Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly has warned former prime minister Scott Morrison and Liberal senator Andrew Bragg have risked inflaming community tensions and fuelling fear with remarks that target Muslim Australians following the December Bondi terrorist attack.
Her rebuke was reinforced by Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik. He said that extremism must be confronted, but cautioned that conflating criminal activity with the Muslim faith would undermine trust and compromise genuine counter-extremism efforts that keep the community safe.
Both are Muslims who worked in counter-extremism before their current roles – Aly was a professor while Malik ran programs in the NSW premier’s department.
Their comments responded to a fresh rift that Morrison opened with Australian Muslims when he gave a speech in Israel on Tuesday that called on Australian Islamic leaders to enforce stronger standards within their own communities.
Morrison said Muslim leaders should start licensing preachers, translating all sermons into English and setting up a board to police radicals.
Read the full story by federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos.
