Lesson of loathing

In recent weeks, the Foreign Minister has spoken out against funding of an Adelaide mosque by Saudi interests. Alexander Downer specifically expressed concern about Saudi-style Wahhabi Islam.

These concerns were also reflected in a British Channel Four program titled Undercover Mosque. That program exposed the steady flow of guidance and funds from the Saudi religious establishment to mosques and preachers in the United Kingdom. British Muslim scholar Tim Winter told the program that "what the Saudis are doing in the ghettos of British Islam could one day prove fatal to the community".

I share both the minister's and Winter's concerns. In 2005, I spoke on ABC's Lateline show about one particular Saudi financier of religious institutions and activities in Australia.

Yet this didn't stop the Prime Minister from inviting such individuals to his Muslim leaders' summit in Canberra. And if a report on September 10, 2005, in The Sydney Morning Herald is to be believed, even our Attorney-General Philip Ruddock is happy to lunch at a Saudi financier's home.

The Channel Four program also showed Sydney Sheikh Feiz Muhammad preaching hatred towards Jews and called for children to be taught jihad. Yet Muhammad is just one of numerous young Australians offered financial and moral support to study in Saudi religious institutions.

When it comes to combating religious extremism, the Government is sending out mixed signals. When not dealing with Christian ministers preaching hatred, Coalition MPs defend them and even provide letters of support in vilification cases brought against these groups.

The Government's position will have credibility only if it is applied across the board.