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Reverend the Hon. FRED NILE: My question is directed to the Special Minister of State, representing the Premier. Were seven men in Sydney and nine men in Melbourne arrested on Monday night on suspicion of supporting and/or planning an imminent act of terrorism or being members of a prescribed terrorist organisation? Was one of those men shot while shooting at the police, after fleeing a mosque at Green Valley, Sydney? Was a police car torched last night? As a result of the current riots in Paris, France that began on 6 November, have more than 100 police been injured, nearly 4,000 cars and a large number of buildings been torched? In light of those events, what urgent steps is the Government taking to ensure the safety of Sydney citizens from any violent backlash, as has occurred in France?
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: To the first part of the question, I answer yes; it is a matter of public record. I also answer yes to the second part of the question. I believe it is a matter of public record that one police officer was wounded during the course of an arrest. The honourable member then referred to the coincidence of matters occurring in Paris, France, in recent days. In response to that component of the question, it is important to understand that one of the aspects of Australia's national prosperity and success has been its ability to have a society that accepts a broad range of religious views and cultural elements and melds those into a single culture.
The strength of that success has been a policy consensus between the major political parties for a long time now. I am not a French sociologist, but I understand that is not the case in France, where various immigrants from the former African and Middle East colonies of France migrated in very large numbers to France in the immediate post-war period, and formed a successful pool of labour for the French in the rebuilding after the Second World War. Although the first generation did well, the second and third generations found themselves to be—
The Hon. Melinda Pavey: Under a socialist government.
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: That is not the case. The Hon. Melinda Pavey does not know history. De Gaulle was not a socialist and neither were the majority of French governments in the post-war period. Regrettably the Hon. Melinda Pavey has already got it wrong before she has even entered the debate. I do not want to canvass the to-and-fro of post-war French politics. I am simply making an observation that the analogy between current events in Paris and the situation in Australia is dangerous, although I am sure Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile did not make it with that in mind. We need to think very carefully about the apparent lessons from the Paris riots that seem to have their origins in social and economic issues, and some policy issues. A large section of the French population, albeit a migrant population, some of whom are second and third generation French people, apparently do not feel part of the French nation. Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile might care to note out of interest that from reports I have seen many of these young people are also very angry with their religious leaders and demonstrate against mosques and the like because they believe the mosque leadership is too pro government.
[Interruption]
I do not think the Hon. David Oldfield understands the situation correctly. The point I make is that Australia has a different set of social circumstances. We can be proud of our success in allowing people from a wide range of cultures and religions to come to Australia and make a contribution to Australian culture. We should not be distracted from the fact that in the case of the recent arrests we are dealing with allegations of criminal behaviour, and those matters are before the courts and have nothing to do with a broad religious or cultural view.