Copyright brisbanetimes
Mamdani is the son of immigrants. Before politics, he was a housing organiser, a tenant advocate, a man who spent years fighting eviction notices alongside working-class families. Hashmi, an educator, spent decades in classrooms before she ever set foot in a campaign office. Neither inherited power; both built it from the ground up, sustained by the people who knew what it meant to be unseen. Their wins are proof that politics doesn’t have to belong to the professional politician. It can – and should – belong to the teacher, the cleaner, the nurse, the housing worker, the farmer, the youth mentor, the carer. To those whose fingerprints are on the country, even if their names are not on the ballot. When Mamdani stood before his community in Queens and declared that the people had “toppled a political dynasty”, he wasn’t just speaking about New York. He was reminding the world that democracy isn’t made in marble halls – it’s built in the streets, classrooms, and kitchens of those who live its consequences every day. And that’s where the lesson for Australia lies.
