Highlights
- Dr Anne Aly was the first woman of Islamic faith to be elected to federal parliament.
- Arab-Australians still locked out of politics: Dr Anne Aly.
- Multicultural candidates are still not being pre-selected for key seats, she claims.
SBS Arabic24 asked Dr Aly about the political participation of the Arab community, whose presence in politics dwindled beyond the local government level.
Not only is she one of only two members of Arab descent who have succeeded in winning seats in the federal parliament, she is, according to her, the only member who speaks Arabic.
“The Arab community has a long history in Australia and its members are in various professional fields,” she said.
“There are Arab engineers, doctors and employees of many companies.
“In fact, we are present in every field except politics.”
Dr Aly, who was the first woman of the Islamic faith to be elected to parliament, says that it has nothing to do with the cultural legacy of the community.
"No, I reject the idea that we are the problem. They have to change not us," she stresses, referring to Australia’s political parties.
She goes on to explain how big parties do not select multicultural candidates even in culturally diverse electorates.
Parliament should be a mirror of society but that's not the way it is.
The selection of candidates, according to Dr Aly, is carried out from within the parties, in which the Arab community does not have much participation.
“The result is that many members of Parliament are from Western and English backgrounds in particular, and a few of them are from minorities,” she says.
This situation, she argues, affects all multicultural communities, not just the Arab community.
“There is only one Indian member in the Federal Parliament, although the Indian community in Australia is old and big. The same goes for the Asian communities,” she explains.
Arab youth are passionate about politics, and she has a role to play in helping them enter the political arena, she says.
I met a sixteen-year-old girl and saw her passion for politics, so I invited her to do an internship in my office.
Some have drawn comparisons between Australia and neighbouring New Zealand, which last year elected its most diverse parliament ever, she says.
The lack of diversity in Australian politics has been noted by many observers for years but no clear steps are being taken to remedy the problem, Dr Aly claims.
She says the showed that only four per cent of members of the Federal Parliament had non-European ancestry.
Dr Aly says she is also disappointed at the lack of gender parity at the federal level and is adamant that her opinions are based on her many years of experience in federal politics.
In her late twenties, Dr Aly was a single mother to two young children, earning the minimum wage to be able to provide for her children's basic needs.
However, she succeeded in completing her master’s and doctoral studies and worked as a professor, academic and activist in the fields of combating terrorism and violent extremism.
Dr Aly was the only Australian representative to speak at President Barack Obama's 2015 White House summit on countering violent extremism.
In 2016, she won the seat of Cowan for the ALP.
The Liberal Party's Vince Connelly, who is running against Dr Aly in the seat of Cowan at the next election, said there were many hardworking and successful women representing all parties at the federal level.
Mr Connelly, a former soldier in the Special Air Service Regiment, was the Member for Stirling, a division that was abolished during a 2021 redistribution.
“There are many strong women in the Morrison Government team - in fact, the majority of my WA female colleagues are in ministerial positions, two of them in cabinet,” Mr Connelly says.
“I believe in equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. In politics, as with any industry, jobs and leadership positions should be awarded on individual merit, not gender."
The Liberals' Vince Connelly will face off against Anne Aly in the seat of Cowan. Source: Vince Connelly
Does Australian foreign policy adopt double standards?
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the Australian military support for the European country, some Arab-Australians believed the Australian government had adopted what they saw as double standards in its foreign policy, Dr Aly said.
“Australia follows America. We are a medium-power player in international politics and do not act alone. If the US position on Arab issues changes, Australia’s position will change as well. This is the truth,” she said.
Australia has been accused of being “too closely engaged” with the US, according to Dr Aly. Source: AAP
Dr Aly said she was disappointed with Australia’s diminishing influence in the Middle East, which she says was much stronger a decade ago.
“I don't know what has happened since then. Australia has gradually withdrawn from the Arab world and reduced its presence, even at the commercial level. I hope Australia’s foreign policy in the Middle East will return to what it was before,” she said.
Mr Connelly said he was particularly proud of WA being named as the home of a large vessel dry dock for both Australia's naval ships and those of its key allies.
Construction of the $4.3 billion dry dock will begin next year and create 500 construction jobs then 2000 ship-building jobs once operational in 2028.
Shipbuilding to become a major industry in Western Australia, Liberal MP Vince Connelly says. Source: AAP
"This project will provide thousands of jobs for Western Australians and is testament to the strength of our marine industry at Henderson," he said.
COVID-19 crisis mishandled by the Morrison government: Dr Aly
Regarding the COVID-19 crisis, Dr Aly criticised what she says was decentralised decision-making during the COVID-19 crisis which has hindered the federal government’s ability to effectively handle the situation.
“Scott Morrison’s government has not dealt with the crisis adequately. The prime minister let every state or territory act on its own and that has caused a lot of problems,” she says.
Quarantine management and distribution of rapid antigen COVID-19 tests should have been centralised by the federal government to prevent policy inconsistencies, she says.
However, Mr Connelly disagreed, saying that while the past two years had been tough due to the pandemic, Australia had overcome the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression.
“We were the very first nation to declare the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic and close our international borders, and we promptly established the emergency National Cabinet to coordinate our health response -- a response that has saved over 30,000 lives," he said
Our recovery is world-leading and we have bounced back faster and stronger than many nations, including the UK and US.
Like many Australians, Dr Aly says she has been personally affected by the confusion and disruption caused by lockdowns.
She said her son's wedding was postponed, but she would finally be able to attend the ceremony in Melbourne in two months’ time.
Dr Aly could not hide her delight when the prospects of travelling to Egypt after the reopening of Western Australia's borders came into the conversation.
“I very much hope so! Unfortunately, work and the upcoming elections prevent me from travelling at the present time,” she said.
The Division of Cowan, a marginal seat
Cowan is one of just five of the 15 federal seats in Western Australia held by the ALP.
The Division was created in 1984 and named in honour of Edith Cowan (1861-1932), the first woman elected to an Australian parliament. Ms Cowan was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1921 until 1924.
Situated to the north of the Perth CBD, the Division covers 180 square kilometres and encompasses almost 99,000 voters.
The first woman to be elected to any Australian parliament was Edith Cowan in 1921. Source: Public Domain
It is a marginal seat but unlike other marginal seats can not be used to predict the overall federal election result because it is usually clear before counting even begins in Cowan.
This is due to the considerable time differences between Australia’s eastern and western seaboards.
Cost of living is a major concern for voters in Cowan
Mr Connelly said he believed Cowan voters were primarily concerned with the cost of living, which the Liberal Government was actively tackling through measures in the latest Budget.
“We have halved the fuel excise to provide relief at the bowser for the next six months and are delivering tax cuts and one-off payments to thousands of hardworking Australians across the electorate," he said.
“I also think most Australians see what’s happening overseas and want to know that our way of life and our freedom is not at risk.
“As a father, veteran and parliamentarian I am focused on Australia’s future security and prosperity in a changing world.”
