Just the kind of protest to confim the fears

Worried about Islam in Australia? The burka? The 1.5% of our population that are Muslim? Well let me stir up those concerns.

Here is a picture of a Muslim man and 10 others outside a court - Is this really the sort of behaviour we should accept?

Guests demand we rearrange the furniture

Has any previous group of immigrants demanded so much, with the threat that otherwise it will not fit in?

The Government will invest $16 million of additional recurrent funding for Australia’sOrthodox Jewish dayschools.....(recognising) the unique circumstances and special needs of Orthodox Jewish Day schools. 

For a number of Orthodox Jewish schools, the current schools funding formula, the Socio-Economic Status (SES) model, does not produce a fair result due to the fact that: 

-Historical factors determine the location of synagogues. There is often no relationship between the socio-economic status of the area in which an Orthodox Jewish school is located and the financial capacity of parents whose children attend these schools; 

-Orthodox Jewish dayschools take all students, irrespective of ability to pay; and 

-Students attending these schools are often from large families, which makes paying even modest school fees a financial burden.

And,

Catholic schools on average receive $7,685 per student in government funding (both state and federal) per year 

At such a price, is immigation worth the hassle?

(thanks to reader AS)

One law means no rabbinic law as well

What fits with Australian values is the idea that we are one people bound by one law, not rival peoples with each our own:

Since its inception in 1905, the Sydney Beth Din has been recognised as one of the pre-eminent rabbinic courts in the world. It serves Jewish communities in Australia, New Zealand and Asia as a forum for obtaining Jewish divorces, converting to Judaism, confirming personal status and adjudicating disputes stemming from divorce, business and community issues.

Firmly anchored in the principles of Halacha (Jewish law), the Beth Din conducts its affairs with confidentiality, competence, fairness, and integrity. It provides a modern forum that interfaces effectively with contemporary society in a professional, efficient, and user-friendly manner. The Sydney Beth Din collaborates with Gedolai Yisrael and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate on significant halachic issues.

Whoever wants to make their own private or religious arrangements about living together can do so, provided they do not conflict with Australian law. But for the law to specifically endorse verdicts of religious groups is to give them a power and legal standing that seems at odds with not just our notion of one law for all, but with our Constitution’s insistence on a separation of church and state:


116. The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

Note, by the way, how multiculturalism encourages those who want to retribalise Australia, rather than stress what unites us.