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02-23-2006, 09:23 PM
http://au.news.yahoo.com/060223/2/y0ss.html
Treasurer Peter Costello says people who come to live in Australia should show loyalty to its values.
Mr Costello reiterated comments he made on Thursday night - which have been criticised by Muslim community leaders - that people wishing to live under other value systems should go elsewhere.
In a speech to the Sydney Institute, the treasurer said people who wanted to live under Islamic sharia law should move to a country where they would feel "more at ease".
He said anyone not prepared to accept Australian values, and who had citizenship of another country, should not remain an Australian citizen.
Mr Costello said more demands should be made of people wanting to become Australian citizens.
He said Australia was a wonderful country, able to absorb people from all over the world - as long as there was agreement on certain rules.
New citizens must agree to abide by Australian laws, and not seek to live under non-Australian value systems such as sharia law, and have a love for and loyalty to the country, he said.
"We have got to a stage where we have allowed Australian citizenship to become undemanding," he told the Nine Network.
"New arrivals are told you don't have to give up anything, you don't have to give up love of other countries, we don't ask anything of you. We will confer Australian citizenship on you. And I say 'No, that is not right actually'.
"Australian citizenship is a great privilege and to take it out we do demand things, we demand a love of this country and a loyalty to it.
"We demand a respect for its values and I think by emphasising the obligations of citizenship, making it a more demanding thing, then we will develop more respect for it."
He said if someone could not honestly make the citizenship pledge, they could not honestly take out citizenship.
"If they have taken it out already, they should not be able to keep it where they have citizenship in some other country," he said.
Keysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, accused the treasurer of promoting division and Islamophobia in his speech to the Sydney Institute.
He said he genuinely hoped Prime Minister John Howard would censure Mr Costello.
"We have not asked for sharia law to be imposed," he told ABC radio.
"I don't know anyone in this country who is asking for sharia law to be imposed and I don't know anyone in this country who has rejected the rule of law.
"I am genuinely hopeful that the prime minister will censure the treasurer over these ridiculous comments, that the treasurer is grossly out of line.
"Rather than try to promote understanding and harmony in this society, his comments are highly divisive and he is stirring up Islamophobia, and these comments should really be beneath any decent politician."
But, Mr Costello stood his ground.
He said his point was that those entering a mosque would be required to take off their shoes as mark of respect.
"If you don't want to take your shoes off, don't go into a mosque. If you want to come into Australia, you will be asked to have respect for its values," he said.
"If you don't have respect for those values, don't ask to come into Australia.
"This is what we ask of people. We have to preserve a way of life which makes us the greatest country in the world."
Treasurer Peter Costello says people who come to live in Australia should show loyalty to its values.
Mr Costello reiterated comments he made on Thursday night - which have been criticised by Muslim community leaders - that people wishing to live under other value systems should go elsewhere.
In a speech to the Sydney Institute, the treasurer said people who wanted to live under Islamic sharia law should move to a country where they would feel "more at ease".
He said anyone not prepared to accept Australian values, and who had citizenship of another country, should not remain an Australian citizen.
Mr Costello said more demands should be made of people wanting to become Australian citizens.
He said Australia was a wonderful country, able to absorb people from all over the world - as long as there was agreement on certain rules.
New citizens must agree to abide by Australian laws, and not seek to live under non-Australian value systems such as sharia law, and have a love for and loyalty to the country, he said.
"We have got to a stage where we have allowed Australian citizenship to become undemanding," he told the Nine Network.
"New arrivals are told you don't have to give up anything, you don't have to give up love of other countries, we don't ask anything of you. We will confer Australian citizenship on you. And I say 'No, that is not right actually'.
"Australian citizenship is a great privilege and to take it out we do demand things, we demand a love of this country and a loyalty to it.
"We demand a respect for its values and I think by emphasising the obligations of citizenship, making it a more demanding thing, then we will develop more respect for it."
He said if someone could not honestly make the citizenship pledge, they could not honestly take out citizenship.
"If they have taken it out already, they should not be able to keep it where they have citizenship in some other country," he said.
Keysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, accused the treasurer of promoting division and Islamophobia in his speech to the Sydney Institute.
He said he genuinely hoped Prime Minister John Howard would censure Mr Costello.
"We have not asked for sharia law to be imposed," he told ABC radio.
"I don't know anyone in this country who is asking for sharia law to be imposed and I don't know anyone in this country who has rejected the rule of law.
"I am genuinely hopeful that the prime minister will censure the treasurer over these ridiculous comments, that the treasurer is grossly out of line.
"Rather than try to promote understanding and harmony in this society, his comments are highly divisive and he is stirring up Islamophobia, and these comments should really be beneath any decent politician."
But, Mr Costello stood his ground.
He said his point was that those entering a mosque would be required to take off their shoes as mark of respect.
"If you don't want to take your shoes off, don't go into a mosque. If you want to come into Australia, you will be asked to have respect for its values," he said.
"If you don't have respect for those values, don't ask to come into Australia.
"This is what we ask of people. We have to preserve a way of life which makes us the greatest country in the world."