Karl Bitar | |
|---|---|
| National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party | |
| In office 17 October 2008 – 8 April 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Tim Gartrell |
| Succeeded by | George Wright |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Labor |
Karl Bitar was the 9th National Secretary of theAustralian Labor Party and former General Secretary ofNSW Labor. He now works as an executive forCrown Limited.[1]
Between 1999 and 2004, Bitar worked as an organiser for NSW Labor.[citation needed]
He was then elevated to Assistant General Secretary of NSW Labor in 2004 before becoming General Secretary in 2007.[citation needed] In his role as General Secretary, Bitar acted as NSW Campaign Director at the2007 federal election.
Bitar then succeededTim Gartrell as National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party in 2008.[2] As National Secretary, he oversaw the2010 Australian federal election campaign which left Labor in minority government. Several sources at the time credited Bitar for the poor result.[3][2][4] However, Bitar largely cited other factors, including expectations of a Labor win, the media's failure to properly scrutiniseTony Abbott, the leaks andMark Latham, as issues that led to the result.[3] The campaign review found his specific efforts in NSW largely helped Labor gain victory.[2] Bitar resigned as National Secretary in 2011.[5]
He is a member of theright faction.[2]
Bitar is ofLebanese descent and is aMelkiteCatholic.[6]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch) 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party 2008–2011 | Succeeded by |
 | This article about an Australian Labor Party politician is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |