Fury has erupted over a video showing special Muslim prayer rooms divided by gender at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport.
The clip, posted right-wing populist party One Nation’s social media accounts on Tuesday, shows a door labelled Islamic Prayer Rooms, which leads to two more rooms with signs saying Islamic Male Prayer, and Islamic Female Prayer.
A sign on the wall says “Melbourne Airport Chaplaincy supports people of all faiths” and includes a number for people who want to speak to a chaplain.
The airport’s website states that there are “two 24/7 multi-denominational prayer rooms” on the ground floor between Terminal 2 and 3, and in Terminal 2 after security, but the One Nation video and others available online show only Muslims get their own spaces.
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“Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne has dedicated – and gender-segregated – prayer rooms for exclusive use by Muslims. No other religion has this privilege,” One Nation wrote in the caption.
The video sparked anger from everyday Australians who called it “outrageous”, “woke capitulation”, and “typical Victoria”.
“So why can’t we segregate men from women’s sports but can have this?” asked one Aussie.
“Why are other religions excluded from this benefit?” asked another.
“Where’s my Catholic prayer room?” asked a third.
“They claim to want to ‘fit in’ in Australia… but insisting on special privileges like this everywhere they go proves they want anything but that,” read another comment.
“If I moved to a new country and wanted to fit in and be part of society, I certainly wouldn’t be insisting on special dress rules, segregated rooms, segregated schools etc.”
Header image: Left, right, the prayer rooms at the airport (One Nation).
