By Jonathan Walsh
Rabat – Australian politician Kirralie Smith proposed today a 10-year hiatus on Muslim immigration, saying that Islamic values are “not compatible to our democratic values of freedom.”
The comments were made in an interview with Sky News, where Smith promoted her new political party, The Australian Liberty Alliance, which counts ‘the Islamisation issue’ as one of its two key pillars.
“We need to have an honest debate,” she said, before claiming that she does not mind offending those of Islamic faith. “I’m not worried, because I think that there are enough indicators that we have some serious issues already.”
Smith readily outlined her beliefs on Islamic values, saying, “Islam is more than a religion, it’s a totalitarian ideology with political ideology.”
Citing fears that Muslims may have trouble in integrating into new communities, she pointed to European countries that have large Islamic communities as one of her main worries, but claimed her party “does not have a problem with people who want to integrate.”
One policy Smith put forward was to force mosques, above any other place of worship, to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in order to open, as she stated that only the Islamic community would “have a problem with it.”
She also put forward the suggestion to ban Muslim immigration to the country for up to ten years.
Smith first hit the headlines through her work in the “Islam-Critical” Q society, which last year was sued for claiming that Australian Halal certifiers were “part of a conspiracy to destroy Western civilisation from within.”
Coincidentally, a study published by University of South Australia’s International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding last year showed that factors such as lack of education or employment and old age increased the likelihood of Islamophobic opinions among Australians. Muslims in Australia are also three times more likely to suffer abuse than any other religious group.
Edited by Timothy Filla
