[citation needed] In his role as General Secretary, Bitar acted as NSW Campaign Director at the 2007 federal election.
Bitar then succeeded Tim Gartrell as National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party in 2008.
[2] As National Secretary, he oversaw the 2010 Australian federal election campaign which left Labor in minority government.
[3][2][4] However, Bitar largely cited other factors, including expectations of a Labor win, the media's failure to properly scrutinise Tony Abbott, the leaks and Mark Latham, as issues that led to the result.
[3] The campaign review found his specific efforts in NSW largely helped Labor gain victory.