religion was used as a weapon
Ed Husic was the Labor party candidate for the federal seat of Greenway in the last election and in this article describes how the fact that he was a muslim featured prominantly in the campaign against him:
Another thing I noticed was interest shown in my name by sections of the Liberal Party. Labor campaign workers at pre-poll booths would come and ask me what my “real” name was. When I asked why, they’d inform me that Liberal Party workers, while handing out how-to-vote cards, would ask why I wouldn’t go by my real name.
Also, imagine my surprise to see a columnist, Paul Sheehan, kick off his column on me by referring to me as “Edham” Husic. By election day, there wasn’t even a hint of subtlety.
My Bosnian name is Edham Nurredin Husic. But many people from ethnic backgrounds will - in our country’s case - Anglicise their names. It’s a cohesive gesture. We do it to fit in. Since schooldays, everyone knew me as Eddie or Ed.
Pollsters even began asking people if they would vote for a churchgoer. On election day, I heard voters being told they should support my opponent because she is a “good Christian”.
There was a big, organised effort to keep this issue alive. Was Ed a real dinkum Aussie? Could he be relied on? Would he be fighting for you or for Islam? We can debate whether this was a deliberate tactic. You’ll never absolutely know. Then again, you’re never meant to.
Reports at the time suggest more direct action, including doctored campaign literature highlighting his religion. Now this perhaps should be no surprise as Husic’s liberal opponent was Louise Markus, well known as a member of Hillsong, and therefore generated a fair bit of religion based coverage herself. Husic does make the point though that having a muslim member of parliament would be a good thing for a range of reasons, particularly for the mainstream muslim community.