‘Not a good day’: Should Anthony Albanese call a Passover election?

Among political insiders, April 12 has for months been discussed as the hot tip for federal election day. It would allow the Albanese government to skip holding a budget in late March while avoiding any overlap with the March 8 West Australian state election or the Easter and Anzac Day long weekends.

Complicating this logic is the fact that the evening of April 12 is the beginning of Passover, one of the most significant dates on the Jewish calendar. Adding to the sensitivities around the date is the surge of antisemitic attacks over the past 15 months and Labor’s increasingly strained relations with significant sections of the Jewish community.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said he would advise against an election on Passover.Credit: James Brickwood

These tensions were on display on Thursday, when Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who is Jewish, was heckled at a forum on antisemitism hosted by Sky News.

There are mixed views in the community about whether it would be problematic to hold an election on April 12, with some Jewish leaders perturbed by the prospect and others distinctly unbothered.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of peak body the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, says Passover is “a big deal” for the Jewish community, exceeded only by the holy day of Yom Kippur.

“It’s a pinnacle of family gatherings for the Jewish community and a frenzied day,” says Ryvchin, who has been critical of the government. “People spend all day cooking and preparing.”

Ryvchin acknowledges that Passover would not usually be a major consideration given only about 100,000 Australians identify as Jewish. But this year emotions are high, and many Jewish Australians feel on edge, he says.

“If the prime minister called and asked me, I’d say: ‘This wouldn’t be a good day’,” he says. “This is the most significant election in the history of our community, and we want to be able to fully participate in it.”

While religiously observant and orthodox Jews are used to voting ahead of election day because elections fall on Saturdays (the Sabbath), Ryvchin says more secular Jews like himself also celebrate Passover.

Holding an election on this date, Ryvchin says, “would not be crushing, but it would not be ideal”.

Other dates also pose difficulties for the election. Easter falls this year on April 20, which is a Sunday, making surrounding days public holidays. April 25, which is a Friday, is Anzac Day.

Governments almost always avoid calling elections on public holiday weekends because the public is distracted, and many people are away from their home electorates.

A spokesperson for the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies also called for Albanese to resist an April 12 election, saying: “Holding an election on Passover would impact on the ability of the Jewish community to participate in election day activities.

“Now, more than ever, the Jewish community wants to play its part in the political process, and it would be disappointing if this was prevented by the timing of the election.”

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria was contacted for comment. Ryvchin’s and the board of deputies’ view is not universally shared, though, according to several Jewish community members who spoke to this masthead.

“It’s not an issue,” one Jewish community leader, who asked not to be named, says. “I don’t think it should be in their calculations. Labor has bigger things to worry about in the Jewish community than whether the election is on Passover.”

This community leader, who is no fan of the Albanese government, says it would have been more problematic if Passover began on Friday evening as this would complicate efforts by Jewish Australians to participate on election day.

Australians of all faiths are becoming increasingly used to voting early. About half of voters voted by a postal or pre-poll vote at the last election.

“I haven’t heard any day-to-day Jews complain about it, and I don’t think it is top of mind at all for the community,” one member of the Jewish community says.

A similar debate erupted when Julia Gillard announced at the start of 2013 that an election would be held on September 14, the day of Yom Kippur.

Then-Labor MP Michael Danby, who is Jewish, said at the time he would not campaign on election day, and Malcolm Turnbull, whose Sydney electorate of Wentworth has a large Jewish community, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the date. Other Jewish leaders said they were unworried and happy to vote early. In the end, Gillard lost the Labor leadership and Kevin Rudd shifted the election to September 7.

An April 12 election would also coincide with the AFL’s Gather Round, when about 46,000 people from interstate travel to South Australia for a fiesta of Aussie Rules.

Given a minimum of 33 days of campaigning is required, Albanese would have to visit Governor-General Sam Mostyn by March 3 to hold an election on April 5. That would avoid any controversy over Passover and rule out the need for a budget, but would include a week’s crossover with the WA state election.

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