Australia's Islamic leaders see Turnbull as light at the end of Abbott tunnel
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Version 0 of 1. Islamic leaders say they are optimistic the new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, can reset the government’s efforts to engage with Australia’s Muslim communities after a strained two years under Tony Abbott. The former prime minister’s bullish rhetoric on Islamic State, and his call in February for Muslim leaders to say Islam was a religion of peace “and mean it”, saw relations between the government and leading Muslim organisations falter. Australia’s grand mufti, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, said in February that he had erred in voting for Abbott and advised Abbott “to work in any field other than politics”. A number of groups, including the Lebanese Muslim association, declined invitations to a government counter-terrorism summit in June, and boycotted “community consultation” sessions around security and citizenship legislation. “People have stopped talking,” a spokesman for the Islamic council of Victoria, Kuranda Seyit, told Guardian Australia earlier this year. Seyit said on Wednesday it was obvious that Turnbull had a different leadership style to his predecessor. “He thinks a little bit more out of the box, and that’s a good thing for multiculturalism,” he said. “He’s progressive and open-minded enough to engage with the Muslim community on a more intellectual level, and in a more genuine dialogue with the government and community leaders. “I think Mr Abbott had national security as one of his big projects, but it was at the expense of demonising the Muslim community … National security is an important issue, so it has to be done in a way that sensitively navigates the terrain.” But Seyit said he did not expect to see an immediate change. “I think [Turnbull] needs to reflect the concerns of his party and that will be a limiting factor in issues of social cohesion and community harmony,” he said. Silma Ihram, from the Australian Muslim women’s association, said relations between her organisation and the Abbott government had “not been great”. “Turnbull seems like a different kettle of fish to Tony Abbott in terms of his intelligence, his ability to talk to people,” she said. “We tend to feel that he is likely to be better, but we can only wait and see.” She was drafting a letter of congratulation to the new prime minister listing areas of possible improvement, including “greater consultation on anti-terrorism legislation” and more scrutiny of passport cancellations. “We’re also very concerned about the increased action in Syria,” she said. “We don’t believe that bombing Islamic State and ignoring Assad is the solution. Assad has killed 10 times the number of people that Daesh has killed.” Lydia Shelly, a community advocate and solicitor, said the change was “a good opportunity for Turnbull to reassess his party’s legacy, revisit some stagnant policies and put an end to the politics of fear and division”. As communications minister, Turnbull backed the Coalition’s changes to Australia’s counter-terrorism laws, but was one of a number of cabinet ministers to balk at stripping accused terrorists of citizenship without first securing a conviction. In a speech in July he warned against overhyping the threat posed by jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria, particularly Isis. “Its leaders dream that they, like the Arab armies of the seventh and eighth century, will sweep across the Middle East into Europe itself,” he said. “They predict that before long they will be stabling their horses in the Vatican. Well, Idi Amin wasn’t the king of Scotland either. “We should be careful not to say or do things which can be seen to add credibility to those delusions.” |