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Senator Fatima Payman has criticised the media and politicians over their responses to Islamophobia, while Australia’s race discrimination commissioner has warned the nation has “a problem with racism”, following reports two Muslim women were assaulted in broad daylight.
Two women wearing headscarves were allegedly attacked in Melbourne’s north last week in what police are treating as “prejudice-motivated attacks”.
An unidentified woman allegedly assaulted a 30-year-old Lalor woman inside a shopping complex at about 1.10 pm on Thursday, before then pushing a 26-year-old Wollert woman to the floor roughly 10 minutes later, police said.
The victims, one of who is pregnant, were taken to hospital with bruises, scratches and potentially long-term physical injuries, the Australian National Imams Council said.
Race discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said the incidents showed that Islamophobia was a significant concern in Australia and that it often manifested in violence towards visibly Muslim women.
“It was shocking to hear about these attacks — they were violent, unprovoked, distressing,” he told SBS News,
“Social cohesion is a word that gets thrown around — in reality we’re not going to get along unless we acknowledge that racism exists, unless we take real steps to deal with it.”
In a video on social media, Payman also questioned why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had not done more to publicly condemn the alleged incidents while accusing the “right-wing media” of “double standards” for not covering them.
“Crickets from the PM and lowkey reporting from journos when it comes to Islamophobic attacks. Just in case they didn’t know, having your hijab ripped off and used to choke you is quite serious,” the independent senator said in an Instagram post.
“Where is the outrage?,” she added.
Australia’s race discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman says social cohesion comes with acknowledging that racism exists. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS/AAPIMAGE
Muslim leaders call out ‘double standards’
Echoing Payman’s comments, the Islamic Council of Victoria’s Adel Salman said Australian leaders should be treating anti-Muslim hatred as seriously as they have antisemitism and other hate-based crimes.
“They know it’s real, they know it hurts Muslims, they know it kills Muslims,” he told SBS News, pointing to the Christchurch terrorist attack and other Islamophobic incidents overseas.
“Why is the government so reluctant to take such a strong stance as they have with antisemitism.”
The physical security of Australian Muslims was being threatened almost daily and the response from authorities and political leaders was “grossly insufficient”, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Rateb Jneid said.
“When compared to the swift and significant attention given to less-severe incidents affecting other communities, the disparity in response is not only apparent but also unacceptable,” he said.
Prime minister’s office refers to MP’s statement
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the “horrific” alleged attacks later on Tuesday after prodding from the media.
“This sort of evil hatred, in this instance Islamophobia, has absolutely no place in our community,” she told reporters in Melbourne.
Federal assistant minister for multicultural affairs Julian Hill, who represents the seat of Bruce in Melbourne’s outer south-east, made a statement for the Albanese government.
“Muslim Australians have every right to feel safe and included while going about their business in the community,” he said in a statement.
The prime minister’s office pointed to Hill’s statement when asked if he wished to comment on the matter following his prompt responses to a spate of antisemitic incidents.
With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press
