Liberal Party plotting deal with pro-Palestine Muslim Vote movement

The Liberal Party is plotting a preference deal with the pro-Palestine Muslim Vote movement in an effort to oust senior minister and possible future PM Tony Burke from his south west Sydney seat.

The Liberal Party is plotting a preference deal with the pro-Palestine Muslim Vote movement in an effort to oust senior minister and possible future PM Tony Burke from his south west Sydney seat.

The Daily Telegraph understands Muslim Vote-backed candidate Dr Ziad Basyouny and representatives of the Liberal Party have been in talks with a view to both Dr Ziad and the Liberals putting Labor last on their how-to-vote cards in the Home Affairs Minister’s seat of Watson.

SIndependent candidate for the seat of Watson Dr Ziad Basyouny`. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The seat — named after Labor’s first prime minister — is centred around Punchbowl and Lakemba and more than one in four voters are Muslim.

Sources have told the Telegraph that while no final decision has been made, there have been “ongoing discussions” and “a lot of discussions in the background” and that the Liberals were expected to put The Muslim Vote candidate ahead of Labor.

“Labor will be most likely last on the (Liberal) how-to-vote card,” one source said.

Another source from a different camp said: “They talked strategy and exchange of preferences and putting Labor last.”

This could be potentially catastrophic for Labor, with sources saying Dr Ziad was polling at about 15 to 20 per cent of the vote.

If Dr Ziad polls higher than the Greens candidate, he will knock them out and likely receive the bulk of their preferences.

C Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke. Picture: ABC NEWS

If that then puts him ahead of the Liberal candidate, they then drop out and if their preferences flow to him over Labor it could put him neck and neck with the Home Affairs Minister and possibly even knock the long-time leadership aspirant out of his seat.

The Labor camp is deeply concerned that despite Mr Burke winning Watson solely on primary votes at the last election, if there is any drop below 50 per cent he could be in trouble because he essentially has to beat the combined vote of the next three biggest candidates.

The Daily Telegraph has been told influential Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun is acting as the go-between for the Liberal Party, at the behest of moderate factional leaders. Cr Mannoun could not be reached for comment.

Sources close to The Muslim Vote movement believe that even if Mr Burke survives at this election he will be ousted at the next, cruelling his leadership ambitions.

The movement is determined to put Labor last, but only in seats where it thinks its candidate can win. It is understood it will not support candidates in seats where so-doing could result in the Liberals being elected — such as Andrew Charlton’s seat of Parramatta.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton at the Youth Development Foundation. Picture: NewsWire/John Gass

Supporting independents targeting Labor MPs has clear benefit for the Liberal Party. If the Coalition wins more seats than Labor does in a hung parliament it will have a better chance of stitching together a minority government.

However doing a deal with The Muslim Vote will raise eyebrows among many in Peter Dutton’s Coalition, given his outspoken pro-Israel stance, sharp criticism of the government for taking in Palestinian refugees and professed support for the Jewish community.

Likewise The Muslim Vote movement is openly hostile to Peter Dutton, condemning his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict and past rhetoric as inflammatory.

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Originally published as Liberal Party plotting deal with pro-Palestine Muslim Vote movement