Election Musings

Well - the best (or should I say worst) made plans do not always succeed - and often for very good reasons. I had intended to run for the local elections, but missed out on registering by the barest of timelines. 2008 would have been an excellent time to run for local elections due to the impending ICAC investigations into the sale of land for Auburn Central, and the Labour party being 'on the nose' anyway due to the shenanigans of the State Party whose public appearance changes like the shuffling of a pack of cards. But the elections were heavily contested, with a number of Muslim names standing - two of whom were good friends and represented the Greens. I also had a thesis to complete, and a series of conference papers to present amongst other pressing and time consuming issues. So, hopefully, I'll not be too old to consider running at some stage in the future.
The elections though, highlighted once again the parlous state of the Muslim community in comparison to some other communities, and its inability to unite for common purpose. Although the Greens were fielding two Muslim candidates, there was little effective policy presentation that demonstrated a thorough awareness of local Muslim issues, and a struggle to man the booths despite the high profile of both members. Muslim Independents stood in opposition and campaigned actively in much the same electoral territory as the two Greens members, while both Liberal and Labor ran Muslim candidates. It seems like a classic case of divide and rule! None of the parties really appeared to consider issues that are at the heart of the Muslim community - in fact, the Muslim community itself is not that sure what the key issues are!
From my own research I see that our Muslim community (often misperceived as a single entity) can be divided into more representative groupings. Firstly, there are generally two age related divisions - if you can imagine lateral lines - according to the place of birth and education in Australia. This would initially divide up the Muslim community into those born and educated here - and that is mostly those under the age of 25-30, and those who've had partial or no education here and who are tied in various ways to their overseas origins. The under 25's who are born and bred Australians are generally in a class of their own, and as Sheik Fehmi Naji el-Imam recently stated they are part of today's global youth - interacting through Facebook and Youtube, and in many ways they are less affected by their parent's ethnicity. The only subdivision here should be according to education, as those youth who have not succeeded at school, often stay close to their ethnic roots, marry within the same community (not infrequently their cousin) and do not share in the cosmopolitanisation of their better educated peers.
The rest of the Muslim community - the older than 25-30's and not born in Australia, should be divided vertically by ethnicity and sect (Shia, Sunni, Habashi, Alawi etc) and subdivided again by socio-economic state. This would provide, I believe, a more effective division of the community according to matters of concern and needs in regard to electoral polling, provision of services and general identity.
For example, a Lebanese girl who dropped out of school at Year 10, married at 18 and lives with her mother or mother-in-law, and whose husband is most likely to be a blue collar worker or independent trader, would have a very different electoral dynamic than her school friend who went on to Uni, is struggling to finish a law degree and find meaningful work with or without a hijab and is probably unable to find a suitable partner until her late 20's. By the time she has children she is probably more than 12 years senior to the first girl, will have less children, but will probably have purchased a house and be involved in a completely different social space related more to Uni friends and work friends than just family and the ethnicity of her community. The chances of her marrying someone from a different ethnicity, thereby widening the range of her families issues, is also considerable.

So, following on from Irfan's blog bringing up the issue of elections, I would like to suggest the following:
* funding to be provided by AFIC (which generally has plenty to throw around on legal cases when they want to) for electoral polling on what are the significant areas of concern for the Muslim community - categorised by ethnicity and age.
* a series of forums be convened in different areas that initially target local areas, and work by giving generalised introductions and then - according to the comfort area of the community targetted, further attract those attending according to the following groups
a) prominent local ethnicities (remembering that a lot of Muslims by now have married outside of their own ethnicity
b) young people
c) the more cosmopolitan educated and professional group
For example, if running the Forum in Auburn, the African groups could be brought together through their various associations and attendance at mosques, relying on the support of their various community leaders; the Turkish community could be attracted through the number of mosques and local Turkish newspapers, while the youth could be attracted to a separate forum though Facebook, local newspapers, and chat forums, as well as the mosques.
These forums would have to be carefully run so that they are not just 'talkfests' and are geared to ensuring that people's concerns on housing, health, economy, education, employment, work etc are allowed to be heard, recorded and there is the avenue for private followup (in case e.g. the wife actually has a different to the husband and is shy to present it).
* the information so gained be compiled to present a clearer idea of the dynamics and concerns of the community.
* the results to be presented to each of the various political parties, who are encouraged to demonstrated how they are willing to accommodate or respond, the responses being published in local newspapers and even interviewed on Muslim radio stations.

Ideally this is the kind of work that AFIC should be supporting. However, as a largely discredited and grassroot deficient organisation, it may be sufficient to begin in one or two areas with local political activists getting together along with some necessary funding, and then see if it can be 'carbon copied' for other areas.

