South Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi says he wants to stop the expansion of sharia-compliant loans and financial products in Australia.
The national taxation board will this week start holding consultation meetings about how Islamic transactions should be taxed. Senator Bernardi says the financial products are incompatible with the Australian way of life and is seeking support from his Coalition colleagues for his idea.
“Sharia finance is one aspect of sharia or Islamic law and I reject it entirely,” he said. “This extends into a number of areas such as the freedom of religion. It extends into all people are created equal and the equivalence of men and women in society. We shouldn’t be changing our legal system or our legal framework to accommodate a system of laws that is wholly incompatible with Western values.”
See also “Islamic banking debate ‘playing on emotion'”, ABC, 2 November 2010