Australians to take the emphasis off religion in a new attempt to integrate Muslims

The new Australian Government, led by Kevin Rudd, has decided that it will try to engage with a wider Muslim community in the country rather than allowing the dialogue to be always mediated through religious leaders.

This is a departure from the approach of the previous Howard government, which had created a Muslim Advisory Board consisting of the usual imams and clerics who were more interested in promoting religion than bringing Muslims into the mainstream.

Now a new attempt will be made to recast the image of Muslims in Australia as overly-religious. The Government wants to recruit sporting figures, academics, business people and others who represent a broader face of the communities.

In the Rudd Government's first statement on Muslims, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson said it was time to tackle the myths surrounding Islam, arguing religious leaders were not representative of the mainstream Muslim community. "We can't prescribe how the Islamic community is to organise itself," Mr Ferguson said. "But we certainly must make sure that the fact there are international tensions and terrorist issues doesn't kind of stereotype the whole community in Australia. A lot of it is about symbolism; it's about who gets promoted and who gets identified and who gets an option to be seen by Australian society. Australia has produced (Muslim) academics, business types, sporting types and it's often not celebrated enough."

Mr Ferguson said the idea that all Muslims were religious was a “misconception" he wanted debunked. "The whole spectre of Muslims is women in hijabs and other stereotypical characteristics and I think there is not enough opportunity to see a difference,” he said. “There's a need to have Muslims involved in parents’ groups, sporting clubs, political parties... tuckshops.”

The Muslim reference board was shelved by the then parliamentary secretary for immigration in 2006 after a troubled 12 months. The high-profile group failed to fulfil key tasks such as setting up an imams board to bring spiritual leaders together and had numerous setbacks after one of its senior members, Taj Din al-Hilali, labelled it "still-born".

Another spiritual leader — Fehmi Naji el-Imam, who has since replaced Sheik Hilali as the mufti of Australia — embarrassed the government by declaring his support for Islamic militants during the Hezbollah-Israel war in 2006.

Mr Ferguson said a broader body would be considered. "We would always seek to have the broadest representation in any national committees established," he said. "There's a belief that, per se, Muslims are always more religious than other groups. But I know a lot of Muslim youth in my electorate that are totally irreligious, or it's marginal to their existence and they don't spend a lot of time thinking about the Koran."

It is believed the reference board being considered would include six members — three men and three women — plus a chairperson.

14 March 2008