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- 29 October 2002
Community Harmony
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Page: 6021
Mrs PERRY: My question without notice is to the Premier. What is the latest information on efforts to maintain community harmony in New South Wales?
Mr CARR: Five days after the Bali bombing a young man rang a radio program and said his younger brother, a victim of the bombing, would "want everyone out there to know, let's not blame all the Muslims in our country for this thing that has happened, it's a terrible thing that has happened, but let's find the right people and let's blame them, let's chase them to the end of the earth, but let's not start blaming innocent people." The caller was Trent Thompson. His younger brother was Clinton, a member of the Coogee Dolphins, who was killed in the Sari Club.
Of all the appeals for tolerance and harmony after the Bali bombing, that strikes home because it is the voice of someone whose family was touched by that tragedy speaking out, invoking the voice of his deceased brother, for community harmony. He cut right through to the truth of what this bombing means for the social harmony of the Australian community. He understands—and he is also coping with his terrible loss—that we must maintain the harmony that is a feature of Australian life. I am pleased to say that political leaders from all sides of politics have made the same appeal. The Prime Minister, the Minister for Police, the Commissioner of Police and I have made it.
I repeated my appeal for tolerance following an attack on the home of the Imam at the Rooty Hill mosque, Dr Ahmed Shabir. I rang the Imam and assured him and his young family that they should not feel alone. They should not feel isolated. The Minister for Agriculture and the honourable member for Londonderry visited the mosque last Friday. They reported to me on their visit and the message sent to the Imam and his congregation that the Government and the people of the State deplore attacks such as these. In the words of the special prayer composed in the wake of the Bali attack by Rabbi Raymond Apple of the Great Synagogue, a great advocate of community harmony:
Acts of torture and terror, wherever carried out, no matter by whom or for whatever motive, cannot be tolerated.
It is not just bombings and killings; smashed windows, abuse, spitting and graffiti are all points on the broad spectrum of terror, by no means equally serious, but all directed at the same target, the rights and dignity of the human person. It is appropriate to point out that for about a decade synagogues in Sydney from time to time have been subjected to such attacks. Therefore, the seeds of intolerance and hatred should never be allowed to take root in this democracy of ours. That is why the Commissioner of Police and the Minister for Police resolved that there should be heightened patrols of mosques, Islamic community centres and schools. We should remember not only that Muslim Australians deserve to have their human rights vigorously protected, but that good Muslims all over the world suffer from radical Islamists and their extreme activities. The Muslims of Indonesia suffer from the economic instability that events such as occurred in Bali brings to their trade. The Muslims of Afghanistan suffered under the Taliban from totalitarian oppression.
Muslims everywhere suffer when the name of an old and humanist religious faith is besmirched by the actions of a dangerous few. Let no-one forget that one of our own Bali victims was a Muslim as well. Behic Sumer is missing, presumed dead. He travelled to Bali with his two brothers, Ali and Ertan, who are both recovering in hospital from burns. Again, personal tragedy highlights the insanity of this bombing. In the modern world of instant communications, immigration and multiculturalism, we are all "us". The death of a fellow Muslim in Bali proves just how redundant the sectarianism and intolerance of the fanatics really are. Services were held at mosques around Australia, including the Lakemba and Gallipoli mosques. The Muslim people of New South Wales grieved with the rest of their fellow Australians because they see themselves as Australians. For that, they deserve the respect and protection of fellow Australians.
In this spirit, the New South Wales Government has put in place plans to maintain community harmony. Two weeks ago I directed the Community Relations Commission [CRC] to set up a community harmony reference group chaired by the CRC Chair, Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian. That reference group met on 21 October and included the New South Wales Commissioner of Police, Mr Ken Moroney, and representatives from the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Community Services and the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board. Sydney's Islamic, Jewish and Sikh communities are also represented on the group. The group will help the New South Wales Government promote and maintain community harmony. It will ensure a co-ordinated, rapid response to any local community relations issues that may arise. A similar reference group was set up in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, and another one was set up after the September 11 attacks.
There is a bilingual hotline to handle incidents of harassment or violence in the community. Yesterday afternoon CRC Chair Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian and Commissioner of Police, Ken Moroney, met with the Islamic community leaders to look at strategies to deal with the attacks. Next week I will be visiting a school attended by students from the Islamic faith. Through measures such as these, we will continue to work hard to maintain a community harmony that is one of the sources of pride we all feel in this modern Australia of which we are part. This is a hard-won harmony; we have fought for decades to win it. It is harmony that we will not allow to become another victim of the situation that has already claimed victims enough.
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