‘Devil you know or one you don’t want to’: The fight for Sydney’s west

Multicultural communities are angry at Labor’s response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, but independents face an uphill battle to unseat two senior Labor MPs in Sydney’s west.

Paul KarpNSW political correspondent

Jan 31, 2025 – 1.28pm

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The growing movement of independents running for Australian parliament has a motto: there is no such thing as a safe seat.

Labor’s heartland western Sydney seats are the ultimate testing ground of that claim. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Education Minister Jason Clare both won 65 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote at the 2022 election against Liberal opponents, making theirs among the safest seats in the country.