Prepared by: Kais Al‐Momani Nour Dados Marion Maddox Amanda Wise C
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CONCLUSIONSConsidering political participation in its broadest definition, Australia fares competitively compared to the political participation of Muslims in other Western democracies. In terms of formal participation, the national level has room for improvement, with a complete absence until 2010 of federal politicians of Muslim faith. At the state level, things are slightly better, but still unrepresentatively low. However, in NSW at least, local government looks very healthy as a space for participation of Muslims, largely due to the more localised nature of the voter base. Muslims involved in formal politics are somewhat reticent to identify as Muslims, preferring to present themselves as representing all Australians. Viewed positively, this implies that they feel confident enough as Australians to speak for a more general constituency. Also, their reticence may be a reflection of a general sentiment (common among Muslims and non‐Muslims) in secular Australia that religion and politics simply ‘do not mix’. On the other hand, our interviews uncovered a sense that there is some electoral risk in too publicly proclaiming one’s identity as a Muslim, especially in light of anti‐Islam incidents such as occurred in Sydney during the 2004 and 2007 federal campaigns, and of a certain generalised public fear about Islam. All the elected representatives we spoke to were very careful to stress their ‘fair and objective’ approach when considering issues related to their religious community, such as development applications for Mosques or religious schools. Despite obvious challenges for Muslims participating in the formal political sphere, especially in the major parties, a number of Australian Muslims have achieved impressive political influence in the public sphere, as journalists, social and political commentators, comedians, in academia, and through other channels of opinion‐ making. Many individuals work across more than one of these roles. Our interviews found Muslim opinion makers in the mainstream public sphere are much more confident to engage forthrightly with Muslim issues and identify as Muslim than were the elected representatives. In certain notable cases, Muslim opinion‐ makers also contributed to wider community debates, beyond specifically ‘Muslim’ issues. Enabling influences, to which we return in detail in Chapter Four, began to emerge in the discussion of those operating in leadership roles in the community sector, especially among youth and women. Political and professional mentors, both Muslim and non‐Muslim, were extremely important in developing leadership skills, networks, and capacities. Youth and women in particular benefited immensely from access to multi‐ethnic political and advocacy forums, in addition to their roles in Muslim‐specific organisations. Access to diverse, interconnected forums had helped interviewees develop knowledge of the political process, make networks and connections with people of influence, and gain access to institutions that facilitate political and policy influence. However, political participation was still, by and large, the domain of the privileged. Like other communities— ethnic minority and mainstream alike—the politically active tend to be drawn from higher educated and more prosperous socio‐economic groups. Those involved in formal politics tended to be from particular ethnic backgrounds, such as Turkish, Lebanese or South Asian, and also to be either second generation migrants or long‐term Australian residents. Anglo‐Celtic female converts were also well represented. In NSW, politically‐active Muslims were well‐represented in local government, while other public commentators and political ‘influentials’ were often Victorian. This might reflect the different class and ethnic makeup of the Muslim populations in each state. The greater public visibility of Victorian Muslim commentators may also reflect the clustering of organisations such as Australian Multicultural Foundation and Federation of Ethnic Community Councils of Australia in Melbourne. Voting is the most accessible end of the political participation spectrum, and so is where most citizens come into contact with politics. While Australia’s compulsory voting might suggest little effort would be needed on this measure, our study found a lot of work to be done, particularly in NSW. Informal votes amount to non‐ participation, even though they fulfil the compulsory ballot rule, and all of the top ten areas for informal voting are in NSW. Of these, all but two also have the highest concentration of Muslim residents. This is not to say Muslims are less educated on voting than other groups. However, much Australian and international evidence confirms that culturally and linguistically diverse groups have lower knowledge of the political system, and higher rates of non‐participation and informal voting, than the general population. This chapter has highlighted a number of needs, to which we return in later chapters. First, we identify a pronounced need for basic civics education in areas of high Muslim concentration. Our research also shows the importance of carefully crafted leadership programs, as well as capacity building for political education, similar to those which have proved successful in the UK. Mainstream parties, groups, and consultation forums also need to be more responsive to and culturally aware of Muslim (and indeed minority) issues, and direct more concerted efforts at encouraging and working with talented Australian Muslim leaders and ‘influentials’ who have the potential to make a sophisticated contribution to Australian political life. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> documents -> 01 2014 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> The south australian government gazette documents -> All public acts appearing in this gazette are to be considered official, and obeyed as such documents -> Union interparlementaire inter-parliamentary union 01 2014 -> Voices Shaping the 01 2014 -> Muslim Voices – Hopes and aspirations of Muslim Australians Centre for Muslim Minorities & Islam Policy Studies 01 2014 -> Editors: Kerry Download 16.24 Mb. Share with your friends:
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