The Muslim Vote Pty Ltd’s sole director revealed as expert predicts six ALP seats could fall

Behind the Islamic political movement that threatens Anthony Albanese’s grip on power is a corporate structure whose sole director can be revealed for the first time.

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This is the man officially at the wheel of the new Islamic political movement that is targeting Labor in the same way the teals took aim at the Coalition at the last election.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Mouhammed Kanan of Canterbury is the sole director of The Muslim Vote Pty Ltd.

Mr Kanan is also the controlling shareholder of Community 200 Pty Ltd, a name that echoes Climate 200 – the fundraising entity behind the teals.

When approached by The Telegraph, Mr Kanan said he had no previous experience in politics or political campaigns.

Asked what his work was, he replied: “I’m just a driver.”

Mouhammed Kanan, sole director of The Muslim Vote Pty Ltd. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

But he was not the driving force behind The Muslim Vote, saying the movement was being guided by “the community”.

“We will see what the community wants,” he said.

Mr Kanan is listed as the registrant of the website community200.com.au.

He initially claimed to be unaware of Community 200 but later referred to it.

The Muslim Vote only came into being on July 1, records show; Community 200 was incorporated a month ago.

The Muslim Vote takes its name from a UK political movement which cost Britain’s new Starmer Labour government as many as five seats in last week’s election.

While Mr Kanan suggested The Muslim Vote is waiting to see what the community wants, its website tells a different story.

“The Muslim Vote alone is capable of forcing the current government into minority government,” themuslimvote.com.au declares.

The stated aim is “justice for Palestine” and that high-ranking members of Anthony Albanese’s team, such as Tony Burke and Jason Clare, will be targeted for failing to condemn “Israel by name for its war crimes in Gaza.

Tony Burke and Jason Clare during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire’s Martin Ollman

Those two Labor cabinet ministers represent Western Sydney electorates where more than a quarter of people are Muslim.

Sources with knowledge of Sydney’s voting patterns said Mr Burke, the Employment and Workplace Relations Minister, would face a battle to hold on to his seat

Australian election analyst and former Labor senator John Black said the Albanese government is in “serious danger of copping what happened to Labour in the UK.”

Mr Black told The Telegraph the weak primary votes for the major parties and “indifferent leaders” had created the preconditions for a repeat of what the teals did at the last election.

“I think there is a wake-up call there for the Labor Party.”

He said Mr Burke was most vulnerable.

“And Jason Clare is the other one,” he added, although it was not unrealistic for “strategic voting” to wipe out as many as six Labor members – mostly in Sydney but some in Melbourne too.

The Muslim Vote has said it would announce candidates as soon as this week.

It has already said it supports WA Senator Fatima Payman, who quit Labor last week to sit on the crossbench as an independent, after being suspended from the ALP for defying the party and crossing the floor of the upper house to vote in favour of a motion supporting Palestinian statehood.

Senator Fatima Payman at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire’s Martin Ollman

The Muslim Vote is a subsidiary of a company called WMO Holdings, which has three directors.

Two of those directors are also directors of the Abu Hanifa Institute, which champions the work of Sheikh Wesam Charkawi – an expert in Islamic sacred law.

The Muslim Vote website was registered by IPBLCollege Incorporated, whose public officer is Sheikh Charkawi.

The Telegraph rang the phone number and emailed the address on themuslimvote.com.au but there was no response.

The Muslim Vote says it is not a political party. It is not registered with the Australian Electoral Commission.

Analysis

Pundits have suggested there are similarities between what The Muslim Vote could do to Labor at the next poll and what the teals did to the Liberals at the last.

But when you look underneath the bonnet of The Muslim Vote, as I have, you don’t just see similarities.

You see mimicry.

One of the corporate entities recently created to support The Muslim Vote is called Community 200.

At the last election, a key source of funding for teal candidates was Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200.

Climate 200 group founder Simon Holmes à Court was one of the undisclosed donors to Mr Dempsey's 2022 election campaign.

In a way, the Climate 200 name was yet another dig at the Liberals, because Mr Holmes a Court had once been heavily involved in Kooyong 200, which was the fundraising vehicle for leading Liberal Josh Frydenberg.

Mr Holmes a Court was dumped from Kooyong 200 after he wrote an op-ed in The Guardian in 2018 supporting the closure of AGL’s coal-fired Liddell power station.

Arguably Mr Holmes a Court had the last laugh though, because Mr Frydenberg was the most high-profile scalp claimed by the teals at the 2022 election.

It is unclear if Community 200 will be anywhere near as successful as Climate 200 was in raising funds.

All up, Climate 200 gave nearly $6 million to teal candidates ahead of the last poll.

Community 200 may not need to raise and distribute millions of dollars to achieve its goals.

But it will need to find strong candidates who can whittle down Labor’s primary vote in areas with high shares of Muslim voters.

Tony Burke is susceptible in the seat of Watson, which covers suburbs including Lakemba.

Tony Burke faces a battle to hold on to his seat. Picture: NewsWire’s Martin Ollman

He attracted a majority of the primary vote in 2022.

So counting didn’t go to preferences.

The Muslim Vote will be aiming to ensure preferences are counted next time round.

If it can drag Mr Burke’s primary vote down far enough and assist its chosen candidate in doing preference deals with the Greens and Liberals, the Minister for Employment could find himself out of a job.

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Originally published as The Muslim Vote Pty Ltd’s sole director revealed as expert predicts six ALP seats could fall