You can’t fake your way into parliament

Afghans, and more precisely, in this case, Pashtuns, are now rallying to support Zahid Safi. His campaign has already taken a hit: the manager has stepped down following backlash over offensive online remarks, and notably, there’s no Australian presence within Safi's team. In Bruce, the Safi clan, a large network of families sharing the same last names, has stepped in. Wearing matching blue, round-necked T-shirts and covering their paunches with bold “SAFI” lettering, they pose with forced smiles for the cameras.

It may look like a campaign gaining momentum, but beyond appearances, what’s missing is substance, brain power, integrity, and a genuine understanding of basic responsibilities, such as not lying, not discriminating against people based on their ethnicity or race. Someone should tell this guy to go to the community and apologize for your blatant racism and take down the submission. Learn some decency. Someone needs to say it plainly: dude, you can't fake your way into parliament. This isn't Afghanistan. Your fakery for all sorts of glorification is obsolete here. 

Fake it to break it: The Zahid Safi Liberal Candidate Debacle

In my previous post, I wrote: “The rotten stench is rising from the corpse of the Australian Liberal Party’s pitch for the division of Bruce in the upcoming federal election.” There was a reason for that choice of words.

The Liberal candidate, Zahid Safi, has now been revealed as a university dropout. It reminds me of George Santos, who successfully made his debut in the US Congress for a brief period but was recently sentenced to seven years in a New York federal court for a slew of deceptions.

So how did someone like Zahid slip into the ranks of the Liberal Party? The answer is clear: fake it to make it but now, it ironically translates as fake it to break it. The candidate has become a laughingstock. Touted as a wildly successful businessman, Safi’s record tells a very different story: businesses that were de-registered because of being unable to pay the fees, listed under a fake address, peppered with phony reviews, and littered with stock images.

The most successful part in his life, I would say, is his ability to successfully beguile the liberal party leadership. "It's not that difficult. You say a bunch of impressive lies and they believe you since they don't know about your background," a friend told me, who we both wondered about that simple question mentioned earlier.

But here’s the most damning development: as Australia approaches the election on May 3rd, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has already distanced himself from Zahid Safi. It shows that he is clearly wary of further damage to the party’s credibility, and he should be. As Ronald Mizen reports in The Australian Financial Review:

 "When Coalition sources outlined the seats that Dutton would visit in the final week of the campaign in his 28-seat blitz, Bruce was absent. This could be because it was impractical to list all 28, or it could be because standing up next to Safi and peppered with questions about his past is not the kind of television the Liberals want in the final week of the campaign."

In a Facebook Reel video, journalists from The Age confront Zahid Safi with questions, but he flees the scene. He is caught shortly after, as he gets into a car sitting on the driver's side and attempts to close the door to prevent journalists from asking him questions. When pressed, he struggles to answer even the most basic questions. His response to nearly every question, regardless of the topic, is simply: “the cost of living.” When asked about the fake reviews and false address tied to his and his wife’s business, his answer is still: “the cost of living.”

The revelation that Senator Jana Stewart has submitted a letter to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) regulatory agency, calling for a formal investigation, is a strong and necessary step toward accountability.