Calling the ALA an Anti-Islam Party Demonstrates Complete Ignorance of the Party’s Extensive Policy Platform
by Jaymez
13 March, 2016
But since when did we expect objectivity from the ABC?
The ABC is insisting on referring to the Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA) party as an anti-Islam party in their news bulletins and on-line coverage. See for here for example.
Perhaps it is because they don’t like the ALA’s policy on public broadcasting?
We aim to privatise SBS, together with non-core sections of the ABC. The core of the ABC shall provide one national free-to-air TV channel for news and current affairs, one free quality channel for children as well as essential radio, satellite and online services for rural and remote areas. The ABC should retain the brief to connect Australian expatriates and overseas friends with Australia.
Our publicly owned broadcaster needs to reflect the broader sociopolitical spectrum of Australian society.
Clearly the ABC would be keen to see the ALA fail at elections. But they don’t disclose their conflict of interest when reporting on the ALA.
I have been reading the ALA’s policy statements to educate myself about them, just, as I do with most political parties.
I can tell you that their policies cover pretty much every aspect of government and appear to be quite well thought out. They are much more detailed and comprehensive than the Greens or Palmer United.
I am not surprised that I don’t agree with everything in their policy statement; I haven’t found any political party whose policies I endorse without reservation — so nothing new there.
I guess the ABC and others have chosen to call them an anti-Islam party because they have a policy which is titled, Stop the Islamisation of Australia. Why this? The ALA lists “Smarter Smaller Government” as their number one policy, so why don’t the ABC call them the Smaller Government Party?
Given the proliferation of Islamic terrorism, the lack of integration of many Muslim immigrants into mainstream society, the violent protests associated with Muslims about matters outside Australia, and the rise of demands by some Muslims for separate rules to apply to Muslims, it is quite reasonable to have a policy on Islamisation.
Special treatment is often demanded by Muslims, here and overseas, such as prayer rooms, food, clothes, exemptions from a country’s social norms, and special laws.
Any political party which doesn’t have a specific policy on how to address Islamisation is out of touch, or just not being honest with themselves and the public.
I have read the ALA’s policy on Islam and, I have to say, I don’t have a problem with it. I wish all political parties would address these issues with the same clarity, so we knew where they stood.
Here is the ALA’s Islamisation policy, entitled: ‘Stop the Islamisation of Australia’ (my bolding):
Islam is not merely a religion, it is a totalitarian ideology with global aspirations. Islam uses the religious element as a means to project itself onto non-Islamic societies, which is manifest in the historical and ongoing expansion of Islam.
A multitude of groups, movements and multi-national organisations are actively pursuing this agenda globally, including in Australia. These organisations differ in their strategies, tactical approach and their message, but the common denominator is the desire to promote Islam and project Islam’s societal model of a divinely ordained theocracy across the world.
Islam does not accept the separation of religion from state, but seeks dominance over all aspects of human life and society. Whereas we see religion as part of life, Islam sees life as part of the religion. This is not ‘Islamism’ or a minority view by extremists, this is basic Islamic doctrine.
While only a small number of Muslims actively pursue this agenda, Islam’s divine law makes it the duty of all Muslims to contribute to this effort according to their abilities. No other religious ideology in our time has both the doctrinal aspiration as well as the economic and demographic muscle to impose itself globally.
It is our core policy that all attempts to impose Islam’s theocracy and Sharia law on our liberal society must be stopped by democratic means, before the demographic, economic and sociopolitical realities make a peaceful solution impossible.
Australian Liberty Alliance will seek to enact the policy proposals outlined in the paper “Practical Steps to Stop Islamisation”, first published by Q Society of Australia Inc in February 2014.
These proposals include a 10-year moratorium on all resident visa categories for applicants from member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Exceptions shall apply to the humanitarian intake of persecuted non-Islamic minorities from OIC countries.
(Note that the member countries of the OIC refuse to sign the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In fact they developed their own Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI). This gives the Islamic perspective on human rights, and affirms Islamic sharia as its sole source. The CDHRI reaffirms the inequalities inherent in Islamic law and tradition in terms of religion, religious conversion, gender, sexuality, political rights, and other aspects of contemporary society at odds with Islamic law and traditions. In 1992, the CDHRI was presented to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, where it was strongly condemned by the International Commission of Jurists.)
Further, we will require for accredited Islamic organisations in Australia to accept formally the supremacy of Australian law and universal human rights over Islamic doctrine and Sharia law. For example full face coverings in public spaces shall be prohibited.
We will seek to prevent the implementation of any aspect of Sharia finance, Sharia courts and the influence of local or foreign Sharia councils over Australian institutions, our economic system and our supply chain.
Among the proposed measures is the mandatory labelling of products and services from companies that have taken out halal certification, the implementation of the ‘user pays’ principle for halal certification schemes and an end to religious discrimination in Australia’s secular organisations.
You can read all of their core policies and values here. Policies cover a wide range of issues, including equality, sustainability, environment, energy, citizenship, separation of Commonwealth and States, health, aged care, education, freedom of speech and the media, trade, jobs, foreign affairs, defence, taxation, the constitution, abortion, euthanasia, transport, and agriculture.
Calling the ALA an anti-Islam party is about as accurate as calling Labor an anti-business party, the Liberals an anti-union party, the Greens an anti-industry party, or the Palmer Party an anti-Abbott party.
The ABC, and other media channels, need to be a great deal more objective in their reporting.
