News / Federal Election
Muslim group backs Ratnam campaign
Endorsement is an early boost for Greens candidate
Mark Phillips
SAMANTHA Ratnam’s bid to become the first Greens MP for the federal seat of Wills has gained a boost after she won a potentially influential endorsement from a Muslim advocacy group.
The recently-formed Muslim Votes Matter group gave its endorsement of Ratnam on Sunday. She is the first candidate to win the backing of the group, which will target nine electorates this year.
With 10% of the electorate identifying as Muslim, the endorsement could be crucial in determining the result in Wills, which is currently held by Labor’s Peter Khalil with a 4.6% margin. It has the 10th largest Muslim population of all 150 electorates in the nation.
Despite himself being of Middle Eastern heritage, Khalil has long been seen as vulnerable because of the war in Gaza, which is the key issue motivating the involvement of MVM in this year’s election.
MVM spokesman Ghaith Krayem said Ratnam had demonstrated a strong commitment to social justice, human rights, and equity, aligning with key priorities for the Muslim community.
The group says Khalil has mentioned Gaza 13 times since October 2023, and rated him as a “yes” on only one out of nine measures on its scorecard, including not calling for an immediate and sustained ceasfire and not condemning alleged war crimes committed by Israel.
Krayem said Ratnam had taken a firm stance on Palestinian rights, including condemnation of genocide and supporting economic sanctions of Israel, championed religious freedom and combatting Islamophobia, and advocated for a fair and humane asylum seeker policy.
“We encourage all voters in Wills to consider her policies, engage with her campaign, and most importantly—show up on election day and vote for a candidate who truly represents their interests. the votes of Australians of Islamic faith,” Krayem said.
The endorsement is a blow for Khalil, who has also actively courted the vote of Muslims in Wills. Last week, he took part in the announcement of $15 million in funding for new facilities for the Islamic College of Sport and the Bachar Houli Foundation in Coburg.
MVM will target two other electorates in Victoria – Calwell and Bruce – and nine nationally.
Overseas aid forum in Brunswick
Khalil and Ratnam came face to face for the first time during the 2025 election campaign at a community forum in Brunswick last week organised by Australian Council for International Development.
Khalil made a surprise appearance at the Safer World for All forum at the Brunswick Baptist Church on Thursday after advance publicity material had described him as attending by video link.
Socialist Alliance candidate Sue Bolton also attended, but the Liberal Party’s Jeff Kidney was a no show.
The candidates had an opportunity to share their party’s position on international development before taking questions from the audience.
The Safer World for All is calling for Australia to increase its annual spending on overseas aid to 1% of the federal Budget. It is currently 0.68%. This is even more important given the Trump administration’s decision to freeze all overseas spending by USAID.
Mysterious Liberal candidate
Who is Jeff Kidney, the Liberal candidate for Wills?
Kidney’s page on the Liberal website describes him as “a national operations manager with strong experience in business and community events” but has no other useful information. It does not say if he lives in the electorate, and attempts by Brunswick Voice to contact him went unanswered.
His Facebook page was last updated on January 7, indicating he was pre-selected last year.
Yet despite his anonymity, votes for Kidney could shape the election result.
In 2022, the Liberal candidate Tom Wright, gained 17.3% of first preferences to come in third. How those votes are distributed among the Labor and Greens candidates this time could determine who wins the battle for Wills.
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