Leila Abukar (Leyla Abuukar)

Who is she?

Leila Abukar is a Somali-Australian political activist born in Somalia between 1974 and 1975 (Wikipedia, Leila Abukar). She attended a private school in Mogadishu (same source). When the civil war began in 1991, her father and eldest brother were killed, and her mother took the family to a UN camp in Kenya (same source). There she worked as a volunteer interpreter, taught children and raised awareness of reproductive health (same source).

In 1997 she moved alone to Australia under a women-at-risk programme, settling in Brisbane, and her family later joined her (same source). See Somalis in Australia.

Study and work

She holds a bachelor's degree, a postgraduate diploma and a master's degree in international relations from the University of Queensland (Wikipedia). She began as an interpreter for the Australian Department of Immigration and later held senior roles in government, councils and non-profits (same source). She has sat on the Queensland Multicultural Roundtable, the Refugees Resettlement Advisory Council and the Council for Multicultural Australia, and campaigned against female genital mutilation (same source).

In 2001 the Australian government awarded her the Centenary Medal for crisis counselling, advocacy and settlement work (same source).

2015 election

At the 2015 Queensland election she stood in Yeerongpilly as a Liberal National Party candidate (Wikipedia). She came second, with 36.7 per cent in the final count against the winner, Mark Bailey (same source; The Tally Room). Had she won, she would have been the first Somali and first Muslim member of the Queensland Parliament (same source).

In short

A former refugee who became a community advocate in Brisbane and stood for the Queensland Parliament in 2015.