And The Treasurer Says...
"Costello Lays Down The Law To Muslims"
MUSLIMS who did not accept that Australian law stood above religious law should not become Australian citizens, Treasurer Peter Costello said last night.
In a strongly worded speech to the Sydney Institute, Mr Costello rebuffed clerics who argued Islamic law was more important than Australian law and said citizenship brought responsibilities including tolerance.
In the same way that Muslims expected people to remove their shoes before entering mosques, Australians should expect that people wanting to be citizens should first accept Australian values and Australian law, he said.
"If you have strong objections to those values, don't come to Australia," he said.
"If someone cannot honestly make the citizenship pledge, they cannot honestly take out (Australian) citizenship."
His speech follows tensions between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Sydney, which erupted into riots in the beachside suburb of Cronulla south of Sydney last December.
The Treasurer criticised Australian Muslim cleric Ben Brika over an interview last year in which he said conflict between Islamic law and Australian law was "a big problem".
"No, this is not a big problem," Mr Costello said. "There is one law we are all expected to abide by . . . enacted by the Parliament under the Australian Constitution.
"If you can't accept that then you don't accept the fundamentals of what Australia is and what it stands for."
Mr Costello said Australia was a secular nation which protected religious freedom.
It had no separate stream of law derived from religious sources that competed with or supplanted Australian law.
"A person who does not acknowledge the supremacy of civil law laid down by democratic processes cannot truthfully take the pledge of allegiance," he said.
He said dual citizens unable to accept Australian law should be stripped of their Australian citizenship and that people born in Australia and unwilling to accept its laws needed to be made to understand the responsibilities of citizenship.
Mr Costello also warned against second-generation immigrants being trapped in a "twilight zone" in which they lost the values of their parents but also failed to fully embrace Australian culture.
"To deal with this we must clearly state the values of Australia and explain how we expect them to be respected," he said.
Australia, he said, had a robust tolerance of difference which could only be maintained within an agreed framework that protected individual rights.
And while he disliked art that offended people's religious values, he thought artists should be able to practise their "offensive taste" without fear of riots.
Muslims did not like graphic representations of their prophet but had to recognise that their view did not justify violence against newspapers that published such depictions, Mr Costello said.
Article and pretty picture here:
http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18252556%255E953,00.html
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All I can say is, it's about time a politician said this. As Australians, we love our country. Yes, we are a diverse community of different cultures. But to say that Islamic law is more important than Australian law? I DON'T THINK SO! If you want to live by Islamic law, go back to an Islamic country. Costello's comments are spot on. I don't mind people coming here, so long as they at least make an effort to live by our laws. Why should we allow people to become Australian Citizens if they refuse to respect our culture and the way we do things? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that people from other countries can celebrate their culture. I frequent a new café that's run by Lebanese people. They are wonderful people and in my area they get a lot of business. (Down the road there's an English school for Migrants that has a lot of students of middle-eastern descent.)
But my general point here is, if you come to this country from any other country, be it an Islamic based one or otherwise, whether you came here because you were being oppressed in your country... If you came here to escape all that, then DO so. Don't try and make OUR country like yours. And if you don't like it here, here's a hint, you don't have to stay. LOVE IT or LEAVE IT. Would you like a short, point form version?
1: People have a right to embrace their culture.
2: I don't wish anyone to forget where they came from. I was born here, but my parents are European. I recognise that's where my cultural heritage is.
3: People who migrate from somewhere else should keep ties to their culture.
4: (And here's the harsh one) LOVE IT or LEAVE IT. Plain and simple, if you don't like our culture and can't embrace it.... FUCK OFF! We don't want you here. You would expect the same for us if we came to your country, so don't expect us to make exceptions for you.
5: And as Costello says... If you can't abide by our customs and laws, don't even think of applying for citizenship.
Don't like what I said? Hey, guess what... TOUGH TITTIES! :P
MUSLIMS who did not accept that Australian law stood above religious law should not become Australian citizens, Treasurer Peter Costello said last night.
In a strongly worded speech to the Sydney Institute, Mr Costello rebuffed clerics who argued Islamic law was more important than Australian law and said citizenship brought responsibilities including tolerance.
In the same way that Muslims expected people to remove their shoes before entering mosques, Australians should expect that people wanting to be citizens should first accept Australian values and Australian law, he said.
"If you have strong objections to those values, don't come to Australia," he said.
"If someone cannot honestly make the citizenship pledge, they cannot honestly take out (Australian) citizenship."
His speech follows tensions between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Sydney, which erupted into riots in the beachside suburb of Cronulla south of Sydney last December.
The Treasurer criticised Australian Muslim cleric Ben Brika over an interview last year in which he said conflict between Islamic law and Australian law was "a big problem".
"No, this is not a big problem," Mr Costello said. "There is one law we are all expected to abide by . . . enacted by the Parliament under the Australian Constitution.
"If you can't accept that then you don't accept the fundamentals of what Australia is and what it stands for."
Mr Costello said Australia was a secular nation which protected religious freedom.
It had no separate stream of law derived from religious sources that competed with or supplanted Australian law.
"A person who does not acknowledge the supremacy of civil law laid down by democratic processes cannot truthfully take the pledge of allegiance," he said.
He said dual citizens unable to accept Australian law should be stripped of their Australian citizenship and that people born in Australia and unwilling to accept its laws needed to be made to understand the responsibilities of citizenship.
Mr Costello also warned against second-generation immigrants being trapped in a "twilight zone" in which they lost the values of their parents but also failed to fully embrace Australian culture.
"To deal with this we must clearly state the values of Australia and explain how we expect them to be respected," he said.
Australia, he said, had a robust tolerance of difference which could only be maintained within an agreed framework that protected individual rights.
And while he disliked art that offended people's religious values, he thought artists should be able to practise their "offensive taste" without fear of riots.
Muslims did not like graphic representations of their prophet but had to recognise that their view did not justify violence against newspapers that published such depictions, Mr Costello said.
Article and pretty picture here:
http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18252556%255E953,00.html
===
All I can say is, it's about time a politician said this. As Australians, we love our country. Yes, we are a diverse community of different cultures. But to say that Islamic law is more important than Australian law? I DON'T THINK SO! If you want to live by Islamic law, go back to an Islamic country. Costello's comments are spot on. I don't mind people coming here, so long as they at least make an effort to live by our laws. Why should we allow people to become Australian Citizens if they refuse to respect our culture and the way we do things? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that people from other countries can celebrate their culture. I frequent a new café that's run by Lebanese people. They are wonderful people and in my area they get a lot of business. (Down the road there's an English school for Migrants that has a lot of students of middle-eastern descent.)
But my general point here is, if you come to this country from any other country, be it an Islamic based one or otherwise, whether you came here because you were being oppressed in your country... If you came here to escape all that, then DO so. Don't try and make OUR country like yours. And if you don't like it here, here's a hint, you don't have to stay. LOVE IT or LEAVE IT. Would you like a short, point form version?
1: People have a right to embrace their culture.
2: I don't wish anyone to forget where they came from. I was born here, but my parents are European. I recognise that's where my cultural heritage is.
3: People who migrate from somewhere else should keep ties to their culture.
4: (And here's the harsh one) LOVE IT or LEAVE IT. Plain and simple, if you don't like our culture and can't embrace it.... FUCK OFF! We don't want you here. You would expect the same for us if we came to your country, so don't expect us to make exceptions for you.
5: And as Costello says... If you can't abide by our customs and laws, don't even think of applying for citizenship.
Don't like what I said? Hey, guess what... TOUGH TITTIES! :P
posted by FrostilicusFrost at 7:34 pm
1 comments
