The disproportionate harm inflicted on women of colour in politics, and what needs to change

"In my racial justice work, I speak to women of colour in politics across the political spectrum. Every party on this continent has a serious problem with race and racism in its ranks," writes Neha Madhok.

In recent months, we’ve seen members of parliament exposed for misconduct and discrimination. From the report revealing thousands of allegations of workplace misconduct within the NSW Government, to individual cases of discrimination such as Pauline Hanson’s racial discrimination against Senator Mehreen Faruqi.

Following the US election result earlier this month, it feels inevitable that Australia will be engulfed by the same spike in racist rhetoric as the extremist far-right around the world feels emboldened. And women of colour will bear the brunt.  In response, Australia needs to be on the front foot when it comes to addressing racism in parliament, particularly as we near our own election in 2025. 

Addressing systemic barriers faced by women of colour in politics 

In my racial justice work, I speak to women of colour in politics across the political spectrum. Every party on this continent has a serious problem with race and racism in its ranks. For example, Senator Mehreen Faruqi was recently asked to withdraw comments calling out racial double standards in Parliament by Senator Wong and the Speaker in the name of ‘harmony’. And let’s not forget when Tu Le volunteered and spent countless hours in her local community preparing for preselection only to be shafted for Kristina Keneally – a white woman who lives about as far away from the multicultural seat of Fowler as you can in Sydney. 

Political party culture values unquestioning loyalty to the powers that be. You are assessed based on your capacity to run yourself into the ground volunteering for candidates during election periods, or your willingness to volunteer your days at head office. It’s all about how connected you are, and making sure you’re not asking the wrong questions. Being an outsider is the worst thing you can be in a political party. Our political system is built on this culture and it’s unsustainable. 

All of this creates conditions for abuse and manipulation, there are limited merit-based processes. It’s about who can slog it out for enough hours for free. What working person with dependants and responsibilities can do all of that? Unfortunately, these demands can create cultural, language and economic barriers.

For example, a Muslim member of Parliament who might live in Western Sydney will not feel comfortable attending an evening event in the city focused on alcohol. It may also impact their own cultural observances, such as preventing them from sharing meal time with their own family. That’s also not to mention different cultures have different expectations of how to engage with authority figures and what is considered rude or polite differs, often putting culturally diverse people at a disadvantage in the political sphere. 

The vilification of women of colour in the Australian Parliament

The pursuit of Senators Fatima Payman and Mehreen Faruqi demonstrates what happens to women of colour, especially when speaking ‘out of turn’. People of colour but especially, women of colour are expected to be grateful for what they have been given rather than respecting that they have earned their positions, this is known as the Model Minority myth. What power players want is a docile brown face that will smile, nod, and parrot-approved talking points. If you challenge whiteness, if you call out the actions of White Supremacy culture, you walk away with a target on your back and a sense of doom. You are vilified, you are an aggressive radical, all because you dared to have an opinion. 

This concept has been called the “Problem” Woman of Colour in the Workplace, which tells the common narrative of women of colour’s experiences in a predominantly white organisation. Whilst it might start positively, the hiring of a woman of colour is often soon revealed as tokenism, even if she was hired based on merit. After a period of time, “the reality of a white-dominant space becomes apparent. The racialised woman experiences recurring microaggressions and structural barriers.” When a woman of colour calls this out, the organisation and her colleagues often deny her experiences, eventually leading to her becoming “the problem” and finally, to her no longer being seen as a “good fit” or “qualified” for the job. 

And the cycle continues. We see this time and time again, not just in politics – as we’ve seen with Senators Paymen and Faruqi, but in workplaces all over the country. 

Anti-racism strategies for change 

The political class needs to understand that people of colour aren’t there to make you look good, we’re not all in politics to uphold the systems of white supremacy and colonialism that are the foundations of our parliamentary system. Built by the same British colonial regime that carved up Palestine and India – a brutal upheaval for millions of people and whose consequences are still ever present. Colonised people have a very different experience of systems of white supremacy and our voices deserve to be heard and to be engaged with in a genuine way.

Actively addressing racism, is, somewhat infuriatingly, very simple. Firstly, when First People and people of colour call something out, listen to them. Take the time to understand their point of view and validate their experiences. Secondly, politicians, and the community more broadly, need to be authentically mentoring people of colour as future leaders, and not just uplifting people who look and sound like themselves. 

Anti-racism isn’t just swapping out the colour of the person running in a seat. The Labor Party may have learned that representation matters in politics given that Tu Le is now the candidate for Fowler, but Albanese’s treatment of Senator Payman demonstrates that they didn’t learn anything about anti-racist practice, they just learned that the window dressing needs to be a different shade. 

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Neha Madhok

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