Australians face more heavy censorship under a new far-left “islamophobia” plan that includes a ban on criticism of Muslims and punishment for MPs who engage in so-called hate speech.
The Labor government’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik, a British-born Pakistani who immigrated to Australia in 2012, delivered a report containing 54 recommendations on Friday alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and pro-mass migration Egyptian Muslim immigrant MP Anne Aly.
Mr Albanese said Mr Malik had done “extraordinary work” on the report, and promised to “carefully consider” the recommendations, the same commitment he made in regards to an anti-Semitism report delivered by Mr Malik’s Jewish counterpart Jillian Segal in July.
Mr Malik opened his speech in Sydney with an indigenous land acknowledgement, and the report is also written using far-left terminology such as “people of colour”, “first nations” and “unconscious bias”, and features a large “acknowledgement of country” stating that Muslims and aboriginals have a “deep and enduring relationship” going back to the 1600s.
The report contains an introduction from left-wing Muslim cricketer Usman Khawaja in which he claims Jesus was a “person of colour” and calls 9/11 a “tragedy” without mentioning Islamic terrorism.
It also also includes repeated references to women allegedly having their hijabs ripped off or being targeted for wearing un-Australian Islamic face coverings, claims that Arabs and Palestinians are “dehumanised” in Australia, and cites polling showing that 1 in 3 Australians have negative attitudes towards Muslims.
The report calls for a federal ban on religious discrimination, new “hate crime” and “hate speech” laws against “ethno-religious discrimination”, behavioural codes for Australian politicians, mandatory training programs on “islamophobia” for all parliamentarians and their advisors, and the implementation of a “reporting mechanism” so MPs can be dobbed in by their constituents or colleagues.
MPs who engage in “hate speech or behaviour” would then be required to be punished by formal reprimand, suspension, and/or public denunciation by their party.
There are further recommendations for commissions of inquiry into “islamophobia” and “anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism”, funding to research “islamophobia” interventions, funding for Muslim community organisations, and funding for surveillance and reporting of “islamophobic hate crimes and hate incidents”.
The report calls for more grants at all levels of government to “combat Islamophobia and strengthen social cohesion”, “compulsory religious sensitivity training” for federal police, and ministerial ability to refuse visas for visitors “promoting hate speech”.
Australia should bring in “hate crime scrutiny panels, similar to the United Kingdom model”, giving pro-Muslim activists power over the police, according to the report.
Mr Malik also wants Australia’s counter-terrorism laws independently reviewed to assess their “discriminatory application and effect” and their effect on Muslims.
There are recommendations for multiple new advisory boards in numerous government departments, and the re-writing of school curriculums following the implementation of a new framework to combat “First Nations (sic) racism, islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Arab racism, anti-Asian racism, etc”.
“Review the national curriculum pertaining to Islam, Muslims, and Muslim history, in both primary and secondary education, to ensure content is accurate and to make inclusions of and acknowledge Muslim contributions to Australia, Western civilisation and the development of universal values,” the report recommends.
The report calls for taxpayer-funded pro-Muslim filmmaking, journalism, social media ad campaigns, assistance for Muslim entrepreneurs, and programs on Muslim mental health.
Ms Segal’s anti-Semitism plan also contained calls for more free speech restrictions, more online censorship, a “national hate crime database”, and the nationwide application of a controversial definition of anti-Semitism.
Social media companies would be required to make their algorithms transparent in order to “prevent the amplification of online hate”, and law enforcement should be supported to “identify and prosecute” Australian who commit online “hate crimes”, the anti-Semitism report recommended.
Ms Segal also recommended stripping funding from universities, charities and cultural institutions that “do not deal effectively with hate or anti-Semitism”, suggested appointing herself as monitor of media organisations, and called for “holocaust and anti-Semitism education” to be embedded in state and national curricula.
In addition, Ms Segal said immigration and citizenship applicants should be screened for anti-Semitic views, recommended visa refusals and cancellations for anti-Semitic conduct and rhetoric, and the creation of a national database of anti-Semitic hate crimes and incidents.
Since 2022 the Albanese government has passed multiple free speech-restricting “hate crimes” and “hate speech” bills, attempted to pass a bill on “misinformation”, and brought in Digital ID and online age verification laws which come into effect in December.
Header image: Left, right, Mr Malik and Mr Albanese delivering the report (SBS – YouTube).
