Thank you for your interest in this petition. As the headline suggest, Pauline Hanson and the One Nation party are back. With seats in the senate and some very controversial and racially fueled policies, awareness and public voice is more necessary than ever!

If you haven't been keeping up to date with the recent 'war on Islam', its about time you take a look. Donald Trump, President of the United States Of America proposed a seven country Muslim travel ban, and whilst this was considered harsh, racist and innapropriate, Pauline Hanson has called this ban 'soft' and has called for Australians to rally together to implement an even stricter Muslim ban to prevent 'Islamic terror attacks'.

The religion of Islam has been given exponential amounts of negative attention. In an attempt to unpack the numerous people who hold these negative values and moral beliefs, let’s describe the religion they are imposing to outlaw.

Islam is the belief that there is one God (Allah) and that the last prophet Muhammad is his messenger. The belief system incorporated in Islam draws more similarities than differences to the dominating religion that is Christianity. Both belief systems believe in the same one true god, both believe in a day of reckoning, the presence of heaven and hell, and both belief systems share figures such as Jesus Christ, Gabriel Archangel, Moses and Abraham to name a few.

So what are the differences one may ask? Differences in the two dominating religions being that Christianity believe that the salvation of its followers are in the hands of Jesus Christ and when he decides to return whilst Islam believe that the salvation of its followers are through good deeds and achieving personal righteousness. Islam and Christianity also differ in terms of their concept of ‘sin’. Christianity states that humans are born indebted in sin whilst Islam believe that humans are born without sin, but rather they sin due to human weakness.

The religious text of Islam is known as the ‘Quran’, which is believed to be written by Allah through the words of Muhammad.

The acts of worship are comprised of 5 pillars. First being is ‘Affirmation’ which is the official devotion that there is no God except God and the prophet Mohammad. Second is the pillar of 'Prayer'. This pillar is to assure that each devoted member must pray 5 times a day. The third pillar is 'Fasting'. This period is conducted during Ramadan and consists of Muslims sacrificing food and water from sunrise to sunset spanning a month in an attempt to show Allah what they are willing to put themselves for their religion. The fourth pillar is the pillar of 'Charity'. This pillar ensures that no Muslim is considered greedy and that giving is to be encouraged. Finally is the pillar of 'Pilgrimage'. This means to travel to Mecca,Saudi Arabia, the hub of Islam where Mohammad was born and the holy city of Islam.

Under Islam it is forbidden to consume products from a pig as they are considered filthy animals. Any meat consumed by a Muslim must be killed in the most humane way possible and in the name of Allah. This is known as Halal. Muslims are also forbidden from consuming intoxicants such as drugs and alcohol.

Pauline Hanson’s Muslim ban is questionable to say the very least. From a quick glance of her policy on the one nation website an extreme lack of evidence is clear. There are no validated or cited statistics, merely accusations. The current Muslim population makes up 2.4 % of Australia. In the last hundred year’s there have been around twenty ‘terror’ related incidents in Australia, some of which cannot be proven to be of Islamic decent. It is hard to find statistics on the individual crime rates and terror statistics committed by followers of the Islamic faith, but to put Pauline’s worries and accusations to bed, there are some important facts to take into account. Firstly, Australia is ranked outside of the top 50 countries effected by extreme Islamic terrorism, even though, Australia is the 3rd highest contributor in both personnel and military equipment behind the U.S and France. Not only has Australia’s efforts in conjunction with the war on terror not evoked the same retaliation as France and the U.S have experienced. Terror related deaths does not list on the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Suicide and even extremely rare and uncommon illnesses such as whooping cough and chicken pocks takes more lives than extreme Islamic terrorism. Not to take away from the unfortunate ‘terror’ related events that have taken place, when looking at the big picture, the numbers just don’t add up, and neither does the proposed Muslim ban. It is unjustified and there is not enough evidence to implement something so racially and religiously intolerant in such a multicultural country like Australia. From the crime statistics provided by the ABS, Sudan was the only Islamic country ranked in the crime by ethnicity committed in Australia, with England and New Zealand ranked higher for assault's than any Middle Eastern country.

The Proposed Migration Ban:

“We are in danger of being swamped by Muslims, that bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own.”-Pauline Hanson

Senator Pauline Hanson, from the One Nation Party, has concerns of Muslim immigrants not ‘assimilating’. She does not believe they will obey our countries laws, or be ‘loyal’ citizens due to a perceived conflict of ideology and culture. Senator Hanson calls for a Burka ban, and a blanket ban for all migration of anyone identifying as a Muslim, across the board. Refugee and Humanitarian migrants are a huge part of this proposed ban, as most migrants in this category hail from countries with a Muslim majority.

