We must vote on whole platforms as Australians, not just as Jews

When a leaked video showed NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong describing how the “Jewish and Israel lobby” reach their tentacles into social justice campaigns, such as the fight to stop the watering down of racial vilification laws (known as 18C), because they want to “influence power”, I was angry for innumerable reasons. 

I have volunteered and worked professionally in social justice and for-purpose sectors for much of my life. I was also raised by two Orthodox (in principle if not practice) parents in a thoroughly Jewish home. Tikkun olam and tzedakah were always at the heart of every single lesson of what it meant to be a Jew. 

This is evident in the Australian philanthropic landscape, where Jewish donors punch well above their weight in terms of charitable giving across a number of causes, frequently outside their own community. 

Every single Jewish community with which I’ve been involved, both in Australia and overseas, has run social justice activities both within and outside their own gates, from large-scale campaigns and interfaith initiatives, to charity outreach programs, like soup kitchens, children’s giving programs, kitchen pantries and so on.  

As a mother to Aboriginal children, I am proud of the work Jewish community groups have done working to support the civil rights of First Nations People on stolen land. This stretched back to grassroots community groups who worked to bring about change during the lead-up to the 1967 referendum, the Jewish lawyers who worked on Eddie Mabo’s Native Title case, and through to almost all Jewish community groups vocally and actively supporting the Yes vote in last year’s Voice to Parliament referendum. 

We’ve watched in horror as President Donald Trump has moved to enact a raft of frightening policies that seek to curtail the rights of many disenfranchised groups (diversity initiatives, LGBTQI+ rights and women’s reproductive freedom to name a few).

Despite presenting himself as the only way forward for Israel, Trump has long courted the company of neo-Nazi extremist groups, as has his offsider Elon Musk. Anyone who was surprised by Musk’s address to Germany’s far right anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany, during which he said Germans should “move past the guilt of the Holocaust”, simply wasn’t listening or paying attention. 

As human beings, what we see and hear is selective. Worldwide Jewry is scared. Of course we are. A surge in anti-Jewish hate tends to have that effect. But here is what gives me hope. 

Traditionally and historically, around 20-30 per cent of American Jews vote Republican. During the most recent US election, just 21 per cent of American Jews voted Republican. A huge 71 per cent of Jews, despite their fear, still voted for an alternative to Trumpism, because they were able to see past the politics.

Australians will go to the polls this year. Already we can see parties positioning themselves for an election; funding announcements, grandstanding, playing for every single political point, because, of course, that’s what politicians do.

I am not a member of any party. I assess the candidates each election and vote based on who I think is either the candidate who reflects my values, will best represent my electorate and who I think will be a needed voice in whichever party room they sit, or in the case of independents, in whichever house they sit. 

I am not going to tell anyone how to vote. Or which party deserves your support. I am, however, going to beg Australian Jews, and indeed all Australian voters, to vote for a body of work. To look beyond political point-scoring and words that bely the historical record and tell you what you want to hear.

A candidate or party that makes the most promises based on the issues of the day, the one who lulls you into a sense of security on which they simply cannot deliver, is not going to be your best representative in our democratic system.

The events of October 7 and all that has happened since have no doubt shaped our lives, in some ways harming us irreparably. But there are issues all around us that extend beyond this one. We are Jews, but we are also Australians. The healthcare system is not fit for purpose and women’s health has been shamefully underfunded and understudied.

Our public schools are in desperate need of attention and priority. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are still being incarcerated at record rates and dying a decade younger than non-Aboriginal people. Climate change continues apace.

We can also never forget that we came to this country as migrants. While Jewish convicts were present in the First Fleet, the majority of our community in Australia is made up of people who migrated here or came here seeking safety in the past 70 years. It is our moral obligation not to pull up the gang plank behind us. 

Lurching towards right-wing, Trumpist-style politics that seeks to divide, rather than unite and stoke our fears, rather than work to deliver real solutions to the problems we face, would be a grave error in judgment and one we will come to regret.

According to the director of pollster RedBridge Group Australia, Kos Samaras, polling already shows the Australian conservative vote is consolidating. When I asked him if every vote is going to be important this election, he gave me an emphatic “yes”. Samaras says the federal election will be one of the closest we’ve seen and emphasises that it’s essential people understand what they’re voting for and how Australia’s murky preference system works.  

I don’t want an Australia with curtailed abortion and reproductive rights, as was almost legislated in South Australia just months ago. I don’t want my community’s pain to be weaponised for political gain. I don’t want people policed for how they identify their gender. I want my children to one day own a home or be able to afford to pay rent. I do not want the laws that protect us against hate speech watered down to allow for “debate” over one human being’s worth or value over another. 

Aussies love sport, right? So let me say this: remember to look at the ladder for the whole season; not just the match-up of the loudest teams or indeed players. 

Our role in democracy, as a community and as individuals, cannot be based on one issue. It has to be based on all the aspirations we have for our society, equality and, most importantly, repairing the world, or, in the more traditional meaning of tikkun olam, maintaining social order.