Residents say they aren’t racist, they just don’t want new mosque.

A group of residents in Melbourne’s southeast are adamant that they are not being racist by protesting the proposed building of a new mosque in the area.

At 25m tall and able to accomodate 500 worshippers, the super-sized site could become the biggest Islamic place of worship in Australia. …

“If it was a Catholic building, if it was a big Jewish building, if it was a supermarket, I’d be complaining about it,” Mr Ryan said.

Just a thought, but maybe the resident’s objections are taken seriously because the officials and media are “racist” —  namely anti-resident? Not that Islam is a race, but precision and consistency are not notable PC traits.

… Waseem Razvi from the Saarban Islamic Trust, …  argues more mosques across Australia will help to “stamp out” radical ideas. “Mosques are at the forefront, are the frontline against extremism and terrorism,” Mr Razvi said.

And Islam is the religion of peace.