Australian Muslim Party launches with hopes of giving Islam a democratic voice
A new political party is being launched with the hope of giving Australia's 500,000 Muslims a voice in parliament.
Setting his sights on winning a senate seat at the next federal election, western Sydney man Diaa Mohamed has launched The Australian Muslim Party.
Hoping to become the democratic voice of Australia's fourth largest religious grouping, Mr Mohamed believes he will get the 500 signatures required for his party to be registered at a federal level, which will allow him a place on the ballot.
As a voice for the worlds' fastest-growing religion, the 34-year-old businessman and founder of My Peace wants to be a counterweight to the various anti-Islam and anti-immigration parties that are popping up.
Mr Mohamed told the ABC he wanted to inject the Islamic community's voice into national debate following criticisms that "Muslims were not loud enough".
"Maybe it is because we didn't know how, or we were a bit too fragmented, so hopefully this will at least give us that opportunity," Mr Mohamed said.
"Four or five anti-Islamic parties are being created and we thought we need to do something to address that," Mr Mohamed said.
Asked about the timing of his party's launch in the wake of Friday's terror attacks in Paris carried out by Islamic State militants, Mr Mohamed said it was "as good a time as any".
"There are going to be a lot of questions raised in the coming days of the events recently, and this is the whole reason we created this party," he said.
Mr Mohamed told Fairfax the killings of innocent people in Paris and Beirut was "inexcusable" and something he would never condone, but clarified his party would never support military intervention in Muslim countries in response to terrorist actions.
"Would I support something that has never worked in the past?" he asked with specific reference to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
"No. It's just never worked. Not for the Soviets in Afghanistan, not for the United States in Iraq. There's a solution and it's not invading someone else's land."
News break – November 17
