In typical form, Reverend Nile makes his shameless speech that underscores the failure of this State to protect its citizens from such open unashamed attack on Australians of other faiths.
The Hon Member forgets that he is supposed to be a man of the cloth, a religious man who is supposed to spread the word of peace, harmony and acceptance.
Here is his speech which he delivered at NSW Parliament tonight :
Reverend the Hon. FRED NILE [3.33 p.m.]: I speak on the senate inquiry into third party food certification. Imagine we had a religious tax on almost every product available to purchase—products from food to pharmaceuticals to cosmetics. Imagine that companies were charged fees for inspections and for the products to be prayed over. Imagine the outrage of the Australian people. IIt seems impossible to imagine that Australians who objected to such activity would be labelled as racists and bigots; that those who objected to such a scheme were dragged through the courts. It seems absurd, but that is precisely what is happening in Australia—and to Australians—with halal certification fees.
Halal certification fees are a religious tax paid by every consumer in Australia. Halal certification schemes are a transfer of wealth from the average Aussie and Australian producer and manufacturer to promote a religion that advocates the abuse of human rights. Aussies are often unwitting participants because products are not labelled clearly. Producers and manufacturers of said products are not always frank and honest with their customers. It is unacceptable that all Australians are being forced to pay a religious tax. The Government is complicit in this fundraising venture. A good is produced, the halal tax is added, then the 10 per cent goods and services tax is added. The State is directly benefitting from the religious tax—something that is clearly anti-constitutional. Consumers across Australia have rightly expressed their anger at this scheme through the current Federal senate inquiry into third party certification.
Australians are concerned about third party certification, most notably halal certification. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the current Federal senate inquiry into third party certification has received the largest number of submissions to an inquiry. Australian consumers want answers, and we applaud the Abbott Government for conducting this inquiry. The public needs, and indeed wants, extensive information about halal certifiers and halal certification. Most people are concerned about the lack of labelling and the hidden nature of halal certification. Organic, kosher and heart tick goods are clearly labelled so that consumers have a choice. Halal is often not labelled and therefore consumers believe halal fees and Islamic religious rituals are imposed upon them. Many Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists and more object to have religious rituals imposed upon them through their everyday grocery purchases.
Kirralie Smith, creator of the anti-halal choices website, shopping guide book and phone app, has become an expert on halal certification of foods and supermarkets in Australia. The list of products that are halal certified is now longer than the list of products that are not. Australian consumers want to know where their money is going. They do not want mosques and Islamic schools to profit from their grocery purchases. We should not have a structure whereby consumers contribute to the advancement of Islamic beliefs and practices without their knowledge and consent. Profiteering from halal certification is unacceptable.
While nobody really knows where the money goes—$3 trillion globally—we do know that the funds raised make millionaires out of the certifiers. We know that funds go towards advocating the religion of Islam. We know that funds go to support the building of mosques and other institutions. Since when did Aussies sign up for that? No-one in Australia would tolerate such a scheme if it were perpetuated by any other religion, by the Anglicans, the Baptists or the Catholics. We do not even want to talk about increasing the GST. Yet, we find ourselves living in this bizarre situation where a religious tax is applied to goods—many foods for which there are no substitutes—and we are criticised for criticising the tax.
Currently the average Aussie household and Australian businesses, which are already under financial pressure, have to pay this extra tax, a tax that effectively states the obvious about their products. Products that are already known to be halal—or in other words, permissible—are still subject to religious certification fees, products like breakfast cereal, honey, milk and bread. All people in this country ought to enjoy religious freedom—that is the freedom to choose or reject religious rituals, and whether or not they want to fund them. Australians opposed to halal certification are not bigots. They simply want to enjoy the tolerance and freedoms supposedly available to everyone in our democracy. Australians opposed to funding halal certification, whether it is $1 or billions of dollars, have every right to do so.[Time expired.]
The Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane MLC.
Opposition Whip
Parliament of New South Wales
Parliament House
Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
0 comments:
Post a Comment