Islamophobia in Australia
Islamophobia in Australia is distrust and hostility towards Muslims, Islam, and those perceived as following the religion. This social aversion and bias is often facilitated and perpetuated in the media through the stereotyping of Muslims as violent and uncivilised. Various Australian politicians and political commentators have capitalised on these negative stereotypes and this has contributed to the marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion of the Muslim community.
Islamophobia and intolerance towards Muslims existed well prior to the September 11 attacks in the United States. For example, Muslim immigration to Australia was restricted under the White Australia Policy.
Definition
Islamophobia in Australia is understood as a set of negative beliefs concerning the religion of Islam, as well as a contemporary outlet for general public anger and resentment towards migration and multiculturalism.Theories
Anti-Muslim prejudices are thought to be sourced from a perceived lack of integration among Muslim migrants, and reconfiguration of community and ethnic politics.As part of Islamophobia, Muslims were reduced to caricatures of misogynists and oppressed women; violent men were thought as inclined to terrorism. The Australian media is noted for presenting portrayals of Muslim immigrants in a negative manner, although in comparison to other Western countries, Australian media exhibits less bias as a result of its coverage of the everyday life of Australian Muslims.
According to some scholars, public discourse rectifying negative images of Islamic culture result in an unfounded fear of actual Muslims; public discourse focusing on the Western values of women's rights enabled Islam and Islamic clerics to be portrayed as misogynist and oppressive towards women.
Some theorists maintain that, increasingly since 11 September 2001, the Australian public has attributed Australian Muslims with a sense of "otherness", using social constructions and generic misrepresentations of Muslims as a way to regain existential control in a post-9/11 world.
Some scholars have argued that the rise of militant Islam in Australia has led to the increase in Islamophobia and undone efforts by Muslims to foster positive relations with the Australian public.
Incidence
Estimates of the prevalence of anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia differ. A large-scale poll published in 2011 found that 48.6 per cent of Australians had a negative opinion of Islam. Another survey published in 2014 found that a quarter of Australians held anti-Muslim views; this incidence was five times higher than that for any other religion. The latter survey also found that 27 per cent of Muslim Australians have experienced discrimination, which was also the highest of any of the religions covered in the study. A poll conducted by the University of South Australia's International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding released in 2016 found that 10 per cent of Australians have hostile attitudes towards Muslims. Older people, those who had not completed year 12 and people outside the workforce were more likely to report anti-Muslim attitudes in this poll. The accompanying report concluded that the poll shows that "most Australians display low levels of Islamophobia".A report from Australia has found that the levels of Islamophobia among Buddhists and Hindus are significantly higher than among followers of other religions.
Incidents of Islamophobia
First Gulf War (1990s)
During the First Gulf War, there were a number of racist attacks, in some cases including violence against Arabs and Muslims, including property damage; Arab-owned shops were looted and vandalised and Islamic institutions received bomb threats. People with the surname "Hussein" received harassment calls. The Muslim community also dealt with stigmatisation as a result of ASIO's anti-terror efforts. The Australian media had reported that based on ASIO intelligence, New South Wales would be the target of a terrorist attack. In a counterterrorism effort, a number of Arabs and Muslims, including a number of political activists, were visited by ASIO personnel; ASIO also conducted a number of wiretaps on Arab and Muslim Australians. No such attack did occur, although the Jewish community experienced a number of racist attacks. Initially, Muslims were blamed for the attacks on the Jewish institutions. However, the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board concluded that there was insufficient evidence that Muslims were behind the attack.Opposition to Halal certification (2014)
In 2014, anti-Islam groups campaigned against Australian food companies in an attempt to stop them having their food certified as being halal. The groups argued that the cost of certification increases the prices of food to all consumers, and that the fees charged for certification were used to fund terrorism. In November 2014 Fleurieu Milk & Yoghurt Company stopped producing halal products after being targeted by campaigners, and a number of other large and small companies were also reported to have been targeted. Keysar Trad from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils told a journalist in July 2014 that these groups were attempting to exploit anti-Muslim sentiments.In 2015 the far-right and anti-Islam Q Society was involved in a defamation lawsuit over its claims that the Islamic certification industry is corrupt and funds "the push for sharia law in Australia". Legal proceedings against senior members of the Melbourne-based Q Society and Kirralie Smith, who runs the website HalalChoices, began after a speech was given at a Q Society event that portrayed El-Mouelhy as "part of a conspiracy to destroy Western civilisation from within" and "reasonably suspected of providing financial support to terrorist organisations". El-Mouelhy says that he has been defamed in relation to the proceeds of halal certification. This case has now been settled out of court.
