Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Why don't the
Commonwealth and NSW Governments stop the collective Persecution of Australian
Muslims ?
Racial Vilification Legislation
The Hon. SHAOQUETT MOSELMANE ( 16:24
:12 ): Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott
and his Attorney-General sought to make changes to the Racial Discrimination
Act, specifically to repeal section 18C. Section 18C states that we cannot
offend, assault, humiliate or intimidate any other person or a group of people
because of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin. The Abbott Government
wanted to get rid of this section by arguing that it restricts "free speech".
Attorney-General George Brandis went further by stating that "People have a
right to be bigots." We have a new Federal Government, a new Senate and,
alarmingly, a cohort of Senators who are intent on revisiting this issue.
Rather than show leadership, the response of Prime Minister Turnbull was
astonishing, describing the call to repeal section 18C as having "worthy
arguments" in favour of softening the Racial Discrimination Act but that the
issue is not a current "priority" for his Government. This is nothing less than
outrageous.
Adopting the proposed changes to section 18C would be a
disaster for us as a nation and more so for religious minorities. In fact, the
Racial Discrimination Act and Anti-Discrimination Act in New South Wales fails
to address the sufferings that religious minorities face on a daily basis.
There are more than 500,000 people in the Australian Islamic community and they
need the protection of the law against persistent religious abuse. The abuse is
so prevalent that it has become persecution on a collective scale. This
collective punishment of the Australian Islamic community must stop. According
to a 2015 human rights report, Muslim Australians experience discrimination,
vilification and abuse on a daily basis. In an article in the Sydney Morning
Herald on 5 November 2015, Judith Ireland and Beau Donelly stated:
During consultations with more than 130 community, legal, university and
government groups this year, discrimination against Muslims was "consistently
raised as a significant concern. Many participants labelled anti-Muslim
discrimination a daily or regular occurrence"...
In an article entitled
"Religion and the Racial Discrimination Act: Don't Muslims Also Deserve
Protection?" Mariam Veiszadeh noted:
A decade-long national study
conducted by the University of Western Sydney found that nearly half of
Australians describe themselves as having anti-Muslim attitudes.
Legal
protections would only apply to an Australian Muslim, for example, if one was
abused as—excuse my language—an effing Lebanese Muslim, because their race is
identified. Whereas to be abused as an effing Muslim, which is attacking a
person because of his faith, will provide no protection. It has been said on
many occasions that the Racial Discrimination Act has a limited ability to
protect Muslim Australians. I say it has no ability because it only covers
discrimination or vilification based on race, colour, ethnicity, national
origin or immigrant status—not religion. Muslims are not a race of people but
followers of a faith across the racial and language divide. It is therefore
critical to add religious vilification offences in the Racial Discrimination
Act and Anti‑Discrimination Act. I urge the Government to introduce a bill to
amend the Anti-Discrimination Act to address the pain of the community.
In her article entitled "We need to call out the double standards in Australia's
Anti-Discrimination Laws", Mariam Veiszadeh highlights the inadequacies in the
Racial Discrimination Act and notes that women across the country have been
assaulted, spat on, had their prams kicked, have been punched from behind, have
had abuse hurled at them, have had hot coffee thrown in their face, have been
told to leave an entertainment venue, have been assaulted and thrown off
trains, have been verbally intimidated, have had their cars vandalised, and
have been forced to restrict their public movements out of fear. This cannot go
on without action.
I ask the following questions. Why are Australian
Muslims still not afforded adequate protection under the State and Federal
vilification laws? Why are Muslims in New South Wales, which has the largest
proportion of Muslims, left without protection? Why do the States of Victoria,
Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and Northern
Territory cover religious discrimination in their legislation but New South
Wales does not? Is it because Muslims do not have a lobby group, or the power
of big business from which to lobby governments, or is it because they do not
have a powerful voice in mainstream media? Do Muslims not deserve protection? I
urge all members not to sit in silence in the face of continued religious
vilification against our fellow citizens. We must amend the law to provide
Australian Muslims with the protections they need.
The Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane MLC.
Opposition Whip
Parliament of New South
Wales
Parliament House
Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
