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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-24 Daily Xml
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PARLIAMENTARY APPOINTMENTS

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:39): I rise today to congratulate the Hon. Ed Husic, the federal member for Chifley, on his appointment as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to reflect on its significance for our nation. On 28 September 2010, Mr Husic, the son of Bosnian migrants, was sworn in as the first Muslim elected to federal parliament. He took his oath with his hand on the Koran. On the same day, Liberal Josh Frydenberg was sworn in as the member for Kooyong on a Jewish Bible. This was the same bible used by his Jewish friend and mentor Zelman Cowan in 1977 when he was sworn in as Governor-General.

Over the years many Jewish people have served in elected positions such as the Mayor of Melbourne, Premier of South Australia and Speaker of the House of Representatives. The first Jewish member of parliament in the Parliament of South Australia was Vaiben Solomon. He was elected in 1890 to represent the electoral district of Northern Territory. On 1 December 1899 he became the 21st premier of South Australia and he, also, would have been sworn in on a Jewish Bible.

Solomon is the only Jewish person so far to be sworn in as a colonial or state premier. He also had the distinction of leading South Australia's shortest lived government—it lasted a week. He went on to be one of four Jewish MPs in the first federal parliament, none of whom were from the Labor side. Another of the four, Isaac Isaacs, later became a High Court judge and Australia's first native-born Governor-General.

Today there are also four Jewish MPs in the federal parliament: three on the Labor side and one on the coalition side. Currently, as far as I am aware, there are two self-identified Muslims in the New South Wales parliament, one in the Victorian parliament and one in the federal parliament.

In 2010 Macquarie University published a research report which drew on interviews with Muslims in public life. None of the interviewees in the study reported having experienced religious discrimination that hindered their efforts to become politically active, although some found the machinations of party politics to be incompatible with their faith. Those elected to office universally rejected any suggestion that they represented a specifically Muslim constituency. All emphasised that they represented all their constituents, regardless of religion, and they were careful to make all political decisions on their merits.

In terms of serving in the executive in commonwealth parliaments, there is, of course, a long tradition of Muslim service within the British commonwealth. In 1956, Pakistan was proclaimed an Islamic republic. Other commonwealth countries with Muslim majorities include Bangladesh and Malaysia. In 2007, Shahid Rafique Malik became Britain's first Muslim minister as the international development minister.

In Australia, Ed Husic became the first Muslim promoted to the front bench after being named parliamentary secretary to the prime minister in Kevin Rudd's new ministry. He took his oath of office on the Koran at the swearing-in ceremony in front of Governor-General Quentin Bryce earlier this month. Disappointingly, the swearing in generated a wave of negative responses on social media, with some people calling it 'disgusting' and 'un-Australian'. In my view it would have been un-Australian for Ed Husic not to use the Koran. The oath is about making the strongest possible affirmation of one's commitment to our land, our nation, and the duties you are undertaking. If a practising Muslim was to use the Bible, I would personally question whether they were taking the oath seriously. As Mr Husic explained, he did not want to take the oath without a religious text and using the Koran only strengthened his commitment to the commonwealth and its people.

Whatever a person's cultural or religious background and commitment, we expect them to make a commitment to Australia, a commitment which does not ignore their culture, their religion or their values but, rather, integrates them. A Muslim, or a person of any faith, will be the most committed, loyal, service-focused citizen they can possibly be when they undergird their citizenship with the beliefs and values of their faith. It is my hope that Ed Husic's quiet example will send a strong message to other Australian Muslims: this is your country; be a committed Australian by being a committed Muslim.

Mr Husic's oath is also a firm and personal statement about faith in the public square. Muslims, Christians, Jewish people, Buddhists, atheists, or whatever—we all bring our own ideas, our own values to the marketplace of ideas. I wish Mr Husic well in his service.

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