Australia to ban race hate preachers
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 11:42pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 11:42pm
Agence France-Presse in Sydney
A Palestinian supporter of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Islamic Liberation Party) holds up a koran and beads worry, as he and others chant slogans and wave black and white flags during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Photo: AFP
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday said moves were under way to ban "race hate" preachers from entering the country to prevent them peddling "alien and extremist" ideologies.
The move was prompted by radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir planning a public lecture in Sydney tomorrow entitled "The War to End a Blessed Revolution" about the US-led military action in Iraq and Syria.
Abbott said anyone who wanted to stir up trouble was not welcome in Australia.
"Over the years there have been all sorts of people come into this country to cause trouble, to make a nuisance of themselves, to stir up Australian against Australian and as far as I am concerned, this will stop," he said.
"I say to people who want to come to this country from overseas to peddle their extremist ideology, … to give implicit, if not explicit support for terrorism, don't bother applying."
Abbott said there needed to be better coordination between security agencies and the immigration department. Officials "can tag them should they apply for a visa", he said.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in many countries but not Australia.
New laws to be introduced before the end of the year will make it illegal to promote terrorism in Australia and Abbott said the government would "have another look at Hizb ut-Tahrir".
The group's lecture tomorrow will accuse the US of attacking the "noble Syrian revolution" by entering Iraq, according to a brochure for the event.
"America has initiated yet another war, rounding up its puppets and allies to attack the Syrian revolution, while using intervention in Iraq as a convenient excuse," it said.
"How should Muslims respond as America attacks the most potent uprising in the Muslim world in the last century, the revolution of Syria?"
Hizb ut-Tahrir, which says it is a "political party whose ideology is Islam", earlier this year was forced to cancel a talk at the Sydney Opera House on whether honour killings could be morally justified after public outrage.
