Imams UNLEASH on ScoMo over his 'licence to preach' demand for Islamic leaders
- Scott Morrison wants Imams to be monitored
- His comments have come under fire
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Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been slammed after he suggested Islamic leaders should need a licence to preach following the Bondi Beach terror attack.
While speaking at an antisemitism conference in Israel on Tuesday night, he said Australian Islamic institutions should also translate sermons into English and set up a board to monitor radicals.
'Some will seek to characterise these remarks as hostile to Australia's Islamic community, and even multiculturalism itself, rolling out the usual accusations of Islamophobia,' he said, The Australian reported.
'To the contrary, I am advocating reforms I believe will help religious leaders in our Islamic community keep the wolves from their flock.
'To treat such issues as taboo serves only those who wish to keep these influences opaque and in the dark, where our two homegrown extreme Islamist terrorists were radicalised.
'After December 14, all options to combat antisemitism must be on the table without fear or favour; this includes how Islam is practised and governed in Australia.'
His comments have unleashed fury from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC), which said the rhetoric is dangerous and targets the Muslim community.
'These comments are reckless, deeply offensive, and profoundly dangerous,' AFIC said in a statement.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for Islamic institutions to police preachers. He has been criticised by the Muslim community
'They revive a long-discredited narrative that seeks to divide Muslims into 'good' and 'bad', to portray Imam itself as a threat, and to frame Muslim communities as objects of suspicion rather than equal citizens.'
AFIC President Dr Rateb Jneid added that it would mean politicians 'position themselves as arbiters of our faith'.
'That is not leadership. It is dangerous, and history shows us exactly where it leads.
'Our faith is constantly scrutinised, politicised, and blamed, yet never defended or protected by law.
'When senior political figures single out Islam in this way, they legitimise the very hatred they claim to oppose.'
But Morrison doubled down on his comments while speaking to 2GB, claiming 'you need to be accountable to leaders in your own faith community'.
'You have to have training to make sure you're compliant with Australian laws, and if you don't do that, you don't get a ticket,' he said on Wednesday morning.
The former prime minister found support in the form of Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg, who said the introduction of a register for Islamic preachers is 'worth looking at' while appearing on ABC News.
The former prime minister made his comments at an antisemitism conference in Israel following the Bondi Beach terror attack on December 14 last year (a memorial is pictured)
'The Australian Muslim community has to take some responsibility for the behaviours we've seen exhibited over the last couple of decades,' he said.
Bragg was questioned about whether, by his logic, the Christian community should be held accountable for instances of Nazi hate speech.
'Well, I mean, I understand the point, but I think that what I'm trying to say is that we've got to be honest about the source of these problems,' he said.
'I mean, it is a mutation of Islam which is leading to terrorism. And so I'm not going to pretend that's not the case.'
However, Labor minister Pat Conroy claimed that Morrison may be a private citizen, but that Bragg's comments were 'really problematic and troubling'.
'For Senator Bragg to essentially back them [Mr Morrison's comments]... just demonstrates that the Liberal Party is incredibly divided on this issue,' he said.
