Charity begins at home: Why Australian politicians must not sacrifice domestic politics for Gaza

Australians should care about the horrors unfolding in Gaza — but their elected representatives must not put foreign policy over domestic matters, writes Angira Bharadwaj.

When rogue Labor Senator Fatima Payman crossed the floor on a motion about Palestine — she was not opposing the government on a matter of conscience but a matter of foreign policy.

That is an indisputable fact because whichever way you cut it — the actions of any MP or individual here in Australia will not in and of itself end the suffering of millions of innocent Gazans in the Middle East.

As one senior Labor source I spoke with this week put it: “When the Israelis pull the tanks out of Gaza or the hostages are released, Fatima Payman wouldn’t have anything to do with it one way or another.”

I have no doubt that Ms Payman, a young Muslim-Australian who fled war-torn Afghanistan as a child, feels strongly about the horrific human suffering in Gaza.

Watching images of tiny dead bodies pulled from homes turned to rubble are brutal and rightly inspire a sense of horror.

Senator Fatima Payman needs to learn the difference between conscience and foreign policy. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

And that horror is shared by many of her colleagues and many in my own home of Western Sydney.

But what she and those putting foreign affairs above domestic social cohesion are forgetting is that we all came to Australia to escape the social and political instability many of our former homes offered.

Pro-Palestinian protesters marching in Sydney to condemn Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Sure, political movements underpinned by religion have existed for decades but until now they have almost always focused on changing domestic politics.

Christian-focused political parties have sought to push against same-sex marriage, euthanasia and abortion rights.

Just two years ago, as a member of the NSW state press gallery I saw first-hand the staunch religious opposition to the state’s voluntary assisted dying bill.

Sheik Wesam Charkawi is the convener of the Muslim Votes movement in western Sydney.

But there is an undeniable difference between a religious movement driven by changes in Australian healthcare and social policy and one that is driven by a war fought oceans away.

Australians should care about what happens in the Middle East, they should have compassion for the loss of life in Gaza and put pressure on the Albanese government to ensure both sides of this war are following International Law.

They should care when Australian aid workers are killed by Israeli forces.

And they should care about what aid the government is sending to the devastated region.

But voting in single-issue independents, like what has unfolded in the UK election, is a dangerous precedent to set.

The Australian arm of The Muslim Vote is yet to announce its candidates and is far less organised than its UK’s counterparts so far.

But if their success in the UK election is anything to go by — they will focus on putting “Palestine on the ballot” and there is no way any candidate whose sole priority is a matter of foreign policy can act in the best interests of Australians.

Advocacy on wars fought overseas must never come at the cost of fighting for Australians who are struggling to put food on the table right here at home.

Originally published as Charity begins at home: Why Australian politicians must not sacrifice domestic politics for Gaza