En ny undersøkelse fra meningsmålingsinstituttet Essential viser at en av to australiere vil støtte et forbud mot muslimsk innvandring til landet, melder ABC Nyheter.
49 prosent er for et forbud, 40 er mot og 11 vet ikke. I aldersgruppen 18 til 24 år er 58 prosent mot et slikt forbud, mens 28 prosent er for.
De fleste respondentene oppgir bekymring over at muslimser ikke integrerer seg i det australske samfunnet og/eller at de ikke deler australske verdier som årsak. Bare en av fire oppgir bekymring for terrorisme som årsak til å støtte et forbud.
Interessant nok er støtten tverrpolitisk. Velgere som stemmer på liberale eller nasjonale politiske partier har størst sannsynlighet for å støtte et forbud, men også 40 prosent av Arbeiderpartiets velgere og 34 prosent av miljøpartiets velgere støtter et forbud mot muslimsk innvandring.
The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has long argued that Australia’s diversity is one of the country’s biggest strengths.
Earlier this week, he told a United Nations summit on immigration that «diversity is an investment against marginalisation and extremism».
«It helps our community unite, rather than be divided.»
Peter Lewis fra Essential sier resultatet var så overraskende at selskapet foretok en kontrollundersøkelse. Denne ga imidlertid samme resultat.
Undersøkelsen ble foretatt etter at lederen for partiet One Nation, Pauline Hanson, holdt sin første tale i det australske parlamentet, hvor hun tok til orde for å forby muslimsk innvandring. One Nation fikk rundt fire prosent av stemmene ved forrige valg.
The poll results come shortly after One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, called for a ban on Muslims entering Australia during her first speech to Parliament.
«We are in danger of being swamped by Muslims, who bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own.»
Shadow multicultural minister, Tony Burke, told Hack he’s not convinced that the poll is an accurate reflection of modern Australia.
I have some reservations about the numbers collected in this poll. There was a slightly larger poll conducted a few months earlier – the federal election.»
«There was not a big vote for One Nation. Ninety-five per cent of Australians saw them on the ballot paper and voted for someone else. In fact, they got fewer votes than they received in 2001, when zero One Nation senators were elected,» he said.
«The politics of division has always been around, but it never ends up prevailing.»
Lederen for Australian Multicultural Foundation, Hass Dellal, mener det er viktig å ta opp folks frykt, men stiller spørsmål om hva et slikt forbud kan avstedkomme. Han påpeker at muslimer bare utgjør 2 prosent av Australias samlede befolkning:
«If there are fears, we need to address them,» he said. «What does a ban actually achieve?»
Hass points out that one third of Muslims were born in Australia. They make up just a fraction of the overall population – about 2%.
«We as a nation have a great record and a great history of managing diversity,» Hass said.
…
Nick McKim, the Greens’ spokesperson on immigration, said the Coalition and Labor should stop «cuddling up» to Senator Hanson.
They refuse to call her out and call her words out for what they are, which is racist.»
«The Australian character is one of welcoming visitors and strangers to our shores, and I have no doubt that is how the majority of Australians feel,» Senator McKim said.
Australias islamske forbund, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, mener at Hansons tale var «dårlig informert, sårende og splittende.» Talsperson for forbundet, Keysar Trad, har personlig tilbudt seg å oppklare Hansons feiloppfatning av islam:
«I stretch my hand with love and goodwill, offering to spend as much time as necessary with Ms. Hanson to answer her questions about Islam,» he said.
Opposisjonsleder Bill Shorten mener på sin side at å «demonisere islam» eller å hevde at «islam er inkompatibel med vestlige liberale demokratier» kan bidra til økt ekstremisme:
«We would be playing into the hands of the crazies, of the fundamentalists, of those who hate the Australian way of life, by somehow saying that that religion – Islam- is incompatible with Western liberal democracy,» he said.
«There are millions of Muslims right across the world who live in western societies, who contribute to our quality and standard of living, and you give in to the crazies and the fundamentalists if all you do is accept their arguments and repeat them ourselves.»