Migration Statistics:

2014-2015 Total Refugee and Humanitarian migration/entrees: 13,756

Government planning figure: 13,750

2015-2016 Total Refugee and Humanitarian migration/entrees: 17,555

Government planning figure: 13,750

Figures courtesy of the Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia, Department of Parliamentary Services. Updated 17th January 2017.

Though on an increase, it is hardly an unmanageable one.

Our current population growth is at a 10-year low, due to lack of skilled migration from the decline of the mining boom and a decrease in births. All the more reason to not restrict migration further.

Country of Origin Statistics:

Per the Australian Bureau of Statistics only 1 country out of the top 10 (the 8th, i.e. second lowest out of the 10) is a predominantly Muslim country, proving we’re hardly in danger of being ‘swamped’, as Senator Hanson states. Let alone her other misconceptions regarding to culture and ideology.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3412.0/

References:

ABC 2015, ‘Fact File: Five facts about terrorism in Australia’, ABC 25 February, viewed 22 March 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-25/fact-file3b-five-facts-about-terrorism-in-australia/6226086

ABC 2016, ‘Fact Check: Is Australia’s military contribution to the fight against the Islamic State the second largest?’, ABC 3 March, viewed 22 March 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-22/fact-check-australias-contribution-against-islamic-state/6977668

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Causes of Death, Australia, 2015, cat. no. 3303.0, accessed 22 March 2017, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/3303.0~2015~Main%20Features~Intentional%20self-harm:%20key%20characteristics~8

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Causes of Death, Australia, 2015, cat. no. 3303.0, accessed 22 March 2017, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/3303.0~2015~Main%20Features~Australia's%20leading%20causes%20of%20death,%202015~3

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, Migration, Australia, 2015-16, cat. no. 3412.0, viewed 28 March 2017, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3412.0/

Australia, Parliament 2010, Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan since 2001: a chronology, (N. Brangwin, Foreign Affairs), Parliamentary Library, accessed 22 March 2017, http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/1011/MilitaryInvolvementAfghanistan

Australia Parliament 2016, Hon Barnaby Joyce MP, (B. Joyce, Deputy Prime Minister), Parliamentary Business, accessed 23 March 2017, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=E5D

Australia Parliament 2016, Senator Sam Dastyari, (S. Dastyari, Senator), Parliamentary Business, accessed 23 March 2017, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=225099

Bickers, C 2017, ‘Treasurer Scott Morrison: Pauline Hanson Muslim Ban comments “irresponsible” after London attack’, News.com, 24 March, viewed 25 March 2017, http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/treasurer-scott-morrison-pauline-hanson-muslim-ban-comments-irresponsible-after-london-attack/news-story/18df8d70d8f60819e2397cdc06d3ce92

Evershed, N 2015, ‘Australia’s population growth rate reaches lowest point in almost 10 years’, The Guardian, 25 September, viewed 2 April 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/sep/25/australias-population-growth-rate-reaches-lowest-point-in-almost-10-years

Janet Phillips, Australia’s Humanitarian Program: a quick guide to the

statistics since 1947, Department of Parliamentary Services, viewed 28 March 2017, http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/parliamentarylibrary_australiashumanitarianprogramaquickguidetothestatisticssince1947_jan_2017.pdf

Kennedy, J 2016, ‘Election 2016: Pauline Hanson’s comments could lead to violence, Tim Soutphommasane warns’, News.com, 5 July, accessed 23 March, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-05/pauline-hansons-comments-could-lead-to-violence:-soutphommosane/7568608

Norman, J 2016, Pauline Hanson calls for Muslim immigration ban in maiden speech to Senate, online video, 14 September, ABC, viewed 28 March 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-14/one-nation-senator-pauline-hanson-makes-first-speech-to-senate/7845150

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation 2015, Islam, Pauline Hanson’s One Nations, viewed 24 March 2017, http://www.onenation.com.au/policies/islam

Q&A, 2016, Pauline Hanson asks Sam Dastyari on Q&A: are you a Muslim?, online video, 19 July, Q&A, viewed 23 March 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2016/jul/19/pauline-hanson-sam-dastyari-qanda-muslim-video