New MP is first in Australia to be sworn in with Koran
Lauren Wilson/The Australian
Union, Labor, Muslim: what more does Australia need?
Before union boss turned western Sydney MP Ed Husic takes his seat in the 43rd parliament of Australia, history will be made.
Mr Husic, the son of Yugoslavian migrants, is the first Muslim elected to federal parliament and will today become the first MP sworn in by the Chief Justice of the High Court with his hand on a copy of the Koran.
The Blacktown-based former national president of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union arrived in Canberra yesterday carrying with him the Koran of his proud migrant parents who will watch on from the public gallery as he takes his oath.
While downplaying his religion and the significance of his contribution to Australian political history, the MP for Chifley said “getting elected to parliament, full stop, is an enormous privilege”.
But Mr Husic conceded others might well see his oath as a significant moment for Muslim Australians.
“Given my background, there are some people taking a small slice of pride or happiness.”
America also has a Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, who was sworn in with his hand on Thomas Jefferson’s Koran:


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