smh.com.au: Earlier this week we attended a federal government “consultation” over planned legislative changes that would remove Australian citizenship for dual citizens found guilty of terrorist activities. We attended despite our “engagement fatigue” since many local Muslims are urging no further engagement with the Abbott government on the issue of national security.
We were disappointed but not surprised that key Muslim groups seemed to have been excluded from these face-to-face “consultations”. In fact, we were only invited on the recommendation of a colleague. When we asked the organisers about this we were told that face-to-face consultations were “not a primary method of consultation” and that the citizenship paper had been emailed to various organisations. That has been the extent of the rather limited “consultation” process regarding citizenship.
We cannot afford polite pussyfooting, with our country’s character, international reputation, security and, frankly, lives, on the line.
As lawyers, mothers and Australian Muslims we are committed to the rule of law, civil liberties and social cohesion. We do not believe the proposed amendments to the Citizenship Act are necessary, proportionate or productive. Existing legislation gives the government many ways to tackle terrorism.
We are concerned the changes will result in “ex citizens” becoming stateless, permit the indefinite detention within Australia of affected persons, breach international legal obligations, contribute to global insecurity and allow a minister to effectively play judge and jury. If our political leaders continue to politicise national security, Australia risks reinforcing terrorist propaganda – the same propaganda that Muslims are being asked, unfairly, to develop strategies to counter.
Categories: Answers to Anti-Islam, Anti-Islam Attitude, Australia, Europe and Australia