Make your vote meaningful

Many Jewish Australians have been sold a lie this election. They have been told that rising antisemitism and controversial Israel-Palestine policy mean they have no choice but to reject the Labor government. Such a claim is self-serving Liberal politicking.

Like all Australians, Jews should vote for whichever government we believe best represents our interests and the interests of the society to which we belong. Very few Jews will vote for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation given its hostility to minorities, and very few will vote Greens given the party’s hostility to Israel and insensitivity to Australian Jews.
 
But between these extremes, we may legitimately vote left or right, according to our beliefs; select major or minor parties or independents according to who we think will best represent us; and vote ideologically or strategically, as we choose.  

There is not a significant difference between the major parties’ policies on antisemitism, and the differences in foreign policy are neither substantive nor impactful. Neither the experience of antisemitism faced by Jewish Australians nor the conflict in Israel-Palestine is likely to change as a result of who wins this election.  

It is not sensible to allow our passions about foreign policy or our fears about antisemitism to swamp our assessments of the core issues that are at stake: economic policy, environmental management, and which government is most likely to build an equitable, safe and cohesive society.  

Like all Australians, we are concerned about the cost of living and should consider the offerings of the parties on housing affordability, tertiary education debt, taxation, and the cost of healthcare.  

Like all Australians, we are deeply affected by the environment and should consider the strongly contrasting policies on nuclear energy and renewables, and the different offerings on energy subsidies.  

More than many other Australians, we understand the importance of social cohesion and are disturbed by the growing rifts in our society. We should listen carefully not only to the (minor) policy differences but also to the nature of the rhetoric from both sides. It is essential to consider not just how it makes us feel, but what effect it will have on those with whom we must live.  

It is not in our interest to endorse statements that rev up division, even if they do so by taking positions we like. Playing politics with antisemitism is bad for the Jews. The failure of both parties to achieve a bipartisan policy on antisemitism when they have no substantive differences exposes the weakness in our adversarial politics.  

Nor should we be deceived into thinking that a government of any colour will be able to reduce antisemitism easily or swiftly. While there is some evidence that the number of incidents is already reducing, antisemitism is a complex phenomenon, especially in the current context, and requires responses at many levels of society.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s rhetoric on antisemitism is different from that of Labor’s Anthony Albanese, more in style than in substance. Dutton runs the traditional right-wing line emphasising security and using the language of strength. He has implied the cause of antisemitism is in Muslim migration and promised to expel non-citizens convicted of antisemitic acts (a circumstance that has yet to arise).  Albanese has also strongly condemned antisemitism, but he prefers the calmer message of building multiculturalism and emphasising that hate has “no place in Australia”.  

But the major parties are almost identical in the amount of funding for security; the commitment to police resourcing to fight antisemitism; and the promise of support for Jewish cultural initiatives such as the Jewish Arts Quarter in Melbourne, the WA Holocaust Museum, and the Sydney Jewish Museum.   

There has been a great deal of focus on policy differences between the parties on Israel-Palestine. Both parties support a two-state solution, endorsing both Israel’s right to live in peace and security and the Palestinians' right to sovereignty. 

But the Liberals are unequivocal in their support of Israel, including the actions of the Netanyahu government, while Labor walks a much finer line: condemning October 7 and endorsing Israel’s right to defend itself, but speaking out strongly on illegal settlements in the West Bank and on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Albanese government’s recent UN votes have included support for the “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”. ALP party conferences continue to push for immediate recognition of a Palestinian state by Australia and, while the parliamentary party has so far resisted this call, it certainly cannot be ruled out under a Labor government.  

The irony of the strong Jewish community opposition is that there is nothing in Labor’s policy on Israel that contradicts what most Australian Jews want; the community is just uncomfortable with the timing. Yes, many of us would prefer Australia’s endorsement of a Palestinian state to wait until there are Palestinian leaders who accept Israel’s right to live in peace and security, but asked if we support a Palestinian sovereignty over the territories, many Jewish Australians – and many Israelis – would land in the same place the ALP has already gone. 

Faced with the horror of Hamas, we can get so tied up in our self-righteousness that we also forget that it makes no difference to the prospects for peace how Australia votes at the UN or the language our politicians use about Israel.  

Those who argue Jews must vote Liberal because of Labor’s Israel policy are effectively removing the right of Australian Jews to cast their votes on the many policies that affect their lives and the society in which they live, in favour of casting a symbolic but pointless ballot.  

Some argue that the ALP’s policy is an indication of hostility to Israel which has a direct relationship to the rise in antisemitism. This is a contention that can't be substantiated or disproven but it fails the basic test of correlation and causation. Antisemitism has risen around the world, as much in the US with its continuing support of Israel as in Europe, which tends to support Palestine.  

For the significant percentage of Jewish voters in the Melbourne electorate of Macnamara, there is also a strategic reason to reject the pressure to lodge a protest vote for the Liberals. A swing towards the Liberals by Macnamara’s 12% of Jewish voters will not deliver a Liberal victory but could lead to a preference flow that results in a Greens MP. If Jewish Liberal voters remove Josh Burns, the key Jewish community voice in the ALP, in favour of Greens candidate Sonya Semmens they will not be achieving what they intended. 

Foreign policy for a middle power on the other side of the world is a very small part of government. Antisemitism is more important, not least because Jews are the canary in the coal mine of social cohesion. 

But all Jewish voters should be thinking more broadly than Israel or antisemitism in casting their ballots.  

Nothing in either Israel or in Australia’s antisemitism landscape will be significantly different whether Australia’s next prime minister is Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton. We should not allow obsession with these issues to rob us of our rights to vote as Australians, on all the policies that affect us.