The federal election was fought on many fronts, from housing and energy to cost-of-living and migration. But in some Western Sydney electorates one issue loomed particularly large for many voters – the war in Gaza. While the government managed to successfully hold on to seats like Blaxland and Watson, a closer look at the numbers show Labor has new competition.
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00:00Yeah, we'll come to you next, be ready.
00:07Polite smiles and nervous laughter in Maryland's on election day, but beneath the surface,
00:12a fierce competition for the seat of Blacksland was reshaping the margins.
00:17Education Minister Jason Clare was fending off Muslim vote-endorsed candidate Ahmed Ouf.
00:22The Muslim vote accuses the government of complicity in the destruction of Gaza.
00:26The numbers that we saw for independence in Blacksland and Watson were really strong for independence.
00:32Ahmed Ouf dominated in suburbs like Guilford and South Granville with just over 45% of the primary vote.
00:39It was even higher in Auburn.
00:41Overall, he secured more than 20% of the primary vote, biting a healthy chunk of the labour and
00:47liberal margins.
00:48The same happened in Watson with Dr. Ziad Basuni picking up 15% of first preferences.
00:54I think this is the kind of insurge that you'd expect to see over four or five election
00:58cycles.
00:59At first glance, the results may seem unchanged.
01:03Labour maintains both seats.
01:04But others are interpreting the results differently.
01:07The community has voted, and it's voted to reject Labour, effectively.
01:13These are not passive voters.
01:14They're active voters who voted to basically reject their stance on Gaza, on Palestine, their
01:20weak stance.
01:21The Greens more than doubled their Senate vote in Blacksland and made big gains in Watson,
01:26too.
01:27Muslim, migrant, multicultural communities have really backed the Greens at this election
01:34because of a strong stance against genocide.
01:38The electorate's pretty sophisticated.
01:40It's a conundrum for Labour and for the Liberals.
01:42One they may have to contend with again three years from now.