Muslim advocacy group to preference Greens above Labor in some seats despite disagreement on religious freedom
Muslim Votes Matter has expressed concern about the party's plan to ensure religious schools cannot discriminate against teachers or students on the basis of their sexuality, but has welcomed a commitment to ensure 'all rights are acknowledged and taken into account'.
The group, which is campaigning for candidates in 32 seats has endorsed Greens in the Victorian seats of Wills and Bruce, where Labor MPs are preparing for a backlash over the party's response to the war in Gaza. Most of the 32 seats are held by Labor and have significant Muslim populations.
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Muslim Votes Matter has also endorsed the Greens in the Queensland seat of Moreton, the South Australian seat of Sturt, and independents in the western-Sydney seats of Blaxland and Watson, held by Labor ministers Jason Clare and Tony Burke.
Guardian Australia has also confirmed the political party launched by the former Labor senator Fatima Payman, who has a strong personal brand in suburbs with high Muslim populations, Australia's Voice, will also encourage voters to preference the Greens above her former party and the Liberals on Senate ballot papers.
Ghaith Krayem, the national spokesperson for Muslim Votes Matter, said the group's how-to-vote cards were being finalised after discussion with endorsed candidates. He said they would be similar to, but perhaps not exactly the same as those handed out by endorsed candidates.
'We as a rule, will put parties like One Nation or The Trumpet of Patriots at the bottom of our how to vote card,' Krayem said. 'If a candidate moves them up, we will not do that.'
In a letter to Muslim Votes Matter last month, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, sought to address the group's concerns about religious freedom, accepting a request to attend further consultation meetings to ensure 'that all rights are acknowledged and taken into account'.
'Schools could continue to require that a teacher hired by the school teaches the school's values and doctrines. A staff member could not be discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity, just as it would be unlawful under Australian law to discriminate against someone based on protected attributes in other workplaces.'
Muslim Votes Matter said it did not agree with the Greens' position, but was satisfied with their engagement.
'We know that on that particular issue, we were never going to be 100% aligned,' Krayem said. 'We put forward a pathway of consultation, not just with us, but with other interested minority groups on this issue.
Labor declined to engage with Muslim Votes Matter and accused the group of being a 'self-appointed organisation that seeks to support Peter Dutton' in a manner that was 'contrary to the interests of Australian Muslim communities'.
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Krayem denied this and said the criticism was 'very inappropriate from a major party in the middle of a campaign' and 'full of disdain for our community'. The group has previously suggested Labor wants 'a quiet, loyal Muslim voter'.
Before the 2022 election, Labor committed to introducing laws that would protect all students from discrimination on any grounds, and to protect teachers from discrimination while maintaining the right of schools to preference people of their faith while hiring.
In August, Anthony Albanese said his government was unwilling to act on these issues in the absence of bipartisan support, citing concerns about 'the need for greater social cohesion'.
'And the last thing that Australia needs is any divisive debate relating to religion and people's faith … I don't intend to engage in a partisan debate when it comes to religious discrimination,' Albanese said.
Equality Australia's chief executive, Anna Brown, accused Labor of breaking an election commitment by 'failing to pursue the available pathway through parliament for a government bill that would have finally protected LGBTQ+ students and staff in religious schools'.
'More children will now be refused enrolment or miss out on school leadership roles and more teachers will continue to lose their jobs or be denied promotions because of the gaps in our laws that allow religious schools to play by their own rules,' Brown said.
A Labor spokesperson said if re-elected, the party would continue to consult on religious freedom but only introduce legislation once bipartisan support was clear.
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