Prepared by: Kais Al‐Momani Nour Dados Marion Maddox Amanda Wise C
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OTHER MEANS OF ACHIEVING POLITICAL VOICECOM MU NIT Y SEC T OR A number of participants were quite sceptical about the possibilities of advancing their political aims through formal mechanisms such as standing for political office. Muslim women, in particular, were uncomfortable with the rough and tumble of political life in a major party and sceptical as to whether such a forum would allow them to influence policy. Everybody knows that the candidates for state election are decided in Sussex Street, not in the electorate. There’s not much grassroots participation. I find it all very distasteful and I keep away from it. (Female community leader) I had a great difficulty being part of factional politics of any sort, because I couldn’t do any dirty political thing. So it’s extremely hard for me … there is so much backstabbing and stuff. I couldn’t handle that. So I decided to be a leader in a different way – a grassroots community leader that could relate to all the political parties and factions. (Female community leader) Further, these women were aware that political life is not always compatible with family responsibilities: Laurie Ferguson, I know that he attends every community function, and sometimes he’ll go to five or six in one day. He works like a dog, he’s … I often see him going to his office on Sundays… So I guess that’s what you’ve got to do if you want to get elected, and of course that makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for women because who has that sort of time? (Female community leader) However, political voice is advanced in other forums, such as involvement in advisory bodies and community consultation panels, writing and publishing opinion pieces, or employment in the public service or as a ministerial or political staffer or advisor. Some, such as the participants in the Commonwealth Government’s Muslim Community Reference Group, have been specifically sought out by government to bring a Muslim perspective to mainstream politics. Others, such as the various state Islamic Councils, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network and Muslim Women’s National Network, have arisen out of Muslim communities and convey their communities’ concerns to the wider public. Service organisations such as certain Migrant Resource Centres and the Victorian Arab Social Services are also effective, especially in terms of leadership training, and advocacy around welfare issues. There’s different ways to influence, and it’s what I call the “inside the tent” approach, and “outside the tent” approach…. Political participation needs to broad. It doesn’t need to be boxed into “OK, do you want to run for local council? Do you want to run for state or federal parliaments?”… It’s about having a voice in the organisations. (Female community leader, Victoria) Often, leadership roles in community organisations provide a pathway to consultations and influence with on policies that affect the Muslim community. The Muslim Women’s National Network … don’t take part in welfare activities to any great extent. They basically see themselves as being a lobby group, or a group that works towards he empowerment of Muslim women. (Female community leader) ‘Coalition building’ networks connect organisations targeting women and youth, and were important spaces for mentoring relationships that opened pathways for new political voices to emerge. Some of the more influential women in the study were those who had the opportunity to link into multi‐ethnic or mainstream women’s organisations while retaining their role in the Muslim community. Often, involvement in one organisation connected these individuals into new organisations and forums, where mentoring relationships emerged and useful political networks formed that, in turn, connected women into further forums where policy could be influenced. The political biography of one participant is a telling example. In the 1970s, she attended a conference of women’s groups where she met Franca Arena, then member of the NSW Legislative Council. Arena invited her to a monthly forum of women’s organisations, held at Parliament House. This led her to contact with the Australian Women’s Coalition, which, in turn, provided an avenue to the Office for the Status of Women. In the 2000s, the Australian Women’s Coalition invited her to discuss Islam and terrorism, which led to numerous invitations by other women’s organisations such as the Country Women’s Association, Girl Guides and the Smith Family’s VIEW club. She later joined the Muslim Women’s National Network, where she now manages a number of projects. Another participant draws on her experience as a former ministerial advisor and current position in the Attorney General’s department to inform her voluntary role in the Muslim Women’s National Network. As a public servant, she is careful to keep her paid and unpaid work separate; however, she is able to draw on networks and lessons from her professional life to help her organisation’s lobbying. The highly networked, coalition‐based modus operandi was also present in youth‐focused programs and organisations, and, in some instances opened pathways for quite direct political influence. This is highlighted, for example, by one youth leader’s experience. Her political path began as far back as high school, where she was exposed to a number of youth leadership programs. However, politics wasn’t a big part of her life until university, where involvement in the Arabic Club brought her into contact with Palestinian activists. She learned a lot through that involvement, and also developed strong community links, eventually leading to a connection with the Victorian Arabic Social Services. She began co‐ordinating some of its youth programs, sometimes paid and sometimes in a voluntary capacity, and, through this, became involved in a number of advisory committees. She met some key mentors at this stage, including another of our respondents, Leila Alloush. The youth worker now works at a Migrant Resource Centre, where, she says, she has had the opportunity to meet mentors from other non‐English speaking backgrounds who have guided her professionally. In one program, the Ethnic Youth Council, she was able to include young Muslims . The Ethnic Youth Council, in turn, has participated in the Victorian Youth Parliament program. The Ethnic Youth Council also enrols young people into programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh Leadership Awards, and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and trains young people in writing media releases, opinion pieces and so on. These programs are not without their barriers and challenges (discussed in Chapter 4), but the interlocking networks in this biography show the opportunities for political voice to emerge when organisations work together through multi‐ethnic alliances. A number of respondents were concerned that some of the Muslim community’s major leaders and representative bodies, whom governments tended to seek out, did not effectively represent the diversity of Australian Muslims. These respondents considered the traditional leadership too male dominated, sometimes too conservative, and inclined to exclude younger, emerging leaders: Our peak body is supposed to, but it doesn’t speak for all Muslims. So, they come out and make nice press releases from time to time, and they do some work in halal needs, they run a few of the Muslim schools, but they’re really out of touch with the grassroots community and the grassroots issues. But, unfortunately, the government recognises them and goes to speak to them when there’s an issue and sometimes it funds them. (Young community leader) ADV ISO R Y BOARDS & CONSULTATION FORUMS High‐profile nominees of the Muslim Women’s National Network were also involved in the Muslim Community Reference Group. While this group attracted controversy, mainly due to its link with anti‐terrorism strategies, interviewees in our study were largely positive about it as a forum that drew representation from beyond the ‘old guard’ (male religious and community leaders) to include new voices, especially of women and youth. Table 5 shows the diverse membership of the Muslim Community Reference Group, which met between September 2005 and September 2006.
Table 5: Membership of the Muslim Community Reference Group and its Sub-Groups The Muslim Community Reference Group is a reminder not to underestimate the role of public servants in facilitating political voice and policy influence. A number of members mentioned chance meetings with public servants at symposiums, conferences and events that opened opportunities to participate in consultation and advisory forums. Well‐engaged public servants have the ability to cultivate voices outside of the traditional channels self‐ nominated religious leadership. Traditional community leaders and organisations need to be included; but sometimes their demographic and organisational nature prevents a more diverse range of political voices participating.  Figure 1 (left): Cover image of Waleed Aly’s book ‘People Like Us’ (2007)
Figure 2 (right): Cover image of Ifran Yusuf’s ‘Once Were Radicals’ (2009) 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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