Focus Macnamara: Greens want to earn back Jewish vote

Of the thousands of doors Greens Macnamara candidate Sonya Semmens has knocked on, one has stuck in her mind. It was the door of a Jewish family who had recently taken their mezuzah down because their teenage children were fearful it would make them the target of a hate crime.

“To be yourself and take pride in yourself and feel safe to be yourself… is a very Greens concern. I will nail a mezuzah on their door frame if I am elected… and that will be when I can tell myself my job here is done. I will buy one, I will drive out and nail it on myself,” Semmens told The Jewish Independent.

Semmens considers it her job to “earn back” the progressive Jewish vote in Macnamara. The electorate – formerly Melbourne Ports – covers a substantial proportion of Melbourne’s ‘shtetl’, including Caulfield, St Kilda, Elwood and Balaclava. 

But Semmens, 46, a political novice who has spent her entire career in the non-profit sector, is running for a party consistently marred by antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric since Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack.

“Although I can't speak for all elements of the Greens or the way that the Greens are portrayed… I see it as my role and my responsibility to be that voice of care and concern for the Jewish community, which is my community, which is my neighbourhood, my friends, my children’s friends and their families.

“Frankly, I won't rest until that relationship is restored, and it will be something that is a priority for me and is on my mind all the time, as it should be."

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Semmens feels “optimistic but also realistic” about her chances come May 3 – and in a race as tight as Macnamara, it’s easy to see why. Macnamara has been a safe Labor seat for more than 100 years, but the party was just 1,965 votes ahead of the Greens on first preference votes in the 2022 federal election. 

Sitting MP Josh Burns has been a keen defender of the Jewish community – to which he belongs – but as a Labor representative, he wears its foreign policy shifts on Israel. This, combined with attitudes that the party has been slow to respond to antisemitism, makes winning the Jewish vote difficult. 

Semmens is also up against Liberal’s Benson Saulo but given Labor’s historic stronghold in the electorate, a Liberal win is unlikely.

The Greens have strong support from the inner-city in their favour: Macnamara is neighbour to Melbourne, Greens leader Adam Bandt’s electorate, and the suburbs of Port Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda will likely deliver Semmens a strong primary vote. 

Ultimately, comprising just 12% of the electorate means Jews won’t decide Macnamara, but with such narrow margins, every vote counts – particularly when it comes to preferences. Jews who feel disillusioned by Labor and angered by the Greens may consider shifting Liberal, which could pull enough votes away from Burns to allow Semmens to win the seat on preferences.  

It's an outcome Semmens is acutely aware of: “The way the cookie crumbles is very strange in Macnamara. It all sort of sits in this fine little line where it really could go in many directions... We have an opportunity with preferential voting to choose something different… we are in a really powerful position here as Australians to choose against the two-party system.” 

Semmens' proposition to the Jewish community is a hard sell: the Greens voted against a parliamentary motion to condemn Hamas; Bandt and several Greens politicians have been vocal mouthpieces for a Palestinian perspective; and the party has shown little concern about rising antisemitism. Greens MP Jenny Leong has even been guilty of making a racial slur against Jews, when she referred to the "tentacles" of the “Jewish lobby”.  

Such behaviour has seen progressive Jews who previously supported the Greens abandon ship. The party’s betrayal has cut so deep that the Zionist Federation of Australia and Executive Council of Australian Jewry wrote to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition requesting both major parties preference each other above the Greens.

Recently, Semmens' invitation to a Jewish election forum on April 9 was withdrawn after her involvement garnered criticism from the community. Semmens said the decision was "disappointing": "I've been working hard to listen to all members of the Jewish community, and even when we differ in our views I've felt those conversations have been important and valuable," she said.

"I was looking forward to attending this forum to outline the Greens' plan to respond to the rising spectre of antisemitism, as well as the broad range of other significant issues that I'm hearing from the community... I'll continue to seek connection and have conversations with the Jewish community directly to the election and beyond."

Semmens, who was raised in the Christian church, does seem genuine in her concern for the Jewish members of her electorate – which she has also called home for almost a decade – and appears eager to combat antisemitism. 

If elected, she has pledged to provide a suite of social cohesion and safety measures, including security upgrades for religious institutions and improving antisemitism awareness and education. 

But she defends the Greens' policy to ban military exports to Israel, claiming it is “a solution that's in line with the self-determination of both Israeli and Palestinian people, whether that's a one or two-state solution”. 

She also declines to condemn the participation of Greens MPs in pro-Palestinian protests. “I think that it is important to protect protest in this country… and I understand if it’s an MP’s wish to participate...I'm much more concerned about the brazenness of far-right and alt-right actors in Australia and around the world.” 

She is confused and scattered on other aspects of antisemitism and foreign policy. She could not say why the Greens don't have a specific policy on antisemitism and admitted she doesn't "know the details or the specifics” of the Labor or Liberal antisemitism policy.

And when asked if, in the case of a hung parliament, the Greens would support a foreign policy recognising a Palestinian state at this time, Semmens panicked and responded “Good God”. 

Regardless of whether Semmens can succeed in earning Jewish votes, she hopes that if she is elected, Jewish voters will trust her to represent them.

“Whether or not a person feels they can vote for me, I still want to be a safe place [for people] to come if I'm elected as the MP for this seat,” Semmens concluded. "It would be the worst-case scenario for me if people didn't feel that they could come and talk to me if I were the MP elected to represent them.” 

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