06Hello world!
18:09For a long time the council had been Labour dominated, and what's changed this time is that we have more
18:16variety of voices on council.
18:20We have three people that came in as Labour.
18:24We have three people that came in as Greens.
18:27And we have Mohammed, an Independent.
18:30I didn't know what swing vote meant, what balance of power is, and suddenly I found myself, you know, holding
18:38balance of power.
18:38You could say he absolutely became very popular, yeah. Suddenly.
18:44Put your hands up if you wish to vote for Councillor Tiwari as Mayor.
18:50In that first meeting I had the deciding vote. The most important seat at the table.
18:54I would like to declare Councillor Tiwari elected to the Office of Mayor for the City of Maribyrnong.
19:10After a year as councillor, last November, when we had our second mayoral elections, I felt like I was ready.
19:20Do I have any other nominations?
19:22I'd like to nominate Councillor Mohammed Simra.
19:25I'm a big believer that you should never wait for permission to lead.
19:29Before I put up my hands for this role, I sat with three questions.
19:34Can I do it? Should I do it? And will Maribyrnong be better off for it?
19:39Some may have suggested that he should consider putting his hand up later in the term, or maybe another term,
19:47because he's quite young.
19:49The answer is yes.
19:50You never know how it's going to go, right? You never know how it's going to go until you're in
19:54the chamber and everyone raises their hand.
19:56Please vote for Councillor Simra, councillors that wish to.
20:01All right. I will now declare Councillor Simra, the new mayor of the City of Maribyrnong, with five votes. Congratulations.
20:12When they give him the robe, I'm very happy. I'm very, very happy.
20:24It was really surreal just to see him in that space. And I always think back to how he was
20:29as a kid and where he came and the drive that he had and the challenges that he faced. And
20:36I was so proud of him.
20:41These chains are heavier than I expected.
20:44You know what they say, you know, great power comes great responsibility.
20:54Our mayor, Councillor Simra.
20:57Hello.
20:59Congratulations.
21:00Being mayor is definitely a pinch me feeling.
21:02High five. Good boy.
21:04I wasn't expecting this, obviously, you know, going into council, you're going in blind, but it never feels like a
21:10chore.
21:11Happy birthday. How are you?
21:13This is the mayor.
21:14You wouldn't believe she's 100. When I walked in, I thought she was sporty.
21:20I've learnt a lot over the past year. I'm very intentional about how do I want to make people feel.
21:25A lot of the time people forget everything you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel.
21:29Ready, set, go.
21:39Lovely to meet you.
21:40Likewise.
21:40Are you famous?
21:42I would say famous, but I'm the mayor of the city of Melbourne.
21:46Oh.
21:46Do you live around here?
21:48Yeah, I live in Pittsburgh.
21:49Sometimes you feel like a celebrity and it's cute.
21:52I live in Brunswick.
21:53But you're never not the mayor, if that makes sense.
21:58Why are you putting us in the spotlight?
22:01Being visibly African, Muslim and a young person, I'm representing so many people other than myself.
22:10And if I succeed, then it will open up the door for so many after me.
22:15But if I fail, a lot of communities will feel that as well.
22:20There you go.
22:21I definitely think there's an intense pressure and also more eyes on him.
22:26He's one of the more well known mayors because he's the first, the only, the different.
22:32What happens when you can't please everyone?
22:38There goes our suburb.
22:40What's wrong with this country?
22:41They just let anyone run it now.
22:43We don't want you here.
22:45Islam equals mental illness.
22:49Zero credentials but got the right colour.
22:53Since becoming mayor, there's been a lot of Islamophobia.
22:57Ah great, another Muslim in power.
22:59This is the infiltration.
23:01Are home invasions first on the agenda or machete attacks?
23:07Sometimes when you open up Facebook and you look at the comments, you think, what is this world?
23:16Someone goes, traitor, Pauline will rectify this country at the next election.
23:22There are people out there that are not comfortable with a black man, a Muslim, in the position I am
23:30today.
23:31And it's my job to make them more comfortable.
23:39I love that he is still living at home with his mum.
23:44I think mum probably keeps it real.
23:53This is the home that I grew up in.
23:55This is the most aesthetic thing.
23:59Living here with my mum, my brother, his family.
24:06And it's homes for your home.
24:08It's all I've known growing up.
24:10Me and my brother have our coffee different.
24:13He mainly has it with hot water.
24:15I do it with milk but today.
24:18I'm trying it his way.
24:21There's nothing more important to me than family.
24:25When I get married, I'm obviously going to go off and start my own life and everything.
24:30So until then it's good to be with the family in a time where everything is so crazy in the
24:35world.
24:36What does the dancer say?
24:39Huh?
24:41There's no new Muhammad.
24:42Like you know me?
24:43Like you know when someone's like, new fame, new phone, new me?
24:47I don't see that.
