""Prime Minister John Howard has refused Muslim calls to censure Treasurer Peter Costello over comments he made about Islamic extremists.
And Mr Costello has challenged Muslim leaders to pledge their allegiance to Australia before they criticise him over his comments about citizenship.
Muslim leaders have called for Mr Howard to censure Mr Costello over his speech last night to the Sydney Institute in which he said anyone who believed Islamic sharia law could co-exist with Australian law should move to a country where they felt more comfortable.
Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad said Mr Costello had unfairly singled out Muslims and was promoting division and Islamophobia.
But Mr Howard said Mr Costello’s comments were “fundamentally accurate”. “He’s not trying to stir up hostilities with Islamic people any more than I was when I made some comments three days before the Cronulla riots,” Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting in Melbourne.
Mr Costello said Muslim leaders should be pledging themselves and their followers to Australian values before they started criticising him.
“Rather than try and censure me ... they should make a clear statement that they subscribe to all of these views - that they are loyal to Australia, they respect the rights and liberties of others, they believe in democratic government and they believe that all Australians should live unequivocally under the one law made by the Australian parliament - and endorse these values and recommend them to their followers,” Mr Costello told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
“Pledge themselves unequivocally to these values first of all, and then call on their followers to pledge themselves unequivocally to these values. This is what I would invite them to do, rather than to criticise me because all Australians should in my view subscribe to these values.”
But Mr Trad said nobody was protesting against Australia’s secular laws through any other means than the normal democratic process.
“We have not asked for sharia law to be imposed,” he told ABC Radio. “I don’t know anyone in this country who is asking for sharia law to be imposed and I don’t known anyone in this country who has rejected the rule of law. I am genuinely hopeful that the prime minister will censure the treasurer over these ridiculous comments, that the treasurer is grossly out of line. Rather than try to promote understanding and harmony in this society, his comments are highly divisive and he is stirring up Islamophobia, and these comments should really be beneath any decent politician.”
Mr Trad said the Muslim community in Australia had disowned Islamic fanatics.
In his speech, Mr Costello said where there was reason to believe people were not truthfully or honestly meeting their citizenship test, there was every right for them to be denied citizenship. He likened entering Australia to entering a mosque, with people entering a Muslim place of worship expected to take their shoes off as a mark of respect.
“If you don’t want to take your shoes off, don’t go into a mosque. If you want to come into Australia, you will be asked respect for its values,” Mr Costello told the Nine Network this morning. “If you don’t have respect for those values, don’t ask to come into Australia. This is what we ask of people. We have to preserve a way of life which makes us the greatest country in the world.”
thank god for tony blair and the john howard... :hail :clap:
And Mr Costello has challenged Muslim leaders to pledge their allegiance to Australia before they criticise him over his comments about citizenship.
Muslim leaders have called for Mr Howard to censure Mr Costello over his speech last night to the Sydney Institute in which he said anyone who believed Islamic sharia law could co-exist with Australian law should move to a country where they felt more comfortable.
Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad said Mr Costello had unfairly singled out Muslims and was promoting division and Islamophobia.
But Mr Howard said Mr Costello’s comments were “fundamentally accurate”. “He’s not trying to stir up hostilities with Islamic people any more than I was when I made some comments three days before the Cronulla riots,” Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting in Melbourne.
Mr Costello said Muslim leaders should be pledging themselves and their followers to Australian values before they started criticising him.
“Rather than try and censure me ... they should make a clear statement that they subscribe to all of these views - that they are loyal to Australia, they respect the rights and liberties of others, they believe in democratic government and they believe that all Australians should live unequivocally under the one law made by the Australian parliament - and endorse these values and recommend them to their followers,” Mr Costello told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
“Pledge themselves unequivocally to these values first of all, and then call on their followers to pledge themselves unequivocally to these values. This is what I would invite them to do, rather than to criticise me because all Australians should in my view subscribe to these values.”
But Mr Trad said nobody was protesting against Australia’s secular laws through any other means than the normal democratic process.
“We have not asked for sharia law to be imposed,” he told ABC Radio. “I don’t know anyone in this country who is asking for sharia law to be imposed and I don’t known anyone in this country who has rejected the rule of law. I am genuinely hopeful that the prime minister will censure the treasurer over these ridiculous comments, that the treasurer is grossly out of line. Rather than try to promote understanding and harmony in this society, his comments are highly divisive and he is stirring up Islamophobia, and these comments should really be beneath any decent politician.”
Mr Trad said the Muslim community in Australia had disowned Islamic fanatics.
In his speech, Mr Costello said where there was reason to believe people were not truthfully or honestly meeting their citizenship test, there was every right for them to be denied citizenship. He likened entering Australia to entering a mosque, with people entering a Muslim place of worship expected to take their shoes off as a mark of respect.
“If you don’t want to take your shoes off, don’t go into a mosque. If you want to come into Australia, you will be asked respect for its values,” Mr Costello told the Nine Network this morning. “If you don’t have respect for those values, don’t ask to come into Australia. This is what we ask of people. We have to preserve a way of life which makes us the greatest country in the world.”
thank god for tony blair and the john howard... :hail :clap:
