Australian Labor Party Member of Parliament (MP) Enver Erdogan is the first Kurd to serve as an MP in Australia, which does not have a large Kurdish population. He has served as Minister for Casino, Gaming, and Liquor Regulation since last December, prior to which he served as Minister for Corrections and Minister for Youth Justice.
MP Erdogan earned a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Law from La Trobe University, followed by a graduate diploma in legal practice from the Leo Cussen Center for Law. He is also an alumnus of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Before entering politics, he practiced as a personal injuries lawyer at one of Australia’s leading law firms.
“My entry into politics was shaped by my personal experiences, professional background, and a deep commitment to social justice. I was born to Kurdish parents who migrated to Australia in the 1970s to escape persecution in Turkiye,” he told Kurdistan Chronicle.
“Both were very politically active in trade unions and in Melbourne’s Kurdish community, so I grew up in a household where politics was a topic of regular conversation. Practicing law helped me appreciate how one can make a difference in people’s lives, one case at a time. It also emphasized the importance of sound public policy and laws that can be as fair as possible. This is what prompted me to run for Parliament.
“Politics is a platform where you can make a positive change and raise issues you believe are important,” he added.
A small but diverse Kurdish diaspora
The Kurdish diaspora community in Australia is small relative to that of other countries. “It’s not like in Europe. In Victoria, there are about 10,000 Kurds, but it’s very mixed between Kurds from Northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkiye), Southern Kurdistan (Kurdistan Region of Iraq), Eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran), and even a small number of people from Western Kurdistan (northern Syria),” Erdogan explained.
“The Kurdish community here is not as organized as in Europe or other countries. However, I know there are many young Kurds actively advocating on this issue. We do have a Kurdish Community Center. Though I wouldn’t describe it as a lobby group – it’s more a community group – there certainly are individuals who engage in lobbying efforts.
“Although Australia maintains an embassy in Baghdad, it does not yet have a consulate in the Kurdistan Region. This is an issue that both local officials and parliamentarians have raised, since over 30 countries are represented in Erbil. It’s a message I will take back and share. The topic has also come up within the Kurdish community in Australia,” he said.
Erdogan highlighted how the lack of an Australian consulate in Erbil affects the Chaldean and Syriac communities in Australia. “They’re much larger communities. We’re talking about 40,000 people of Chaldean, Assyrian, or Syriac background living in my home state, and it affects them, because many are from the Kurdistan Region.”
Religious coexistence
Erdogan visited the Kurdistan Region for the first time as a guest at the Kurdistan National Prayer Breakfast held in Erbil from April 22 to 25.
“I was impressed by the conference and had the opportunity to visit the Parliament and see the way the committees work,” he told Kurdistan Chronicle. “The event provided a unique opportunity to reflect on the role of faith and leadership in strengthening social harmony.
“The program included heritage site visits and panel discussions focused on how governance, justice, and cultural preservation can advance peace.
“I think the conference has been very enlightening and very informative. It’s a fantastic message of peaceful coexistence, the importance of social cohesion to ensure that we achieve the best outcomes for everyone in the community and that no one is left behind. In particular, the messages from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leadership, faith leaders, and international guests were insightful and reaffirmed the importance of coexistence.
“Social cohesion and religious coexistence are important, not only in Kurdistan, but also across the Middle East and in my home in Melbourne, Australia. Many of the people here are from the Lebanese community, which has an existing diaspora in Melbourne, in my electorate. They face similar issues to what people are experiencing here between different faiths and ethnicities,” he emphasized.
Learning from Kurdistan
MP Erdogan said the goal behind his visit was to learn how people in the Kurdistan Region “are managing the population in terms of the coexistence and how we can respect each other, work together, and achieve the best results. As I previously said, because we have the same communities that are living in Iraq and Kurdistan in Melbourne, we have the same challenges.
“We have a beautiful multicultural society. How we can coexist peacefully was really the message I was looking for, and so far, the speakers have been quite insightful,” he noted, referring to the prayer breakfast.
“The Kurdistan Region is worth visiting again, especially for exchanging ideas of how we operate in Victoria. The KRG has a similar government structure to the federation in Australia. As an autonomous and, in many regards, federated government within Iraq, it’s important to focus on religious coexistence, not only here, but also there.
“The Kurdistan Region today stands as a rare example of religious tolerance and ethnic diversity in the Middle East, offering valuable insights into community resilience and peaceful coexistence. These themes are deeply relevant to many of my constituents’ lived experiences,” MP Erdogan concluded.
Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a seasoned reporter and analyst who specializes in Kurdish affairs, and holds a Master’s degree in Kurdish studies from Exeter University, UK.
