Dr Ameer Ali says government must pass a Charter of Rights to protect religious freedom

Dr Ameer Ali, former head of the Howard Government’s Muslim advisory group and a leading Islamic scholar, has called upon the Federal Government to pass a strong Charter (or Bill) of Rights to thwart real threats to religious freedom in Australia. Speaking to organisers of a forthcoming conference on the subject of a Charter of Rights, Dr Ali said such a charter was essential not only to save religious groups from vilification but also to strengthen our democracy.

“Muslims and members of other faiths are seeing their liberties corralled and restricted,” said Dr Ali. “For example, the freedom that religious schools have to choose their teachers on the basis of their adherence to a particular faith is under severe threat.”

Dr Ali, who is a visiting fellow at Murdoch University Business School and former president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, said Australia is suffering because it does not have a Charter of Rights that clearly sets out individuals’ rights as well as obligations.

“Religious tolerance is gradually being eroded by certain parties who would try to impose their own values – be they of a particular religion or non-religion – on all Australians,” he said. “Addit-ionally, current protections in state laws against racial vilification do not protect Islam because Islam is not a race but a religion. A charter of rights needs to protect against religious abuse.”

Dr Ali said that although it would be good to see things improve without the imposition of a new law, it seems that human behaviour requires that these things be set down in an irrevocable form that no-one can misinterpret. “The events in Cronulla in 2005 certainly show we have a long way to go before there is true respect between people of one culture or religion and another.”

The conference at which Dr Ali will be a major speaker is to be held at Old Parliament House, Canberra from August 13-15, 2009. Entitled “Cultural and Religious Freedom under a Bill of Rights”, the event is an open forum featuring international and national experts. (See URL below.)

Conference Co-Chair, Dr Paul Babie, said he welcomed Dr Ali’s comments. Dr Babie, who is head of the Research Unit for the Study of Society, Law and Religion at The University of Adelaide, said, “We expect a vigorous debate amongst the participants. Just as Dr Ali’s views in favour of a Charter of Rights are strongly held, so too are the views of those who oppose one.”

Dr Babie spoke of the numerous respected co-sponsors of the conference, including the Australian Human Rights Commission, who wanted to ensure that Australian opinion-makers and the public were well informed about a Charter of Rights. He said there was a dearth of knowledge about what such a charter meant for Australia and relatively few people understood its effect. Â

“Our goal is to ensure that adequate information from both sides of the debate is presented at the conference and that this is conveyed to politicians who will make the ultimate decision. Father Brennan’s committee will report to the Federal Government shortly after the conference and the event will be an ideal time to bring the charter to wider public knowledge,” said Dr Babie. [END]

www.crfbillofrights.org