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Australia’s election: Muslim voters have domestic and international concerns

Muslim voters have domestic and international concerns

SHAFAQNA- Muslim voters heading to the polls for Australia’s federal election have domestic and international concerns on their minds when completing a ballot paper. Far-right extremism and Islamophobia are among the concerns of a majority of Australia’s Muslim voters.

Polls have opened in the Australian election, with a tight contest expected between the incumbent Liberal-National coalition of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the opposition Labor party under Anthony Albanese.

Labor have led opinion polls throughout the six-week campaign, but the gap has narrowed with Morrison’s coalition making up ground ahead of election day. Voting is compulsory in Australia and just over 17.2 million people have enrolled to vote according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

Record numbers of voters have already cast their ballots at early voting centres or via postal votes, and more than half of the total votes had been cast by Friday evening, according to the commission. Polls close across the country at 6pm, which is 08:00 GMT in Sydney and 10:00 GMT on the west coast. The result could be known as soon as Saturday evening.

Issues deemed important to  Australian Muslims

Muslims make up more than 2.5 per cent, or about 600,000, of Australia’s population.

In the countdown to Saturday’s federal election, a survey of 200 people conducted by the Islamic Council of Victoria found more than half had foreign policy front of mind, especially the treatment of Palestinians by Israel and the beleaguered Muslim Uighur minority.

The survey and electoral scorecard, collated via social media and a website called My Vote Matters, listed issues deemed important to Muslim Australians such as Islamophobia, religious freedom, economy, foreign affairs and refugees and where the major political parties stood.

Almost half of voters extremely concerned about far-right extremism

Almost half of voters surveyed across different age groups said they were extremely concerned about far-right extremism.

Council president Adel Salman said there was a feeling of disenchantment in his community, stemming from the federal government’s stance on Islamophobic attacks following the Christchurch massacre.

“The Muslim community has not felt the government has taken the concern of anti-Muslim sentiment and the threat of far-right extremism seriously,” he told AAP.

“We know that Islamophobia kills but also restricts people’s ability to live their lives because they’re afraid they’ll be attacked, vilified or insulted when they go out”.

A changing attitude within western Sydney’s Muslim

Amal Naser initially believed the election was a chance for change, particularly for the Muslim community, and for western Sydney. But as the election enters its final week, Naser now says it is a choice between a “lesser evil” and Scott Morrison.

“No one sees Labor as a party they would feel very incentivised to vote for, except for the fact that they want to vote the Liberal government out,” she says. The 21-year-old law student says that while Labor has a “longstanding relationship” with the Muslim community, that relationship is now “hanging by a thread.”

“There are barely any policies, definitely nothing radical, proposed by the Labor party that is actively mobilising the Muslim community, particularly younger Muslims.” Naser reflects a changing attitude within western Sydney’s Muslim community, one that is less afraid of raising concerns and demanding better representation.

Breaking away from a family tradition of voting Labor

“If the Labor party hadn’t taken our community for granted for so many years, and actively work with our community on the plethora of issues that we face, and a more radical platform, then people might have felt a greater need to vote for them,” she said.

Dr Lobna Yassine, lecturer in social work and policy studies at the University of Sydney, says that she is voting for the Greens at this election, breaking away from a family tradition of voting Labor. “I voted Labor without thought or question because my parents voted Labor,” she said.

“People of my parents’ generation tried very hard to influence policies, without causing too much discomfort or disruption. I think this makes sense in the context of their limited power, and by the fact that they were pretty much limited to the two major parties.” “Liberal positioned as more conservative on issues like immigration, and Labor more compassionate on issues of immigration and welfare policy.”

Sources: theguardian, 7news

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