Benson Saulo: ‘In strong position to win’
Saulo said antisemitism would be at a much lower level 'if the government had stood up from day one'
On antisemitism, Benson Saulo describes the Liberals as “champions of pushing back”. He added, “I will be proud to add my voice to that and will absolutely elevate the causes of the Jewish community.”
It’s an advocacy the Macnamara candidate hopes to exercise in a Peter Dutton government after May 3. Championing Jewish concerns and Israel is an expectation Macnamara’s Jewish residents have had of incumbent Josh Burns and predecessor Michael Danby. Both Jewish Labor MPs have been relied on to be voices, often lonely ones, in Parliament and in the ALP.
Raised in Tamworth, NSW, Saulo, 36, a Melburnian since 2009, has links to four Aboriginal nations. He describes his identity as “a core pillar of who I am”. It’s a lens through which he identifies with the Jewish voters who comprise 10 per cent of Macnamara.
Saulo said antisemitism would be at a much lower level “if the government had stood up from day one”.
Since the Hamas attacks, “support from the Jewish community has been unbelievable”, and as the election campaign ramped up, many Jewish supporters have become first-time volunteers.
Founded in 1901, Melbourne Ports/Macnamara has never had a Liberal MP. Some say the Liberals can only deplete Burns’ vote and install Greens candidate Sonya Semmens in Melbourne’s Jewish heartland, with all that would mean, given the Greens’ stance on Israel and antisemitism.
At a candidates’ debate, Burns described Saulo as “a nice guy, but he’s not the person I’m worried about winning this seat”. Saulo describes this as “fear mongering”.
“I’m very confident that with all the work we’ve done over the past 12 months, the thousands of doors that I’ve knocked on, the thousands of phone calls that we’ve made, the thousands of conversations that I’ve had across the electorate, in us being in a very strong position to win,” he told The AJN.
Polling has his primary vote at 38 per cent, compared to Burns on 26 per cent, below Semmens at 28 per cent. Liberal elder Michael Kroger believes that with Burns running an open card, “the path to victory for Benson is highly plausible”.
Saulo said Burns should have preferenced the Greens last, as he himself has done. His perspective on the Greens has evolved. In 2015, he became a member and briefly worked for then leader Richard Di Natale. But the party did not live up to his ideals, his membership lapsed, and he later discovered the Liberals “aligned most with me”.