THE NSW election campaign has become entangled in a debate over Muslim immigration after the leader of the Christian Democratic Party called for an immediate halt to Islamic immigrants.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21362128-421,00.htmlReverend Fred Nile, the longest-serving member of the NSW Legislative Council, made the comments at a gathering in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde yesterday.
He said there has been no serious study of the potential effects on Australia of more than 300,000 Muslims who are already here, and Australians deserved some breathing space.
In the meantime, Australia should extend a welcoming hand to the many thousands of persecuted Christians who are presently displaced or at risk in the Middle East.
"I pray that within a decade, Muslims in Australia will clearly have demonstrated their commitment to Aussie values including democratic pluralism and the rights of women. We can then assess whether Muslim immigration should begin again," he said.
Mr Nile is leading 21 Christian Democratic Party candidates contesting seats in the NSW Legislative Council at the March 24 state election. Some 53 Christian Democratic Party candidates are also running in Legislative Assembly electorates across the state.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma, whose southwestern Sydney seat of Lakemba has a large Muslim population, said today he did not agree with Mr Nile's comments but said immigration was a federal issue.
"Those that are prepared to abide by our laws, our values, work hard and pass the criteria are welcome regardless of who they are, where they come from, the colour of their skin," he said.
The Ethnic Communities Council (ECC) of NSW rejected Mr Nile's statements, saying the overwhelming majority of Australian Muslims were law-abiding citizens.
"We must avoid policies that echo the old White Australia policy," ECC vice chair Justin Li said.
"Religious and national backgrounds should never be the criteria for determining a person's eligibility to migrate into Australia or to become an Australian citizen."
Opposition leader Peter Debnam would not today if the Liberal Party would rule out doing preference deals with the Christian Democrats at the election.
- with AAP
See above. Additionally how much validity is there really for a state party to be discussing matters of federal politics, perhaps immigration should be delegated to the indavidual states or even further into city areas or councils as to not create ethnic ghettos?
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