Muslim political party launched in Australia

A political party aiming to represent Australian Muslims has been launched in the hope of winning a senate seat at the next election in the wake of the weekend's deadly terror attacks.

The party's founder Diaa Mohammad, of Western Sydney, told local media on Tuesday Muslims in Australia needed a formal platform to represent their own views and values following criticisms they weren't "loud enough" in public debate.

"Maybe it is because we didn't know how, or we were a bit too fragmented, so hopefully this will at least give us that opportunity," Diaa said.

Diaa said it was a coincidence the party was launched in the days after widespread terror attacks in Lebanon's capital Beirut and the French capital Paris at the weekend.

"We did give it some thought whether or not we should postpone it (the launch)... or call it off for a while given the recent events overseas," Diaa said.

"But at the same time it highlights the fact why we need to have something like this because, unfortunately, we are in the news too often for the wrong reasons and misrepresented a lot of the time."

"There are going to be a lot of questions raised in the coming days of the events recently, and this is the whole reason we created this party."

Australia's Muslim population currently stands at 1.6 percent, however Diaa said non-Muslims are also welcome to join.

In recent weeks, six anti-Muslim political parties have also been formed with the hopes to stand in next year's elections. Endit