Renee Heath - lessons for migrant community political aspirants

Renee Heath, a Liberal candidate for the upper house seat of Eastern Victoria is being seen as someone plunging her party into a controversy for her religious beliefs and links to a church which some very well-known commentators have called a “cult.”

This should ring alarm bells, serious alarm bells for the many loyal, hard-working political aspirants from the migrant communities.

Having watched the so-called ‘bombshell’ expose on Sunday night – Channel 9’ 60 Minutes (now nowhere near what it used to be), I could not find much different in the beliefs being propagated by the church to what many religious people in our migrant communities already believe and hold dear other than the wretched ‘gay conversion therapy’ practices.

Many staunch followers of their respective religion amongst the migrant communities have political aspirations and would like to contribute to Victorian society.

The question is – do they have to be or look woke to get that chance?

Should they be pressured to think ‘differently’ and against their faith if they were to be given the opportunity?

I hope not.

The media landscape in Australia is also funny. The main protagonists ruling the airwaves and print space are majorly divided in two camps which, for the uninitiated, can be broadly described as ‘Left’ (for things closely resembling what the Labor and the Greens would believe in) and ‘Right’ (for things closely resembling what the Liberals would believe in).

Funnily, it is the ‘subject’ that they are dealing with – that determines how they would deliver their loyalties by espousing the line in public. The whole thing does smack of ‘editorial direction’ from the top (or someone) which needs to be followed.

I say that because their position on identical subjects tends to differ. Renee Heath is being treated as ‘outcast’ and ‘untouchable’ by the Liberal party and there is hardly any uproar in the ‘Right’ group. The same group went bonkers on the issue of Essendon Football Club chief Andrew Thorburn saga.

Also read: They will do every chore to get your vote

When Matthew Guy told the media that Renee Heath would not be welcome in the Liberal party room, outgoing MP Tim Smith accused him of stoking “cultural Marxism”.

“This is Andrew Thorburn on steroids,” Tim Smith tweeted.

But the noise made by some in the media about Andrew Thorburn issue was much greater and louder than anything said by anyone to support Renee Heath who says she has never attempted to impose her religious views on others in The Liberal Party.

The political parties have in the past dumped migrant community candidates for expressing views against same-sex marriage. Many in the migrant communities are still old school; they are not as woke as some head honchos of the ‘woke’ political parties would like them to be.

That raises one fundamental question- do they no longer have the right to hold dear their faith and beliefs?

Listen below how serious Melbourne’s Radio King Neil Mitchell was on allowing Andrew Thorburn hold his beliefs and the job.

Neil Mitchell: Andrew Thorburn’s exit has ‘extraordinary’ implications

The world is changing, agreed. But are we going to leave no room at all for those who do not subscribe to the ‘woke’ views?

If the answer to this question is ‘no’, we are descending into a zone where there will be no winners in the end.

All migrants aspiring to be politicians in Australia – must grapple with this issue before they dive into the grassroots of politics. They can pretend to look woke, but their progeny will have to bear and carry the consequences of their actions of today.

Matthew Guy, has an election to win on Saturday. Thus, he was perhaps not wrong in distancing himself from Renee Heath.

But someone must look at the bigger picture and the long run yields of what is being actioned today. The business of politics is a powerful lever in how we calibrate our social settings.

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