News Analysis
The recent federal election saw substantial swings to the centre-left Labor Party in electorates with major Chinese-Australian populations.
They include the Melbourne seats of Menzies, Aston, and Chisholm, Brisbane’s Moreton, as well as the Sydney seats of Bennelong, Reid, and Banks.
In the northern Sydney seat of Bennelong, which encompasses the suburbs of Chatswood and Eastwood—where 40 percent of residents are of Chinese heritage—Labor MP Jerome Laxale gained a 9.2 percent swing after preferences against Liberal Party candidate Scott Yung, who himself is of Chinese ancestry. About 90.9 percent of votes have been counted for that seat.
However, upon deeper examination, some candidates like the Liberal’s Keith Wolahan in Menzies actually saw their primary vote hold firm, which may be attributed to his strong Chinese social media presence.
Yet one conclusion propagated is that Chinese-Australian voters were concerned about the state of official ties between Canberra and Beijing, with the subtext that calling out the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its human rights abuses or military aggression could damage ties and as a result, cost votes.
It’s also a view shared by a 2022 Liberal Party internal review.
Liberals Stayed Quiet on Policies That Could Resonate With Chinese Voters
Some argue the results should be looked at more holistically.
“Many Chinese people—especially those who have already become citizens here—actually identify strongly with the values of Australia,” said Feng Chongyi, a China studies associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, in an interview with The Epoch Times.
“But the [former] Liberal Party leader [Peter Dutton’s campaign] was too weak—he tried to please everyone, and didn’t actually offer a real alternative [to Labor].”
He said the Coalition’s entire election campaign was “very passive” and failed to champion a conservative agenda, such as freedom of speech and religion, smaller government, pro-business policies, pro-education, and opposing net zero.
Feng also pointed out that Dutton’s inability to discipline the party’s moderate faction damaged his campaign, meaning the Liberal Party did not promote the policies that normally resonate with Chinese-Australians.
In turn, this also allowed alternative messages to run free—on Chinese social media platforms like RedNote and WeChat—particularly when Liberal Senator Jane Hume’s comment about “Chinese spies“ handing out voting cards for Labor MPs took hold.
