For decades, the Australian Muslim community has been a reliable pillar of support for the major political parties. We supported the two-party system, some supported minor parties and in all, we embraced the electoral process as an epitome of the Australian “fair go.” This week, that belief was shattered.
A part of me feels that this is Milton Friedman’s “Shock Doctrine” on full display. The national shock of the tragedy at Bondi Beach, which took innocent lives, blatantly exploited by political charlatans.
Like a pre-written script pulled from a drawer, the Combatting anti-Semitism, Hate and Extremism Act 2026 was rushed through a recalled Parliament while the nation was still in mourning.
It is a classic “shock” tactic: using a crisis to pass ill-considered, anti-democratic laws that placate masters behind the scenes while stripping away our essential freedoms.
While the government marketed this as a safety measure, the rhetoric in the House and Senate told a darker story. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to create an “aggravated offence” for religious leaders—carrying a staggering 12-year prison sentence—is a clear prostration before “the lobby”.
Imam groups warned that this bill treats faith leadership as a “risk factor.” It effectively creates a two-tiered legal system where an Imam’s moral commentary or theological instruction can be criminalised under vague definitions of “promoting hatred.”
The so-called “religious text defence” is a hollow shell; it does not protect the application of theology to modern struggles, leaving our speakers in a state of constant legal peril.
The case of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is particularly galling. A former member of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine, Ley’s political journey has ended in a total kowtow to the Zionist lobby.
This “jelly-back” leadership was on full display as she initially critiqued the bill’s overreach, only to capitulate entirely once “the lobby” applied the thumbscrews.
This flip-flop was so egregious it fractured the Coalition. Three National Party senators—Ross Cadell, Bridget McKenzie, and Susan McDonald—crossed the floor to oppose the laws, leading to their resignation from the front bench and a historic split between the Liberals and Nationals.
While they cited “rushed legislation,” the smouldering wreckage of the Coalition reveals a leadership that would rather break its own party than defy “the lobby”. One must wonder what was promised to bring the Nationals back into the fold once the “noise” dies down.
The most painful irony is the total erasure of Islamophobia. Despite reports from 2025 showing that Muslims are the primary targets of hate and vilification in this country, the word is absent from the Act’s distinct protections.
Levantine origin Muslims are also predominantly Semites, yet we are being prosecuted by laws that claim to protect “Semitism” while ignoring the daily attacks on our women and our faith.
What the major parties fail to realise is that the community they are targeting is now an economic powerhouse. Reports from late 2025 highlight the massive contribution of Muslim-owned businesses to the GDP.
Yet, even here, we are betrayed—witness the 2025 “5% Deposit Scheme” that explicitly excluded Islamic finance, effectively locking many Muslims from home ownership.
The response for future elections must be one of leverage, not loyalty. Groups like “The Muslim Vote” and “Muslim Votes Matter” along with principled minor parties can with the right tweaks offer a real alternative. We are no longer a “captured” vote.
By backing high-calibre candidates and strategically directing preferences, we can ensure that those who traded our rights for lobby-group appeasement feel the consequences at the ballot box. Australia needs us to prevent this law from becoming an epitaph to the fair go and free speech.
Let’s stop being the “hapless” community and start being the one that holds the power.
A 2020 study by Griffith University of Australian Muslims found that the overwhelming majority of Muslim Australians do not support political violence or terrorism, a finding consistent with broader sociological research. Anti-Muslim attitudes often overlap with other forms of prejudice (against immigrants or minorities) and are tied to factors like the education level, right-wing media consumption, and political ideology of the Islamophobe. Social media commentary, such as the content of Sammy Ahood, the Jewish/Zionist advocate refused a visa, are little hate factories, built on conspiracies, myths and lies. If it were antisemitism, the Zionist lobby would be heard from the moon. Obviously, there is resentment by many Muslims who see their brothers and sisters in Islam being slaughtered, tortured, etc., in Gaza and the West Bank in an alleged ethnic cleansing. But Zionism and Judaism are not the same thing. 30% of Australian Jews are anti-Zionist. Enabling uninformed and prejudiced commentary into this volatile situation suggests our leaders care as much about the safety of Muslims here as they do about those in Palestine.
I’m not a Muslim and so you should feel free to ignore my comments, and in any case I’m not bringing any kind of revolutionary analysis to this situation. As many have pointed out, Islamophobia is a wholly unsuitable and inadequate term to describe what many Muslims face – placing it on the same level as an irrational fear of spiders or cramped spaces with the ‘-phobia’ suffix. Politicians feel free to ignore or dismiss actions deemed to fall within the Islamophobia net. Anti-Muslim Hatred or Anti-Muslim Violence are much more to the point, and I would argue, more difficult to ignore or dismiss. Yes, continue to organise along the lines of what happened in the last federal election, MVM etc. At the same time kick the apologetic term ‘Islamophobia’ into the long grass and refuse to be captured or nullified by it. Tackle the hacks in the major political parties head-on by calling a spade a spade – Anti-Muslim Hatred and Anti-Muslim Violence must be addressed, not smoothed over with platitudes or denial as they currently get away with.
We value all comments, from Muslims or others. You have indeed made some valid points for consideration. Thank you.