Personally, I have almost (but not quite) despaired of obtaining the kind of unity within even one of our ethnic Muslim communities that was so apparent with the supporters of the Unity Party. I am also concerned that the many issues that affect the Muslim community will not be dealt with unless direct and planned action is taken. I am disgusted at the ignorance of the community which can keep putting Labor candidates back into power after all of the recent poor behaviour, corruption and lack of any real sensitivity to the community (and disgusted also at the Muslims who can stand for such a party). And I am also disappointed that locally Labor and Liberal will support Muslim candidates - but not at a State or Federal level, neither the Greens, Labor or Liberal will honestly look at policies that reflect our concerns on security, the hijab (visual religion) debate or foreign policy, and the Democrats (of which I am a retiring State Secretary) which had the potential to provide real solutions - is not showing signs of any reasonable recovery from its recent and disastrous decline.

Comments please!!!

Australian Democrats still alive and kicking

Democrats
The Australian Democrats had its long awaited Annual General Meeting on Saturday 1st March. Despite a small attendance, a lack of recent accounts and a paucity of new nominees for leading positions in the party, the Australian Democrats is still alive. With the assistance of the Young Democrats and the promise that new leadership will begin to resuscitate the membership and the vision, the Australian Democrats has about 4 years to recover and become relevant once again to the wider political scene.

Libs apologise for racist pamphlet

Seeing the Liberal Party eat humble pie with the Muslim community is something I did not think would happen in my lifetime! Barry O'Farrell has apparently visited the Lakemba mosque to apologise for the actions of his political colleagues in their "Chaser-style prank" printing defamatory pamphlets on behalf of a fictitious Muslim organisation.
They should also begin a 'sorry' campaign to:
* refugees
* asylum seekers
* Villawood detainees
* Siev X relatives
* children overboard families
* Muslim schools (who were targetted for what 'values' they were teaching)
* hijabis
* the people of Iraq
* the people of Afghanistan
... I could be here for a while!

Metropolis 2007

In early October 2007, the International Metropolis 2007 conference was held in Melbourne, and i was fortunate to be there. over 750 delegates discussed, questioned and listened to papers about Immigration, diversity and social cohesion. Delegates and speakers came from Europe, Canada, Britain and New Zealand, not to mention a considerable contingent of our own fine speakers from Australia. Academics, policy makers and community representatives participated in more than 60 workshops over 4 days, presenting a remarkable range of research about the movement of people across continents due to economic and political pressures, and the huge challenge that this is presenting to governments around the world.
The elephant in the room that was occasionally identified and sometimes highlighted, was as usual, the Muslim community, Islam and security. As with so many other conferences that I have attended in recent months, there continues to exist an almost total vacancy in representation from the Muslim community itself. Statements are made about the motives of the community, beliefs, actions, threats and solutions including virtually no direct engagement with the community being discussed.
For example, a speaker from Europe in the presentation on Faith and Social Cohesion, referred to the legislation taken by France and currently under consideration by Germany, on removing the oppression of Muslim women through the banning of the hijab. Firstly, from the audience I requested enlightenment on what oppression I was currently suffering from, and secondly I suggested that the choice of clothing and identification was a personal one, but that perhaps the males in the audience needed freedom from oppression as virtually all of them felt it necessary to wear a suit and tie - they seemed to have little choice in their own attire!
An aspect of the conference I found particularly troubling was the emphasis on economic grounds for the assessment of policy and consideration of matters that affect so many humans around the world. While economic management is essential to the effective running of any human situation, the welfare of humans should not be subject to it - surely economic management is there to benefit humanity, not vice versa. We have forgotten that wealth is not an end in itself, but what we as humans can create and develop as part of our contribution to the civilisation of humankind. It seems that so many of our leaders and policy makers see an over-riding concern in ensuring that wealth increases in order for us to consume ever more products regardless of their effect on our health, happiness or future.
It is vitally important that we return our focus to realistically meeting our needs, not our greed.

To Be a Democrat
As a community activist and educator I have long considered the importance of politics. A a mentor to many young people I have tried to encourage talented and capable community members to enter politics. Politics unfortunately has a very low reputation - more the realm of those who have not succeeded in other professions, avoid the really critical questions put to them, and serve selected members of the community.
Having completed many years serving the community as an educational pioneer, perhaps it is time to see if it is possible to be a genuine servant of the community in the political arena and not succumb to its reputation for ego and self-aggrandisement.
The range of political options though is not encouraging. Of the two major parties Labour appears to be rift with factions and the Liberals treat Australian citizens like garbage (David Hicks). The two remaining substantial parties are the Greens - with excellent environmental credentials and the Democrats. Now I am a thinking person and like an intellectual challenge. I also remember Don Chipps founding statement that he established the Australian Democrat Party "to keep the bastards honest".
Well, here goes - please keep honestly critical and as a candidate for Auburn, Sydney, I will try and listen and do my best. My focus will be on the family, education, youth, health, welfare, the disadvantaged, and of course, the Muslim community.
Let's see what it is like to join the democratic system as a Democrat! (keep you posted!)