" Stcks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt you. "
Back in July 2016, on Bastille Day in Nice, France, a muslim terrorist drove a truck in to the crowd of revellers and killed and injured many of those people.
The following day on Australian TV, media personality Sonia Kruger said that there is a correlation between the number of people who are Muslim in a country and the number of terrorist attacks,"
And then it began......
On the evening of 14 July, 2016, a cargo truck was deliberately driven in to the crowds out celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade in Nice, France. The truck, driven by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, killed 86 people and injured 458 others.
The Islamic State of Iraq claimed that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel answered its "calls to target citizens of coalition nations that fight the Islamic State".
A few days later, a panel section of Channel Nine's The Today Show to discuss the question: "Do more migrants increase the risk of terror attacks?", Sonia Kruger referred to columnist Andrew Bolt where he linked Muslim immigration to France for the recent spate of terrorist attacks in the country."Andrew Bolt has a point here, that there is a correlation between the number of people who are Muslim in a country and the number of terrorist attacks," Kruger said."I have a lot of very good friends who are Muslim, who are peace-loving, who are beautiful, but there are fanatics."She called for an end to Muslim migration, adding that she wanted to "feel safe".She went on to say "I believe it's vital in a democratic society to be able to discuss these issues without being labelled racist."
The Tribunal heard. that he ( Mr Ekermawi ) further wrote :" It is unlawful under the Anti-Discrimination Act for a person, by a public act, to incite hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule of a person or people on the ground of race. "
Yes, we all know that bit, Mr Ekermawi. Mr Abbott promised to get rid of it but caved to the left and backed down.
Fast forward to 15th February 2019.
In a decision on Friday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal said Kruger’s”vilifying remarks” in July 2016 “amounted to a stereotypical attack on all Muslims in Australia” and had the capacity to “encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population”.
However, the racial vilification complaint filed by Australian Muslim man Sam Ekermawi was dismissed by the tribunal because “the evidence does not support a finding that Muslims living in Australia are a ‘race’ by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin”.“Apart from that issue, we would have found that both [Kruger and the Nine Network] engaged in racial vilification of the Australian Muslim community, being Muslims living in Australia,” the tribunal said.The tribunal said Kruger’s comments were “calm and measured” and she “made it clear she did not think every Muslim in Australia or overseas was a fanatic”, but taken in context her comments were likely to encourage or incite “feelings of hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims as a whole” by linking them to terrorist attacks.It accepted that Kruger and Nine were “acting in good faith without malice and not for an improper purpose” but said it “cannot accept that the remarks of Ms Kruger were ‘reasonable'”.“She expressed the view that the size of Australia’s Muslim population meant there should be no further Muslim migration irrespective of any other matter. This appears to be unsupported by any evidence or material placed before the Tribunal,” the tribunal said.Bilal Rauf, spokesman for the Australian National Imams Council, said the tribunal had recognised the “gravity and irresponsible nature of Ms Kruger’s comments” and “such conduct and comments directed at any segment of our diverse society, particularly by a person with a public platform and profile, should be rejected and strongly discouraged”.But Mr Rauf said the decision to dismiss the proceedings pointed to a “serious deficiency” in NSW’s Anti-Discrimination Act and “it would appear that discrimination on the grounds of religion is not prohibited”.
The major point here is that the case was dismissed by the tribunal because “the evidence does not support a finding that Muslims living in Australia are a ‘race’ by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin”
.Here is where it gets interesting.
Turnbull got tumbled and Morrison rumbles Dutton's bid and finds himself Prime Minister. On December 13th , Morrison pledged to introduce a religious discrimination act to protect the rights of Australians of faith.
“I’m happy for us to advance a Religious Discrimination Act and also to deal with the other legislative matters before the next election. I would hope they would have the support of the Labor Party”.
In August 2016, Bill Shorten said that the then prime minister needed to rule out changing 18C “in the life of this parliament”. hmmm. the life of this Parliament? Amendments to 18C?“
It only takes a couple of ... backbenchers to start threatening Mr Turnbull and Mr Turnbull will just turn to water and do whatever they say,” Shorten said.“We’ve seen Turnbull back down on a range of issues. He backs down to the banks, he’s backed down in terms of supporting Kevin Rudd for an international position. Goodness only knows what he will do on 18C, if people put pressure on him.”
In the event that Morrison passes a Religious Discrimination Act before the anticipated defeat in May, would this mean that Sonia Kruger would have been found guilty?
In the event of a Shorten win, it matters not. He had two bob each way with his cleverly worded statement.
The freedom to speak our minds will be a long distant memory.
If you enjoy watching Bolt, Rita Panahi and reading articles by the likes of Fraser Anning, be prepared to see a different Australia if this legislation passes.
We will be another Sweden.
I saw a T-Shirt once. It said " Humanity is my Race. Love is my Religion."
That would be an interesting one for the Tribunal to rule on.....
In the meantime, I rather think I stand with this.
