Liberal deal for Muslim votes rings hypocritical

The Coalition has picked a side in western Sydney with the Muslim Votes movement, and it is not the side they are telling people they’re on, writes Joe Hildebrand.

Six months ago, Peter Dutton said the Muslim Vote’s star candidate Ziad Basyouny had no place in our national parliament after he shared a celebratory social media post in the wake of the October 7 terror attack.

The Opposition Leader told 2GB radio: “People of that character don’t deserve to be in the Australian parliament.”

Today, his party is helping to make Ziad Basyouny an MP.

These are two barefaced facts. And if anyone can reconcile them, they must have a smarter mind or slipperier morals than me.

I have no dislike for either man or either side, but it is clear that the preference deals being negotiated in the communities of South Western Sydney, already so energised and angry about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, represent a new low in political opportunism.

Independent candidate for the seat of Watson Dr Ziad Basyouny chats with a local community member after he announced his candidacy at a press conference in Greenacre on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

For anyone who missed it, this story is a gathering storm that has enraged and outraged traditional Liberals, many of whom are dear friends despite my obstinate support of the Labor Party.

Indeed, I have been told that several Liberal figures have offered to work with Labor to kill the deal because they know just how damaging it will be to them at the upcoming election.

So let’s take a look at the facts.

Member Watson and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is under threat from the Muslim Votes movement

As I revealed in this masthead on Friday, amid the flurry of Cyclone Alfred bearing down on the east coast, Liberal operatives have been in talks with the Muslim Vote movement about putting Labor last in South Western Sydney seats.

This means that the Muslim Vote would preference Liberal ahead of Labor and – more critically – the Liberal Party preferencing the Muslim Vote candidate(s) ahead of Labor. And this means that in seats such as Watson, held by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Dr Ziad has a strong chance of actually winning.

Because despite Watson being a safe-as-houses Labor seat on paper, if the pro-Palestine Dr Ziad polls above the Greens – as I am told he currently is – he will pick up the lion’s share of their preferences.

That would put him ahead of the Liberal candidate, and if their preferences were directed to Dr Ziad as per their prospective how-to-vote card that may well put him over the line and make him the next Member for Watson.

Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton during a briefing with Morton Bay Council disaster management as a result of ex cyclone Alfred, Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

That is all fair enough in a free and fair election. But it certainly does not square with what Mr Dutton and the Coalition have been telling the Jewish community and the Australian public about their resolute support for Israel and diehard opposition to anti-Semitism in our suburbs.

My personal opinion doesn’t matter much in such ancient and continuing conflicts as the Middle East has long been a sorry home to.

But it is a delicate and dangerous intersection we are at when a movement defines itself solely as a vessel for one particular religion on the basis of supporting one particular side in a centuries-old war on the other side of the globe.

I have enormous sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people, just as I have a resolute support for the right of Israel to exist as part of a two-state solution alongside Palestine.

Likewise the human horror of October 7 and its aftermath can never be excused or forgotten.

People will accuse me, as they often do, of being too moderate or centrist. Of not picking a side.

That is fair enough too.

But the Coalition has picked a side, and it is not the side they are telling people they’re on.

The Muslim Vote has every right to run candidates at this election – or merely “support” them as the official rhetoric goes (hello, teals!)

But for the Coalition to do secret deals with them while openly spouting pro-Israeli rhetoric is the ultimate in political gaslighting.

Australian Muslims are among the most hardworking and decent family-oriented citizens we have.

Their votes should not be used as proxies for a foreign war.

But it is a far greater disgrace for the Liberal Party to be covertly fanning these flames while publicly pretending to be fighting the fire.

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Originally published as Liberal deal for Muslim votes rings hypocritical