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CASE STUDY: ‘LEARN TO LOBBY YOUR LOCAL POLLY’ WORKSHOPINITIATIVE DETAILSOrganisations: Muslim Women’s National Network Australia Auburn Mosque Contact: Jamila Hussain Secretary, Muslim Women’s National Network Australia PO Box 213 Granville NSW 2142; Email: info@mwnna.org.au Funding: Independent DESCRIPTION OF INITIATIVEThe Muslim Women’s National Network Australia ran a ‘Learn to Lobby Your Local Polly’ workshop at Auburn mosque on 31st July 2004 in the lead‐up to the federal election. The workshop targeted Muslim citizens, and in particular Muslims who had completed the settlement process but were still new to the country. The workshop was attended by around twenty people. The Australian political system was explained, as were the different functions of state and federal governments and which areas were managed by each. The presentation went on to explain how citizens could bring their opinions and concerns to the attention of decision makers in Parliament. Techniques that were discussed in the workshop included calling the offices of the leaders of the political parties at Parliament House and asking to speak to the Chief of Staff, writing letters to the relevant local, state and federal Ministers and Senators, and writing letters to both local and national newspapers. The workshop also made suggestions on how to frame a letter to make it more likely that it would be published. The system of dealing with correspondence in government departments was also explained. The workshop explained that the reason Muslims should ring, write or email their local members is because that is the only way that those members will know about the concerns of their constituents. One of the reasons why the MWNNA felt it was important to organise this workshop was due to lack of knowledge about the Australian political system amongst many Muslims, many of whom are newly arrived. According to Jamila Hussain: From what we’ve been able to find out, there’s a huge ignorance: not only among Muslims, there is among other people too. We thought we’d try to run just a seminar, afternoon program, which we did in the annexe to Auburn mosque. And we disseminated it widely – we had PowerPoints explaining the process....And we got maps of the electoral divisions in New South Wales and set about to explain how it all worked. The lack of knowledge about the Australian political system in the Auburn area makes it all the more difficult for local residents to understand exactly what they can and can’t expect from their local representatives. One elected member of Auburn council confirmed that the problems associated with the low level of active understanding of the political system in this area: I see myself as a facilitator … A lot of people don’t understand the role of elected representatives, whether they’re from local, state or federal ... especially in this community – don’t forget it’s a lower socioeconomic area. Education is low, so obviously they don’t understand the pure role of what council does. So I saw myself as a facilitator between community groups and council. Of course you come up with issues every now and then that are good and sound at the time, and there’s a lot of things I’ve initiated. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORSThe workshop presenter and convener viewed the workshop as reasonably successful. It provided a forum where those who were interested in the political process could get more information and have their questions answered. The presenter noted that one of the key success factors was ensuring that the information was comprehensible to the participants: I think it went well. I tried to make it as simple, as clear as possible, not too difficult, so that it was basic information [from which] you’d be able to understand exactly where everything was coming from...I think it was successful. People reacted very positively, asked good questions. And whether or not they actually did what they wanted to do afterwards, I can’t tell because I didn’t do any follow‐ups! The workshop presenter agreed that there is something to be gained from running initiatives of this kind more formally, and on an ongoing basis: People need to know the rules of the country they’re living in. We can’t – I’ve said this before, but we can’t just live like sheep and just following along the way without actually participating. We need to be active citizens, no longer to just be passive and waiting for things to be handed across. We need to do a lot more, and I think there’s potentially a lot of people who are interested in becoming more participative in societies. CHALLENGESDespite being reasonably well advertised in the local area, only an average sized audience attended. Jamila Hussain reflected: Unfortunately we didn’t have a very big roll‐up, and of those who did roll up, most of those were quite well‐informed and interested anyway, so they probably didn’t learn anything. Perhaps because of the low level of attendance, one of the workshop conveners, who was also active in a leafleting campaign for the local elections, felt that, despite the workshop, most people in the area did not really understand the political system: I was just amazed, just handing out ‘how to vote’ cards and talking to people, how little some people knew. They didn’t have a clue. And there is a huge need for just basic civics education: why you vote, how the political system works, what the electorates mean, and you know, the proportional voting system and [so on]. Recent migration was a significant factor inhibiting affecting the ability of voters of Muslim background in the area to become more actively involved. In addition, Muslim women’s involvement was affected by fear of being associated with ‘politics’. Jamila Hussain summarised: I think the majority of people, especially fairly recent migrants, have their major concerns: getting a job, getting a house, looking after their family, taking the kids to school – just the everyday concerns ... Women tend to say, ‘Well you know, we’ll come along and raise funds for an orphanage in Niger, or something like that’; but try to get them interested in what’s happening on the political scene, and it’s ‘Oh, you know, we’re not interested in politics.’ But it’s the same in the wider community; it’s really hard to get people interested in politics. And by the way, I’ll just make a statement that I don’t belong to any political party, and I never have. ORGANISATIONAL AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUESAlthough the workshop was not necessarily intended to be an ongoing activity, it has been successfully developed outside of its original context. In addition, it is worth noting that a similar education program is now being run by Auburn council in conjunction with Auburn Diversity Services. Rather than a single event, the council runs weekly workshops on the political system which are widely publicised in the Auburn area. Although the local government funding for these workshops is a significant variation from the independently funded ‘Learn to Lobby your Local Polly’ workshop, attendance continues to be the major issue. According to an organiser: Look, the first time there were a few. I was there at the beginning. I had to speak. I can’t remember the figures. Probably seven, eight people, and they advertise really well, these people, but they said one particular group normally comes late....about fifty of them will come in towards the end and they’ll have to hold it again. MAIN CONCLUSIONSƒ This was seen to be a positive initiative by those involved in its organisation and an initiative for which there is a clear need. ƒ The organisation of similar programs by local councils demonstrates that in areas with a higher number of migrants from newly arrived communities there may be greater need for such programs. ƒ The initiative gave participants to ask questions that they may otherwise not be able to simply because they would not know where to address those questions or how to find the relevant information.
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