Ideas@TheCentre
Absurd reaction to first Muslim frontbencher
Federal Labor MP Ed Husic is to be commended for his cool reaction to the swirl of anti-Islamic posts on Twitter and Facebook this week.
When he was sworn in on Monday as a Parliamentary Secretary, the member for Chifley became Australia’s first Muslim frontbencher.
Mr Husic, the son of Bosnian migrants, took the oath of office on a copy of the Qu’ran. ‘I couldn’t obviously take my oath on a bible,’ he said. ‘I am who I am.’
But that decision provoked unpleasant and anonymous attacks on social media which accused Mr Husic of treacherous and unconstitutional behaviour.
As well as being offensive, these rants were both absurd and inconsistent.
Far from being an unconstitutional act, Mr Husic’s decision to take the oath of office on the Qu’ran falls entirely within the provision of section 116 of the Australian Constitution.
Not only does the Constitution protect the free exercise of religion, section 116 prohibits religion being made a qualification for public office under the Commonwealth.
In other words, the Constitution protects the rights of Muslims to hold public office. When a Muslim is appointed to such an office, it is entirely appropriate that he or she take the oath on the Qu’ran if they wish to do so.
The Qu’ran has long been made available to Australian Muslims taking the oath in Australian courts of law.
A person taking an oath on a sacred book is not promising explicitly to uphold the contents of that book. The book simply serves as a symbol of invocation as the oath taker calls upon God to be the guarantor of his or her integrity.
So although swearing an oath is no more legally valid than making an act of affirmation, it does imply a heightened sense of responsibility in the performance of one’s duties.
The 2011 census data recorded that there were 476,300 Muslims in Australia comprising 2.2% of the population. This compares with the 61.1% of the population who were Christians (13,150,000).
Given the small size of Australia’s Muslim population, Mr Husic’s elevation to the front bench is a remarkable achievement and he thoroughly deserves to be congratulated.
When Mr Husic stood before the Governor-General and placed his hand on his father’s copy of the Qu’ran, he was simply making a public and solemn commitment to his new responsibilities.
And in doing this as an Australian Muslim, Husic also affirmed publicly the very values of religious freedom and tolerance that have made this country great and that need to be defended.
Peter Kurti is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.
