Professor Cosan encouraged his students to leave the traditional ghettos of Auburn and Coburg and to settle in different cities and in country NSW. His example was followed decades before his call, and country towns such as Shepparton have long-established Muslim communities making major contributions to their local area.
I personally decided to throw my hat in the political ring, running as a conservative candidate in a safe Labor seat in 2001. I wanted to show people in the Reid electorate that a conservative Australian (even a Muslim Australian) could ably represent their interests. The 5.1 per cent swing I achieved for Mr Howard on a two-party preferred basis is proof that my vision was not a delusion.
I had Australians of all backgrounds handing out election material on polling booths for the Liberal Party. There were Australians of Turkish, Lebanese, Greek, Afghan, Bosnian, Serbian, Iraqi, Indian, Italian, Irish, Japanese and Anglo-Australian backgrounds.
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Afghans and Iraqis opposed to mandatory detention still handed out material for me. Meanwhile, a close family friend and Aussie Muslim bureaucrat, Abdul Rizvi, continued to implement the policy of mandatory detention.
Australian Muslims are an integral part of mainstream Australia. If Mr Stone insists on marginalising them, perhaps he needs to assimilate more. Or maybe he just needs to get out more often.
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About the Author
Irfan Yusuf is a New South Wales-based lawyer with a practice focusing on workplace relations and commercial dispute resolution. Irfan is also a regular media commentator on a variety of social, political, human rights, media and cultural issues. Irfan Yusuf's book, Once Were Radicals: My Years As A Teenage Islamo-Fascist, was published in May 2009 by Allen & Unwin.