Australia’s Muslim-Backed Candidates Vow to Build Momentum

Gaza issue loomed large in two seats, where highest concentration of Australian Muslims live

By Abdullahi Yusuf

As independents backed by The Muslim Vote campaign gained significant ground in key electorates in the recent Australia polls, the Labor Party that won the election faces a growing challenge to reconcile its stance on Gaza with the concerns of an increasingly mobilized and influential Muslim voting bloc in Western Sydney.

While the federal election was fought on many fronts including the housing crisis, cost of living and migration, the issue of Gaza loomed large in the two seats, where the highest concentration of Australian Muslims live, ABC reports.

Independents endorsed by The Muslim Vote campaign secured enough of the primary vote to edge out the Liberal candidates and come second in the two-party preferred vote behind Labor frontbenchers Tony Burke and Jason Clare.

The Muslim Vote was formed less than two years ago with a mission to unify Australian Muslims as a voting bloc to back independent candidates sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

The Muslim Vote has consistently accused the Labor government of complicity in the destruction of Gaza and attacks on its people.

In Blaxland, independent Ahmed Ouf averaged 20% of the primary vote across the electorate.

ABC says its analysis of booth data revealed Ouf dominated in suburbs like Guildford and South Granville with almost 46% of first preferences.

In Auburn Central he got as high as 46.6% of the primary vote.

Ouf managed to bite into Education Minister Jason Clare’s margin which went from 55% at the 2022 election to about 46.5% on May 3.

He seems to have also siphoned a similar percentage of primary votes from the Liberal Party, which had just over 27 % in 2022 but around 19 % this year.

Independent Ziad Basyouny in Watson also chipped away at Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s primary vote, which was down from 51.9 % in 2022 to about 48.5 %.

‘They were rejecting Labor’s politics’

NSW senator and Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi credited the improved vote share to Muslim communities backing the party’s stance on Gaza.

“They were rejecting Labor’s politics and politics of actually staying silent and [being] complicit on the genocide in Gaza,” she said.

The International Court of Justice last January ruled Israel must do everything in its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide in Gaza.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said in March that since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in the conclave.

The Muslim Vote convener Sheikh Wesam Charkawi said the results sent a clear message to Labor.

“These are not passive voters. They’re active voters who voted to basically reject their stance on Gaza, Palestine, their weak stance,” he said.

Sheikh Wesam said the results in the 2025 election were only the beginning and vowed the community “will no longer accept broken promises”.

“We will no longer accept being taken for granted and we are here to vote and we are here to make a change,” he said.

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