Premier defends event amid politicisation claims
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan has denied her government is using multicultural events for party-political purposes after hosting an iftar dinner attended by dozens of Labor ministers and their supporters, along with a lone Coalition MP.
A passionate defender of the publicly funded dinner, Allan said Victoria’s diverse Islamic community meeting senior government officials and Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush on Wednesday night would reassure Muslims facing rising Islamophobia.
Allan said on Thursday: “Incidents like last night send a very clear message to them that not only do they deserve to feel safe, but that they have a government, a police service, that supports and will work hard to protect your right to be safe.”
The evening programme, which featured speeches by Allan and Multicultural Affairs Minister Ingrid Stitt, who “met” the prime minister but did not include a speech by a faith leader or non-Labor political party member, raised concerns that taxpayer-funded multicultural events were becoming politicized.
“It looked more like an electioneering session than a multicultural event,” said an Islamic community leader who declined to give his name for fear of professional and social repercussions.
“The message was: if you don’t support Labour, your success story won’t happen. This was a campaign event.”
Sheikh Mustafa Sarakibi, a member of the Board of Imams of Victoria, welcomed the annual event being held on a large scale this week for the first time since the start of the war in Gaza in 2023.
“We felt supported,” he said. “It was probably one of the most diverse gatherings I’ve ever seen in the Islamic community. That’s a positive thing.”
A similar event in Sydney was canceled by NSW Premier Chris Minns last week following a breakdown in relations between his government and Muslim communities.
Sheikh Mustafa agreed that it would be good to have more political diversity at events hosted by the government.
“It doesn’t matter which party they are from. If they are MPs, there will be people from the Islamic community in their constituencies,” he said.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Greens leader Ellen Sandell were invited to the dinner following a letter from Evan Mulholland, the shadow minister for multicultural and multi-religious affairs, to the prime minister expressing concerns that multicultural events were being used to promote Labour’s electoral interests.
Due to short notice, neither Wilson nor Sandell could attend. The only non-Labor MP in a room of around 800 people was upper house Liberal MP Nick McGowan, who took Wilson’s seat.
This week, Age It said government cables released to the opposition under freedom of information showed that the Prime Minister’s Private Office was involved in reviewing invitation lists, seating arrangements and speaking opportunities at a number of government-funded multicultural events.
The disclosed documents show that at the Multicultural Gala Dinner organized by the Prime Minister last August at a cost of 438 thousand dollars, 190 seats were reserved for Labor ministers, advisors, MPs and their guests, and only one table was reserved for the Coalition. Then-opposition leader Brad Battin and his wife were sitting at Allan’s table.
The dinner was hosted by the Victorian Multicultural Commission and funded by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Speaking at an iftar dinner (a nightly celebration for Muslim worshipers to mark iftar time during the holy month of Ramadan) on Wednesday night, Allan cited the “racist, vile” attack on an iftar dinner in Ballarat last weekend as evidence of growing hatred towards Muslims.
“We must be honest about the challenges that exist today,” he said. “Anti-Muslim hate is real. Muslim women being harassed on our streets is real. Mosques being targeted is real. Young Muslims feeling judged before they even have a chance to speak is real.”
He also accused unnamed MPs from rival parties at the state and federal level of fueling Islamophobia.
Asked on Thursday why more non-government MPs had not been included in the guest list for Wednesday’s dinner, Allan said: “Normally I would describe this approach from the Liberal Party as petty, but this is much more divisive and dangerous than that. The Liberal Party only proposes division. One Nation only pushes them to extremes. We stand for Victorians, all Victorians, all colours, all faiths, all cultures.”
He said accusations that his government was misusing public funds for political purposes were “deeply false”.
The Opposition has raised concerns about four events held last year: the Prime Minister’s Multicultural Gala Dinner, the Prime Minister’s Diwali State Reception, the Shrove Tuesday celebration and the Prime Minister’s Lunar New Year event, to the Victorian Public Service Commission.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He had previously served as the newspaper’s chief correspondent and was a journalist with 30 years of experience.Connect via email.
