Usman Khawaja speaks to parliament

It takes a certain gravity to extricate a professional athlete from their year-round preparation to speak on social issues, but it takes another to do so in the throes of Parliament House.

It’s that seriousness with which Australian Test opener Usman Khawaja spoke to me on Thursday, about Gaza and gambling reform, from the back seat of a Hyundai i30 belonging to a staffer for independent Senator David Pocock. 

Khawaja remarks that his status as an outsider means he only gets “one bite of the cherryand ”, leading to a constant schedule of interviews and meetings with politicians on a whirlwind day in Canberra. 

The day was initially marred by a cancelled meeting with the prime minister, only for Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who Khawaja knows well and considers a “good mate”, to step in and find time in Anthony Albanese’s schedule. Chalmers told the press yesterday he was “pleased to have played a role in making sure that it did [go ahead]”. 

Eventually, Khawaja got his chance to meet with Albanese on Gaza and gambling reform, both issues on which the government has been heavily criticised for being slow to act. 

He told Crikey he’s not satisfied with the pace of action from this government on the conflict in the Middle East, having earlier in the week called for sanctions on Israel that go as far as a full trade ban, as well as a sporting ban from the international arena. 

“One death is too many, but sometimes these things take a long time,” Khawaja said. 

“I mean the change in the last two years, I’ve learned that when you’re trying to do big changes, trying to change the psyche of people and what they’ve been told their whole life, it takes time. I think the younger generation are seeing it for the first time, and I think they’re understanding what’s happening.

“What’s complicated about innocent children dying and innocent children being slaughtered? It’s not complicated at all.” 

Asked about whether he thought Australia had treated the Palestinian perspective with equal weight over the course of the Israel-Gaza conflict, Khawaja was unequivocal. 

“Not in the past, no. Absolutely not. The media hasn’t, people haven’t, but there was just a lack of information for people to understand. They just always thought ‘it’s too complicated’ as you would hear everyone say, ‘too political, ‘religious divide’, but at the crux of it, what was happening in the way Israel retaliated was a humanitarian issue. 

“They were breaking international law … and throughout this campaign committing war crimes. And that was at the crux of it.”

Despite his dissatisfaction and his criticisms of the government on Gaza — having previously described the government and Australia as “complicit” in Israel’s actions in the region — Khawaja says the war didn’t change his vote at the last federal election. 

“I watched [former opposition leader] Peter Dutton for a long time, my values didn’t align with his. So it was a pretty easy decision, and my values are aligned with what the Labor Party is talking about. 

“I voted Liberal my whole life, I have until recently. So I’m not tied to one political party, but I just couldn’t agree with the things [Dutton] was saying.” 

Khawaja has been vocal in his criticism for Dutton in the past, describing his 2024 remarks about Muslim candidates as an “absolute disgrace” and “fuelling Islamophobia from the very top”. 

He told Patricia Karvelas on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that he wouldn’t rule out a political tilt in the future — and his remarks to Crikey do little to dispel the rumours that Labor are considering him as a candidate.

Senior Labor sources have previously told Crikey they consider Khawaja somewhat of an ambassador for the party and that his allegiances were unlikely to be swayed.

Khawaja retains strong links to Labor seats in both Sydney and Brisbane. He plays for Valleys in Queensland’s first-grade competition, based in the marginal Labor seat of Brisbane, while he grew up in Westmead in Sydney’s west, considered Labor heartland. He also came up through the ranks at Randwick-Petersham Cricket Club, based in Maroubra in the division of Kingsford-Smith, one of the safest Labor seats in the country. 

It would not be the first time the ALP have tried to ingratiate themselves with Australian Test batters close to retirement. Powerbrokers tried to recruit former Test captain Steve Waugh, with John Faulkner reportedly seeing him as a future leader of the party. 

Turning the conversation to the other issue he travelled to Canberra for, gambling reform, Khawaja pointed to one thing to explain the government’s continued inaction on its own Murphy Report.

“Cash money. Simple as that. It’s always to do with money, same with the tobacco industry back in the day. People try to threaten sporting organisations … and yes, there’s a lot of money in this, but some things are more important than money.” 

Khawaja called for a ban on advertising during games, a call that echoes the second phase of recommendation 26 in the government’s report. 

“I don’t think there should be any gambling advertisements during games whatsoever, because so many kids watch sport, and we have a responsibility to those kids,” he said. 

When asked about the commercial arrangements that major sporting codes have with major bookmakers, including Cricket Australia (albeit to a lesser extent than the football codes), Khawaja said while he’s “never had anyone flat out disagree … no one seems to do anything about it”. 

“Sporting codes definitely make money from [gambling] but I think … how you make money is as important as where you make it from. 

“Sport, yes, is an entertainment, is a business, but we have a responsibility to all stakeholders, especially the younger generation, especially the kids.

“There’s a responsibility that all codes have to take, and yes, there’s gonna be a little bit of a cost to it, but the same thing was applied, same thing happened with tobacco industries back in the day … and there was a responsibility taken there. I think the same thing has to happen now.”

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said in a press conference on Thursday, to mark the launch of Play Cricket Month, that gambling reform was “a hot topic with the federal government with all the recommendations and we’re keeping a close interest in that”.

“I think you can see cricket’s been quite conservative in that part of our work (gambling advertising) and will continue to be. But I think Uzzie’s well within his own rights to have his own views and we would encourage him to do that.”