Recently, through its Austrade office, the federal government encouraged Australian finance and insurance institutions to adopt Islamic finance principles in a bid to boost business investment by oil-rich Arab states.
We would all like to support government initiatives to strengthen Australia’s international finance and trade opportunities. But such measures must not come at the expense of the democratic values that form the basis of our society.
Many Australians would be gravely concerned at any moves to pressure Australian institutions to comply with Islamic Shariah law, or introduce other aspects of Sharia law. We do not need to establish a parallel Islamic legal system to meet the needs of a fraction of 1.7 per cent of the population, and we do not need to introduce Islamic finance principles in order to attract so-called oil money.
Many would rightly see such developments as the thin end of a wedge aimed at a radical reorientation of Australian society.
Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 14 Mar 2010.
