Australian public was rather shocked of a rally by a group
of people with a theme of Reclaim Australia on Saturday, 04/04/2015. It
was conducted simultaneously in all states of Australia, including Victoria. The
movement is strongly supported by a liberal party politician Pauline Hanson.
Messages delivered in the rally filled with nuances of hatred against Islam as
one of important religions in Australia. Among the themes presented by the
protesters were a rejection of the tax for halal certification, the refusal of
practice of Islamic law, and a reminder for the phenomenon of Islamization in
Australia. The demonstrators even specifically chanted with "no more
mosques', or 'no more burqa'.
According to the 2006 census, there are at least five
million (24%) of Australians are immigrants with different cultural and
religious backgrounds. Approximately 450,000 of them are Muslims from various
countries, including Indonesia. So far, all communities can live in harmony.
They live with mutual respect for each other's culture under the principle of
multiculturalism that becomes an important value of the Australian community.
As a politician, Pauline Hanson seemed to be trying to
propitiate the Australian community through this movement. Islam and terrorism
is indeed currently becoming a hot topic across the globe. Massive coverage of
Islamic state movement (ISIS) has got a special attention from international
community. Therefore, the issue on terrorism can be a good commodity for sales
in the political market. Pauline's statement that also attacked Abbott’s
administrative for not doing any necessary action regarding the potential
dominance of the Muslim community in Australia is an indication that what she did
is a clear political movement.
Having looked at the track record of this politician, the Reclaim
Australia is not the first controversial action undertaken and supported by
Pauline Hanson. In a political statement during a campaign season to become a
member of the Federal Parliament in 1996, for example, she has been harshly
criticized the Australian government's immigration policy. She mentioned that
the idea of multiculturalism is risky for the future of Australia. Therefore,
the multiculturalism policy should be resisted. She argued that why Australia
is filled by many immigrants from Asia was because the idea of the
multiculturalism. In the eyes of Pauline, many immigrants cannot be assimilated
well with Australian culture. In short, in her stance, these immigrants are
only a source of problems.
In 2006, Pauline returned outspoken about the dangers of
these immigrants. At that time she was specifically concerned about immigrants
from Africa who could be carrying the disease from the country of origin,
including the possibility of suffering from AIDS. Pauline mentioned that
African immigrants had absolutely no benefit to Australia.
Pauline herself refused to call herself as a racist. She
said that what she did was only a way she expressed her criticism for the sake
of Australia in the future. However, for those who think sane, Pauline's
criticism is very clear that the substance contains racism. This is because she
spreads hatred and discrimination against certain groups of people. For this
reason, quite a lot of Australians themselves oppose the idea of the Reclaim
Australia movement. Some of those who oppose the idea even involved in physical
fights with demonstrators last Saturday.
Although Pauline Hanson's racism does not get a proper place
in the mainstream of Australian politic, it does not necessarily mean that the
idea is without support. Hundreds of people demonstrating simultaneously at a
rally last Saturday proved that this racism is not completely dead. They
continue to multiply and consolidate themselves.
The idea of 'Reclaim Australia' movement itself does sound
strange and was impressed to be silly. There are many loop holes within the
idea of this movement. First, the theme has been biased from the beginning. The
selection of the word 'reclaim' (retake) does not only mislead as if Australia
had been taken over by a particular group politically, culturally, and
economically (which is certainly not true), it also spread a wrong message
saying that Islam and the Muslims have occupied Australia in many aspects of
life. The selection of this word has indirectly put Islam and the Australian Muslims
on more powerful and more hegemonic than the actual facts. This is indeed an exaggeration.
Secondly, the theme is also against common sense. Paulin's
statement mentioning that the halal food certification in Australia as a way to
finance international terrorist is full of ignorance. The halal certification itself
is not a dark business because they are easily monitored by the Australian
government. Halal certification is growing in Australia along with the
increasing demand for halal food because of the increasing number of Muslim
communities in Australia (mostly immigrants). Among their main motivation is a purely
from a business drive. Therefore do not be surprised if many non-Muslim owned companies
also provide halal certificate. Again, the process is transparent. Therefore,
the explanation from the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) one day
after the rally regarding the transparency and certification process could
clarify that the allegations by Paulin Hanson is like a fairy tale story in broad
daylight.
Third, the attacks and discrimination against Muslims in
Australia can be easily understood as an action which is contrary to the
principles of multiculturalism as important values of Australians, as discussed
above. Australia is a country which was built on the basis of respect for this
diversity. Thus, the racism movement by Paulin, if left unchecked, will not
only spoil the harmony of life of the plurality of the Australian society, it
can also tarnish the Australian culture in the eyes of the international
community. Although the number of supporters today is not significant, the core
message is very dangerous.
Considering the potential serious side effects, I think the
Australian government and the community need to perform special measures in
dealing with the issue of racism. Sentiment towards Islam could develop into
sentiment against other immigrants. Today they are targeting Muslim community;
it is highly likely that they are also targeting the existence of other groups
in the near future. Therefore, it is reasonable if the vice president of the
African Community Association of Australia, Edward Solo, said that the
yesterday's rally as something painful. "It is really a fearful
message," he said as quoted by The Guardian (06/04/2015).
Politically, the Abbott’s government needs to make an
official statement that the government cannot allow the attitude and behaviour
of racism to happen. Abbott needs to make clear that the government is
committed to respecting all forms of cultural uniqueness of its citizens,
including by providing a protection to the Australian Muslim community.
Otherwise, what is feared by the secretary of the Islamic Council of Victoria,
Ghaith Krayem, who called Abbott government's silence on the racial acts as a
form of injustice shown by Abbott’s administrative in dealing with racial
attacks and extremism is true (The Age, 04/07/2015).
At the same time, the Muslim community and all immigrant
groups have to think of better ways that promote a more intensive and effective
activities to build mutual understanding among all groups who live in
Australia. This is because the racism is likely happen due to lack of
communication and interaction between these diverse groups. Pauline Hanson's
statement saying that Muslims do not need the halal certification, because
whole foods can be permissible only by reciting a prayer (bismillah) is
a crystal clear example that Pauline does not really understand what Islam and
Muslims are.
* The writer is a scholar at Monash University, former president of Monash Indonesian Islamic Society - MIIS.
(This article was first written for The Australian)
