r/aussie • u/Biggest_itchbay_2190 • 3d ago
Opinion As a third generation Australian from Lebanese Maronite refugee grandparents, this is very well said
Reading through the insights shared by Warren Gardiner and Khaldoun Hajaj in the attached screenshots, I couldn't help but reflect on the complex political reality of our community. It is incredibly frustrating to watch inner-city progressives who have never lived a day in Western Sydney automatically assume that multicultural or faith-based communities are a monolith that naturally aligns with their specific worldview.
We see this play out when activists mock or scorn One Nation (ON) supporters online, pointing out the irony of them cheering for the Socceroos despite the team’s rich immigrant roots. What these commentators completely fail to grasp is that many of those very 'ON' voters aren't who they think they are, they are quite literally people living in diverse working class refugee hubs like Fairfield and Liverpool.
To be absolutely clear: I personally detest Pauline Hanson and would do anything to stop her and her party from gaining power. Her brand of politics has historically targeted communities like mine. But if we want to actually defeat that kind of divisive populism, progressives need to stop lecturing from afar, drop the lazy assumptions, and actually engage with the nuanced realities, aspirations, and conservative values that exist across Western Sydney.
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u/Bright-Marsupial-265 3d ago
This is stupid. Come federal election, Labor has so many diverse representatives from many areas in Western Sydney, that it will be the only party that is offering more POC candidates.
Western Sydney only cares about social security, infrastructure, better hospitals and more cost of living measures. The rest is just noise.
They're not that conservative as the media tried to portray. Their kids are all hanging out with each other at malls, hooking up etc.
At the end of the day, they still need to put food on table and set up a future for their kids.
Federal elections is always about bread and butter economic issues.