Geert Wilders: a radical view of Islam

However he can hardly be seen as an advertisement for the Netherlands or as representative of the current Dutch Government. The conservative Coalition lost power in September 2012 and Wilders PVV party is no longer even an informal (gedoog) partner. Besides Minister Hein Donner's party (Christian Alliance) lost heavily.

Wilders had to wait for two months before his application for entry into Australia was approved by the then Immigration Minister Chris Bowen. After it was approved the Q Society not so surprisingly found it particularly difficult to find venues in several cities. Managers of a large number of possible venues, including churches, refused. Advertisers were not willing to assist the organisers either. The expectation was that Wilders could ignite major local protests against the organisers and people who wanted to hear what he had to say.

Given the simmering disenchantment in Australia with Islam fundamentalism, occasionally proclaimed by the odd cleric but generally kept well in check by the overwhelming majority of Islam followers, the values of Free Speech were tested seriously.

Wilders himself was at pains to state, wherever he went, that he "did not hate Muslims, but he did reject the Muslim ideology" which he compares with the Nazi-ideology. For him extreme Islam is not just a religion but also a political dogma. He favours an end to the settlement of refugees in the Netherlands. Many of these refugees actually have fled from aspects of the Islam religion. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is actually a prime example of this. Amazingly, this young woman became an MP in the Netherlands. "Sending them back" is no option however. The integration of Muslims in Dutch society is in fact happening.

Many of them do speak Dutch very well. Wilders' crusade, against Islam, which has taken him to the UK, the US and European countries in recent years, turned out to be a storm in a tea cup in Australia.

Comparisons with Australia in this regard are almost nonsensical as multiculturalism here was officially adopted by both major parties in the early 1970s as a superior way to integrate immigrants from non-English-speaking migrant countries. That has been a highly successful policy ever since.

The visit may have been beneficial for Wilders.