Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Greens Leader and Senator for New South Wales, is excited to announce the preselection of Omar Sakr as the Greens candidate for the federal seat of Blaxland currently held by Labor Education Minister Jason Clare.
An award-winning Arab Australian poet who was born and raised in western Sydney to Arab and Turkish Muslim migrants, Sakr will bring a desperately-needed, authentic community voice in parliament.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
“I’m so proud and excited to see Omar running for the Greens in Blaxland. Omar will bring the authenticity of western Sydney and its rich multicultural community into the halls of parliament. And that’s exactly what we need.
“It’s never been clearer that the two major parties have lost touch with the community as they prioritise corporate interests while millions struggle to make ends meet in this cost of living crisis. That’s why it’s so important that voices like Omar are in parliament – voices from the community that fight for the community.
“Western Sydney has been taken for granted for far too long. Mortgage and rental stress is high, it’s getting harder to see a GP for free, and public schools are underfunded.
“The Greens have a plan to make corporations pay their fair share of tax to fund things we all need like affordable homes, fully funded public schools and making sure people can see their GP for free.
“Labor does not care about western Sydney. Labor’s inaction on Israel’s genocide in Gaza has traumatised Arab and Muslim communities in western Sydney, and they teamed up with the Liberals to pass horrific anti-migrant laws.
“With people like Omar alongside me, we can keep fighting even more strongly for marginalised communities who have been left behind.
“We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expect different results. There is a better way. If you want change, vote Greens.”
Omar Sakr:
“I’m running for election as a Greens candidate in the seat of Blaxland, where I live with my family, because I’m disgusted and horrified by the Labor government’s refusal to sanction Israel in accordance with international law, as it carries out a genocide in Palestine. This “friend” of the government has killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, to say nothing of the indiscriminate bombing that killed 4,000 in Lebanon, where my mother was born and where some of our relatives still remain.
“Labor and the Liberals are united in their disregard for the rights and lives of Arab and Muslim people, they are united in attaching Australia to the US’s doomed and ruinous forever wars in the Middle East, which we don’t need to have any part in, nor should we.
“It’s harder and harder to distinguish between Labor and the Liberals these days, but there is a clear difference in the Greens, who have stood on their principles, and who continually champion justice, which is why I’m honoured to have been preselected by my local Greens group and to represent this party.
“I want a better, fairer society for my children to grow up in, one with a sustainable future, quality education, accessible housing and healthcare that encompasses all of the mind and body, not just the parts deemed cheapest to cover.
“Blaxland has the highest mortgage stress rate in the country and I’m one of the people experiencing that. Most of my family are struggling under extreme rental stress as well. And this is why I’m getting involved, we need serious change and we need it now.
“Blaxland deserves a federal MP who actually represents them. They won’t get that in a Labor or Liberal MP, but they will get that in me.”