24:54He's working with a team who, you know, some of whom probably didn't think he should have put his hand
25:01up in the first place.
25:02I will now put the motion to vote.
25:04Counselors, please cast a vote.
25:06But now he's, you know, having to work and collaborate with them.
25:10Individually, I have no power.
25:12I'm an independent.
25:13And the council was seven decision makers.
25:16I'm sure of hands.
25:17I declare the motion carried.
25:19He's not edging towards Greens, he's not edging towards Labour.
25:22He's kind of, you know, edging towards both sides at particular times.
25:28How I look at it is, where is the compromise where we can all live with it?
25:36And sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.
25:39You know, I think leadership is also making tough decisions.
25:44A group of residents in Melbourne's inner west is pushing back against a proposal to build a new sporting stadium
25:51to meet growing demand.
25:54One of my main priorities is to secure investment for our indoor stadium at Makaiwa Reserve.
26:00Because it's all essentially going to happen here.
26:03So it will come up possibly to this tree here and then take up a bit of that car park.
26:08In the previous council term, there were protests because some trees will need to be cut down for the stadium
26:16to be built.
26:18But I know the importance of basketball in my life and that there are hundreds of young people that are
26:24on the waitlist for community sports.
26:26Smiling?
26:27Yep. Smiling.
26:28Okay.
26:29Let's go.
26:29I want to update you on Makaiwa Reserve Stadium.
26:33And it's a big one for local sport.
26:35I know very well, whatever I say today, there are people that are going to be upset.
26:41But the stadium will only make up 3.3% of the entire Makaiwa Reserve.
26:48There's demand for it now and that will only increase into the future.
26:51So let's get it done and let's give our kids the chance they need to play.
26:55There is still a strong community out there that are not wanting the stadium built on pure green space.
27:03Would that be my first choice? No.
27:05I like it. Yeah. That's the one.
27:07Me too.
27:08This is one of those decisions where, you know, tough choices need to be made.
27:13I'm never going to make everyone happy.
27:15And if I try to make everyone happy, I make no one happy.
27:25So I've been chosen as one of three mayors to join the mural delegation to come down to Canberra
27:29and promote the Make Good Campaign, Make Good Happen.
27:34So over the next few days, we're going to be meeting with MPs, ministers.
27:38Hello.
27:38Hello, how are you? How are you going?
27:40Good, thank you.
27:40I'm Lisa Darmanent, Senator from Victoria.
27:43Mohammed Semra, Mayor of the city of Melbourne.
27:44Nice to meet you.
27:45Yeah. I'm London the blazer.
27:47Oh, thank you.
27:47Yeah. So I'm Sudanese.
27:49Sudanese.
27:50Sudanese, yeah. I was born in Sudan, came in Australia.
27:52You have a very Australian accent now.
27:54Yeah.
27:55Love that, love that.
27:56Congratulations for becoming a mayor, because that's not easy.
27:58Yeah.
27:59And doing it at such a young age.
28:00I'm 27.
28:0127.
28:02So I'm slowly ageing out, but...
28:06You're still young.
28:06I'm 62.
28:07I'm at the other end.
28:08Oh, you don't look 62.
28:09Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:09I'm nearly there.
28:10I've been honest, I'm excited.
28:12I'm excited to be a part of this.
28:13You know, to be a part of something that's bigger than myself, bigger than my council.
28:16The politics in these spaces.
28:18We're one of the most financially sustainable councils in Victoria, which makes us, you know,
28:23in a good position to be a partner, to stay in for the government.
28:25He's highly regarded within government.
28:30The Victorian Premier said to me recently, gee, he's impressive.
28:36He's exactly the sort of person we need in that kind of role.
28:41There were times where I could have given up.
28:44I could have said it's not worth it.
28:45Yeah.
28:45It will make a huge difference to see someone from African heritage background in Federal
28:52Parliament.
28:53Please.
28:54Yeah.
28:55So the thought does creep in.
28:57Is this a ceiling I could break?
28:59I don't know.
29:00It's a bit awkward always when I go and ask him for money.
29:02But.
29:05Did he say money?
29:07There's no money.
29:0879 councils are supportive of this.
29:11Obviously right now, the most important thing for me is getting the best outcomes for
29:15Melbourne on, but ask Mohammed maybe in 20 years.
29:20Let's take a selfie.
29:22There's discipline there.
29:24He's got very thick skin.
29:25I think the experience of the speech impediment, Apple, just being a black boy in Australia,
29:36has created a lot of resilience in him.
29:40But if you can survive that, you can survive anything really, right?
29:43Yeah.
29:56Sure enough, everyone let's listen to it.!
29:59some unknowns. Say
29:59please, listen to it. Yeah.
30:15Hello?
30:15wah- vä! No!
30:17Get your
30:18blah will what you can hear. Yeah!
30:19Him!
30:22I love
30:22you! I love
30:23You
Comments