Senator Pauline Hanson’s criticism of Islam in an interview on ABC’s ‘Insiders’ yesterday has drawn disappointment from Kuranda Seyit, Secretary of the Forum on Australia Islamic Relations.
“She knows that by making these controversial outlandish statements she’s going to get more interest in her political endeavors,” he told SBS.
Senator Hanson said that Islam was “purporting” to be a religion, but was actually a political ideology bent on imposing Sharia law.
“They hate western society, the want to change us,” she said.
One Nation’s platform includes calls for a Royal Commission into Islam, a halt on all Muslim immigration, a public ban on facial veils and a ban on Halal certification.
Mr Seyit said her statements on Sunday were “very, very disappointing”.
“All it does is divide out society and create more hatred in the world, and I think that she really needs to wake up to herself and take more responsibility as someone who is an elected representative of the community,” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, Prime Minister Turnbull delivered a response to the Hanson interview in comments to a press pack in Queensland – he criticised her stance on vaccinations and her admiration of Vladimir Putin.
Fairfax correspondent Adam Gartrell said Turnbull should have weighed in on her anti-Islam comments as well.
“She says she wants to keep Australians safe but the people who actually risk their lives doing just that say Hanson's rhetoric – holding the vast majority of Muslims responsible for the sins of a misguided few – has the opposite effect,” he wrote.
“Turnbull should call her out on that, too.”
The Prime Minister's office noted Mr Turnbull was responding to a question when he commented on Putin, though he did raise criticism of Hanson's anti-vaccination stance of his own volition.
