Tag: israel

By BB & SAS

In a push to keep the bastards honest, Sue Bolton has launched her campaign to be elected as the federal MP in the seat of Wills. A Kaffiyeh- clad Bolton can be spotted most weekends around the electorate at community stalls. At one such stall, we tried to question Bolton about the existence of gold deposits under Coburg (something we swear she had previously let slip), but she quickly pivoted to her campaign.

Bolton is running on a Socialist Alliance ticket promoting pro-Palestine and public housing policies.

Wills is a traditionally safe Labor seat (it has only once been held by a non-Labor MP when it was won by independent Phil Cleary in 1992), but the Greens have been battling hard since a notable surge of support in 2016, when Peter Khalil first took office. Although Khalil has so far managed to keep a Greens victory at bay, recent changes to electoral boundaries across Victoria increase the prospect of a Greens-held Wills.

Wills is amalgamating some 20,000 electors from Adam Bandt’s seat of Melbourne (while also losing voters to Maribyrnong).

Despite (or because of) his new role as special envoy for social cohesion, there is a question of whether support for Khalil has dwindled due to his Labor-aligned position on Palestine and inaction on climate change.

While Khalil could be seen to be simply toeing the party line, there is space for him to have taken a more progressive stance.

Consider the case of Tony Burke, whose Sydney electorate also has a large muslim population from the SWANA region, and who has been consistent in his attempts to push Labor’s agenda to recognise Palestine for many years, showing that there is some room for manoeuvre, at least for a senior MP. Khalil should not be let off the hook for simply sticking with his party’s position. Particularly in light of calls from the community for him to represent a more principled stance. When he refused to speak out against Labor’s reluctance to condemn Israel, protesters uncovered a number of his pro-Israel comments and positions. For example, it came to light that Khalil voted against a motion at an ALP national conference to recognise Palestine in 2018 (Burke voted in favour), and he has referred to being a ‘friend to the state of Israel’. The question is whether he will be penalised for his friendships this election.

As for his campaign platform, Khalil says he’s focusing on ‘real action’ on the housing crisis, the cost of living pressures, climate change and renewable energy. You could forgive a Wills voter for rolling their eyes at his promise of ‘real action’ on climate change, following his poor track record.

In 2023, after months of pressure, locals finally succeeded in getting Khalil to form the Wills Climate and Environment Advisory group (WCEAG). WCEAG’s remit was to gather information and create climate priorities to inform Khalil’s climate decisions. In mid-2024, the group resigned en masse, in frustration of Khalil’s silence on Labor’s continued approval of a series of coal mines (an ongoing hobby of theirs, with three more approved while voters were in a Christmas ham frenzy). There are another forty currently awaiting approval. The WCEAG stated in a public letter to Khalil, that while Labor came into office with a strong mandate on climate action to limit temperature increase to 1.5 celsius, its actual policies were “inadequate” in terms of emissions targets, “misguided” in its over-reliance on offsets, carbon capture and storage, and in “need of review”. WCEAG pointed out the contradiction between the government’s stated reduction targets and its continued subsidisation of new fossil fuel projects, citing a list of misdemeanours including new coal and gas projects, a dubious carbon credit system, expansion of offshore gas projects and attempts to exclude offshore emissions from scrutiny, to name a few. The group felt that their hard work had been ignored, stating:

“Initially we thought that working with you could bring a better outcome. We engaged in the process of priority setting (as requested by you) with a high level of commitment. At the meetings that followed we provided official reports, media statements and arguments supporting the group’s priorities. We had hoped that by arming you with this information you would be able to add value to the government’s policy setting process and say your piece in caucus to get some sense. Instead over the past year, again and again, we have been dismayed and disappointed.”

The group concluded that “the climate crisis demands that we turn our energies to actions that give us greater hope”.

For the 2019 and 2022 elections, Khalil’s control over Wills was stable, but with a shift in the electoral boundary, and with Samantha Ratnam as a high-profile state MP throwing her hat in the ring, Khalil may have a significant run for his money. Ratnam provides a well-timed and enticing option for those spurned by Khalil’s inaction. A local union delegate said Ratnam’s speech at a Teachers4Palestine rally was ‘really good’, and before the union had even gotten involved.

In the last Wills election, Khalil came out on top with a firm, but not comfortable, 58.6 per cent of the vote. Things could be better in Wills. The question is whether Ratnam and Bolton present an answer the locals are ready for.

NB: Our local photographer was unable to supply us with a photo of Khalil because he (Khalil) is keeping a low profile, but our local artist worked overtime to ensure our readership wouldn’t miss out.