Category Archives: Australia

Islam a ‘dangerous and totalitarian ideology’: Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders Melbourne meeting

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders has called the Prophet Muhammad a murderer and used Anzac soldiers as an example of the courage needed to speak out against Islam at a speech to Melbourne supporters.

Tight security surrounded Mr Wilders’ hour-long speech to members of the ultra-conservative local group the Q Society of Australia at La Mirage reception centre in Somerton in Melbourne’s north on Tuesday night.

Fifty police, some on horseback, separated about 100 vocal but peaceful protesters standing on the Hume Highway verge outside the venue.

Protest organiser Feiyi Zhang said: “we’re here to show we will not stand for Wilders’ racism and Islamophobia”. She said his speech could incite violence against Muslims “and general fear of Islam”.

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Wilders tells Muslims to renounce Islam – it would be ‘good for them and also for our free society’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders at Melbourne press conferenceAll Muslims should renounce their religion immediately in favour of Christianity or atheism – it would be better for them and for everyone else, controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders said in Melbourne on Monday.

Insisting politely that he did not want to incite or offend anyone, the anti-Islam campaigner described the Prophet Muhammed as “a warlord, terrorist and paedophile” and urged Australia to ban the Koran and all migration from Muslim countries.

Told that Premier Ted Baillieu had advised Victorians to ignore Mr Wilders, he said the Premier could ignore the threat of Islam and “sing Kumbayah” all day long, but the voters would wake up eventually.

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Australia visit prompts condemnation of Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders could learn a lot about the strengths of multiculturalism during his Australian visit, community and religious leaders say.

Mr Wilders will give speeches in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth this month about what he calls the “Islamisation of Australia”.

A coalition of 24 groups – including the AFL and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne – issued a joint statement in Melbourne on Monday, reinforcing their support for Victoria’s “multicultural and multifaith community”.

“We have a collective responsibility to respect our fellow citizens and preserve the social cohesion and harmony that characterise Victoria and makes our society great,” the statement says. “We welcome challenging ideas and debate, however, inciting hatred and animosity towards specific cultural or faith-based communities has no place in Victoria.”

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Wilders to warn Australians of threat from Muslim migrants and Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Controversial rightwing anti-Islamic Dutch politician Geert Wilders says Australia has nothing to fear from him when he visits the country starting next week.

Mr Wilders, speaking on the ABC’s Lateline on Wednesday, said he was on a global jihad to preserve freedom.

He said he wants to warn Australia against allowing the mass immigration of people from Muslim countries “because Islam and freedom are incompatible”.

“I believe with mass immigration into our free societies, those societies will change, and they will change for the worse,” Mr Wilders said.

He wants to tell Australians that we must learn from the mistakes they made in Europe and be vigilant of Islam. “It is not a religion of peace – it is a totalitarian ideology,” Mr Wilders said.

AAP, 13 February 2013

Wilders’ Australia visit inspires far right to threaten violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

White supremacists are urging Australian “patriots” to gather at public meetings by the controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders, ready for trouble and a no-holds barred fight.

Tensions have been mounting over the impending visit of the far right-wing politician who has been accused of Islamophobia and racism.

One group, Australian New Nation, has been encouraging followers to react to any threat or sign of violence from Muslim protesters who might attend.

On its website, the group has posted an audio from “Radio Free Australia, the voice of white revolution in Australia” warning them to “expect an Islamic rent-a-crowd outside screaming and foaming at the mouth like the evil bastards they are”.

“We encourage all patriots to exercise their legal right of self defence if any ragheads try to prevent them accessing the venue, or threaten, or use violence against their person once they try to strike the first blow, everything that follows is self defence on your part,” it said.

The vitriolic broadcast, which lasts almost 10 minutes, goes on to say, “go . . . and be prepared to defend yourself and if they take a swing at you, they push at you, they spit on you, don’t hold back. You have a legal right of self defence do what should be done to this rag-head camel f— . . . Islamic filth who have no place in civilised society.

Social media sites protesting against Mr Wilders’s visits to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth have also been the target of hate messages.

The Age, 2 February 2013

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Melbourne: Councillors approve mosque, call opponents ‘un-Australian’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Monash councillors last night questioned residents’ hysteria regarding the Muslim faith as they approved a mosque in a Clayton street. Several councillors said they were disappointed a proposal for a one-storey mosque in Beddoe Ave, Clayton, had been drawn into the public eye.

The plans were brought before the council by Mulgrave ward Cr Robert Davies, who said the mosque would be built in an inappropriate location and impact adversely on residents. But the city’s other ten councillors disagreed, voting to approve the plans in front of a packed council chambers.

Glen Waverley ward Cr Geoff Lake said anyone who shared Cr Davies’ view that the mosque was inappropriate were “20 years too late”. He said those with the view the mosque should be refused on religious grounds were “misinformed, prejudicial and un-Australian”.

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Australian Party candidate rejects halal meat, doesn’t want his money to ‘go to the Muslim community’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Katter's Australian PartyA candidate for Bob Katter’s fledgling political party declared his preference for buying ”guaranteed non-halal meat” so his money does not ”go to the Muslim community”.

Jamie Cavanough, who is standing for Katter’s Australian Party in Sydney’s most marginal federal seat, Greenway, is under fire for the apparently divisive comments he made to a community forum in one of the city’s most ethnically diverse areas.

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Poll shows most Australians think multiculturalism works well

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Most Australians think multiculturalism works well, with only occasional problems.

A Galaxy poll of 1000 people run exclusively for News Limited revealed people’s attitudes in the run up to Australia Day to the sometimes divisive issue.

One in 10 said multiculturalism worked very well and made Australia what it is, while just over half said it worked generally quite well, causing only the occasional issue.

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