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Australian leaders are condemning local mourning services for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking a fierce debate over national security and the limits of free expression.
While the Coalition is calling for criminal investigations into the displays, some experts are warning the government's rhetoric risks being unnecessarily divisive and counterproductive to social cohesion.
Following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the hands of the U-S and Israel, Australia’s leadership is condemning local Shia mourning services.
This is following the federal government’s decision to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp as a terrorist organisation, after ASIO linked the group to orchestrated attacks on Australian soil.
Several Shiite mosques in Sydney and Melbourne held public memorials for the former Iranian leader.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC’s 7.30 that public grief for the Supreme Leader clashes with Australian values and national security.
"Well I don’t think they're appropriate and certainly I think that overwhelmingly people won't be participating - overwhelmingly. What Australians want is in the Australian Covenant, no matter where people are from, is that if they have any hatred or prejudice, it's left at the customs hall. That's the Australian covenant of people who come here because we are a country that believes in human rights, that believes in democracy, that believes in freedom… and we of course, want to see that right around the world. It is up to the people of Iran now to determine their future."
However, Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson went one step further.
He insists that any suggestion these sermons support the IRGC must be investigated.
Mr Paterson says that displaying symbols of a listed terror group is a crime.
He is now calling for these incidents to be classified as terrorist acts and for those involved to face prosecution.
"Well, firstly, they're just not appropriate. No one should be holding a morning for the head of a regime which sponsored terror attacks in Australia. But secondly, well, secondly, the IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of which the Ayatollah is the spiritual leader and head, is now a listed terrorist organisation in Australia. And it is a crime to praise or glorify listed terrorist organisation in a way that could incite others to commit acts of terrorism. It's also a crime to display the symbols and logos of a listed terrorist organisation, so I think the federal police should be investigating as to whether those events are in violation of the law."
Defence Minister Richard Marles is refusing to label such services a crime.
He says the investigation is a matter for the police.
"Oh, look, I'll leave that to the police. I'm not about to give the police advice as to what they should be doing. That's not what politics, how politicians should act, but, but let me say this mourning, the Supreme Leader, I think, is, is, is a grave misjudgement. The people we are focused on are the thousands of Iranians who have lost their lives at the hands of the Supreme Leader in just the last few weeks, and the countless numbers of Iranians who have lost their lives at the hands of the Supreme Leader over the near 40 years that he's been at the helm in Iran. Our thoughts and our mourning is for those brave Iranians."
Dr Michael Zekulin, a senior lecturer of political science at A-N-U, questions the Coalition's use of the label "illegal" in this scenario.
He says it is a provocation that is both unnecessary and harmful.
“If this statement is accurate, it's very difficult to make sense of why it would be made. It's completely unnecessary and unproductive. They're not going to start to arresting people based on how they feel and quite frankly it's unnecessarily divisive and counter productive. Despite how one feels about the Iranian regime why pile on? It's enough to say that you are happy that they're no longer in power and that it represents an opportunity for change in Iran.”
