If nothing changes dramatically, it is expected that Australians will vote before mid-2019 in the federal election. Major political parties are already gearing up their preparations and the process of screening and nominations of candidates is currently underway. A decade back it was a common perception that mainstream politics is not for new migrants even they qualify for voting. Barriers are breaking now and even young migrant who becomes new citizens are willing to actively participate in every level of Australian politics. But some are still puzzled and clueless about the way into the Australian political system. Council election is still breeding ground for those eyeing towards mainstream politics but there are many other factors that become a hurdle for new citizen to enter into politics.
Social researchers agree that even after settling down, migrant community members have lots of resentment about politicians and politics. Some of the commonly known perceptions are:
Negative perception about politics conceived from the political system of homeland
Migrants of the non-English background are not welcome in politics
Cannot enter into politics if do not have funding and resources
One must need strong internal links and contacts to success in Australian politics
Some fears could have ground but one of the greatest barriers is lack of knowledge. Many new citizens do not know much about point entry of political system.
Ejaz Khan is a human rights lawyer, a community activist with experience of Australia's political system. He has been an active member of the Australian Labor party for a long time. Mr Ejaz explains the process as follows that mostly apply to both major political parties:
Take membership of a political party
Pay party membership fee
Attend a minimum number of meetings
Members’ have to support party constitution and need to adhere to party policies
Ejaz Khan - Community worker and Human rights Lawyer Source: Ejaz Khan
"In a multicultural constituency, political parties with “vision of diversity” having an extra edge. There is increasing demand in these constituencies for the nomination of a local candidate who does not only understand the sensitivity of community but also able to connect on grass root level۔"
NSW State library electorate and political party chapter describe that there is no legal requirement to join a political party in Australia before entering politics, however, in practice party membership are needed.
Candidates must be nominated by 100 electors or be endorsed by a political party, in addition to paying a deposit of $1000 to contest a House of Representatives seat and $2000 to contest a Senate seat. Deposits are returned to candidates who get more than four per cent of the first preference vote
NSW State library documents define the similar rules of nominations for state and territory.
“The states and territories have similar laws governing who can nominate in their elections and when and how they nominate. Grounds for exclusion from candidacy vary but generally relate to residency, criminal sentences, and offices of profit”
Source: https://legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/
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