In response to the comments made by Smith and HalalChoices, officials from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission have stated that the commission has been on "heightened lookout" for links between halal certifiers and terrorism since the issue surfaced but has "not found any direct linkages". Furthermore, a Senate inquiry into food certification asserted that there was "no link" between the religious approval process and extremist groups. It recommended that the federal government increase its oversight of domestic halal certifiers to address fraudulent conduct in the sector. It said that it had heard, "credible reports suggesting that the lack of regulation has been unscrupulously exploited". In tabling the report, committee chairman Sam Dastyari said, "Some certifiers are nothing more than scammers."
The committee recommended a single halal certification authority. The committee in recommending clearer labelling, specifically referred to the need for meat processors to label products sourced from animals subject to religious slaughter.
As of 27 February 2017, as part of a settlement agreement, Smith and the Q Society have publicly apologised and agreed to display notice of the settlement on their respective websites for one year. The case was settled out of court.
Bendigo mosque protests (2014–15)
In 2014 the City of Greater Bendigo announced the construction of a m mosque and Islamic community centre in Bendigo, Victoria. Some residents created a "Stop the Mosque in Bendigo" group and certain far-right organisations, in particular the Q Society, mobilised residents and brought in outsiders to oppose the construction by conducting extensive protests. The society organised a meeting on 11 May 2014 with residents opposed to the building of the mosque to provide advice on protesting and also distributed pamphlets containing anti-Islam hate speech at the council meeting which voted to go ahead with the project. The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank openly supported the building and funding of a mosque and closed the account of the Stop the Mosque group, saying that the group did not share its values.In October 2015, around 1,000 people turned up for a protest organised by the United Patriots Front, many having travelled from far afield. Members of the extremist group Right Wing Resistance Australia travelled from interstate, and the Rise Up Australia Party was also represented. There was also a counter-demonstration to that of the far-right groups. Over 420 mounted police, riot squad and other police officers were assigned to oversee the rallies, and two arrests were made for carrying knives, one for carrying a flare and another for minor assault.
Rallies and violent confrontations (2015)
rallies have been held across Australia since 2015. Reclaim Australia is a far-right nationalist protest group which is associated with neo-Nazi and other nationalist hate groups. The group was formed in 2015, holding street rallies in cities across Australia to protest against Islam.Reclaim Australia primarily opposes Islam in Australia and is considered Islamophobic. The group has attracted neo-Nazis and their involvement in promoting and attending Reclaim Australia rallies has been well documented. Speakers at Reclaim Australia rallies have been known to express extremist views, with one speaker in South Australia warning of the risks of "Islamic barbarity" and encouraging those in attendance to "insult and vilify Islam five times a day if you want to".
Serious contempt (2015)
In June 2015, the United Patriots Front, a far-right Australian nationalist protest group which is associated with nationalist and neo-Nazi hate groups. protested Zaky Mallah's appearance on Q&A, a television programme, by roasting a pig outside the Melbourne office of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation building, in an apparent attempt to offend Muslims.In October of the same year, the group beheaded a mannequin outside the Bendigo City Council chambers to protest the 2015 Parramatta shooting and the approval given by the council to construct a mosque in Bendigo. In September 2017, they were convicted of "inciting serious contempt of Muslims" under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, and each were fined $2,000 Appeals by Blair Cottrell to have his case heard in the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Victoria were both thrown out in 2019.