Bob Carr to launch pro-Labor Muslim initiative in western Sydney

Former foreign minister and onetime NSW premier Bob Carr has thrown his weight behind a group set up by prominent Islamic community leader Dr Jamal Rifi to bolster federal ministers Tony Burke and Jason Clare in two critical western Sydney seats ahead of the next election.

Rifi, who has extensive networks among Arabic-speaking communities in south-west Sydney, is the convenor of the recently formed Friends of Burke, which Carr will launch on September 19 in Punchbowl.

“Tony Burke has been the most consistent supporter of decent policy towards Palestine and he deserves the support that Jamal is offering him; I want to encourage that process,” Carr, a strong supporter of Palestinian rights, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Former premier Bob Carr and Dr Jamal Rifi have joined forces for minister Tony Burke.

Rifi said Friends of Burke would deploy tactics similar to those used by community independent candidates at the last election, with an emphasis on personal networks and “kitchen table” conversations in voters’ homes.

He said the campaign would aim to boost not just support for Burke, who was recently appointed home affairs and immigration minister, but also for Education Minister Jason Clare, who holds the neighbouring seat of Blaxland. He denied he was seeking to torpedo Muslim independents poised to campaign against Labor over Gaza and Palestine, saying “It’s going to be a show of force... [but] it’s not against anyone”.

Clare and Burke hold their seats on what were once considered comfortable margins of 15 per cent. But both electorates are home to a sizeable proportion of Muslim voters, among whom anger continues to grow about the scale of Israel’s reprisals on Gaza following the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas. (In Watson, about 24 per cent of the population follows the Islamic faith, and in Blaxland, about 30 per cent).

Fifteen per cent margins no longer look so comfortable following Labor’s shock loss of the western Sydney seat of Fowler to independent Dai Le in the May 2022 election, when she achieved an 18 per cent swing.

Two nascent movements – The Muslim Vote and Muslim Votes Matter – have sprung up to harness anger about Gaza along with more general grievances on the cost of living and housing.

In Watson, Dr Ziad Basyouny has gained the endorsement of The Muslim Vote running as an independent, telling The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that people in the electorate are not feeling listened to. “We’ve been voting for federal Labor since the inception of the seat, yet we don’t get the carrots, we get the stick”.

He was recently forced to clarify social media posts that appeared to celebrate the October 7 attacks, outraging the Jewish community, and has since been at pains to state that he “abhors” attacks on civilians.

A Friends of Burke flyer prepared for the formal launch later this month says the minister has been “erroneously branded as weak on Palestinian rights”, and lists what it describes as 11 “pro-Palestinian” decisions the Albanese government has made since coming to office.

Burke told this masthead: “Jamal Rifi and the supporters he has gathered are all tireless community leaders who I’ve seen working for our local community for 20 years. I’m really grateful for the support and the campaign they have started”.

As well as the hot button issue of Gaza, Burke is facing daily protests from a 24-hour vigil outside his electorate office from a group of refugees (largely of Tamil and Iranian background) who’ve been stranded in the country for years without permanent visas. The vigils commenced a month ago when Burke took over home affairs and immigration, and he’s had to plead with protesters to cease the drumming and chanting which has disturbed nearby residences and businesses.

Refugee advocate Jane Salmon says Burke is being forced to walk a “fascinating line in western Sydney, where he has got to look supportive of refugees, particularly people from Palestine, while at the same time trying to be Dutton-light on borders”.