Family First NSW Upper House candidate Lyle Shelton today announced that, if elected, he will move for a Parliamentary inquiry into the support of terrorist organisations by Australian Muslim groups and clerics.
The inquiry will examine how open advocacy for groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Hizb ut-Tahrir has been allowed to flourish in Australia despite laws prohibiting the advocacy of terrorism.
“Recent revelations show a disturbing pattern of prominent Muslim leaders and organisations in Australia supporting or expressing sympathy for proscribed terrorist groups,” Mr Shelton said.
“This is a matter of national security.”
Mr Shelton said his pledge for an inquiry was prompted by multiple revelations reported by The Daily Telegraph:
Dr Ali Al Samail, a cleric appointed by the Minns Government to advise on Jewish community safety, was revealed to have urged his congregation to pressure Labor to de-list Hamas and Hezbollah — which would allow their supporters to recruit, train, and fundraise in Australia.
The Arrahman Benevolent Society in Kingsgrove, whose co-director Youssef Nabha has publicly vowed the downfall of Israel, received $33,000 in taxpayer-funded grants from the Minns Government — including for “social cohesion” and “security upgrades” — despite long-standing ties to Hezbollah.
The Telegraph reported: “Three months after Premier Minns’ grant, Masjid Arrahman eulogised ‘righteous martyr’ and ‘master of resistance’ Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah in a three-day vigil.”
Speakers at last week’s Hizb ut-Tahrir-linked Bankstown rally openly celebrated the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, chanted “From the river to the sea”, and praised “Muslim armies” for “resisting Zionists.”
One of the speakers, notorious cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun, declared himself on October 8, 2023, “elated” after the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of Israeli civilians.
“Many of these leaders are not fringe individuals — these are people invited to advise governments, given public money, and platformed in our suburbs,” Mr Shelton said.
“The public deserves to know how this happened, and why no one in authority has acted.”
Mr Shelton said the proposed inquiry will:
- Investigate how organisations and clerics with sympathies for terrorist groups have escaped prosecution under the Criminal Code’s provisions against advocating terrorism;
- Examine due diligence failures in state and federal grant programs that have funnelled taxpayer money to extremist-linked organisations;
- Assess the impact on national security of allowing anti-Israel, pro-terror rhetoric to go unchecked.
“Calling for the destruction of the State of Israel and glorifying terrorist violence is incompatible with Australian values,” Mr Shelton said.
“A public inquiry is needed to ensure that those who benefit from Australia’s freedoms are not working to undermine them.”
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