Over the past year, a protest movement against the construction of a mosque in Bendigo has been met with outrage and counter-protests from local anti-racist activists. The “Stop the Mosque” campaign initially seemed to have little support in the community, and failed to prevent the Bendigo Council’s approval of the planning permit for the mosque. However, a clause in the permit banning political discussion at the mosque has revived the issue.
Red Flag spoke to Simon Ashby, a former resident of Bendigo who was involved with the grassroots movement against the bigots.
“The campaign against the mosque has mainly been run by a group called the ‘Australian Defence League’, a right wing group who mainly aren’t from Bendigo”, he says. The ADL organises around anti-Islam prejudice and is notorious for inciting violence against Muslims.
“They would fly people in for town meetings and other events to protest. Some of the low points of the anti-mosque campaign include when a man from Queensland flew down to Bendigo and then rented a truck, wrote ‘stop the mosque’ on the side of it and drove around town blaring an anti-mosque message. Eventually he was pulled over by the police – but only for noise pollution.”
Another low point occurred when the bigots placed black balloons in front of the house of Sri Lankan councillor Mark Weragoda: “This really showed the racism that drove the campaign in the first place.”
Ashby and other young people from Bendigo organised a number of counter-actions in response to the ADL. A Facebook page was created called “I fully support the establishment of a mosque in Bendigo”.
“In response to the black balloon incident, a large group of people went into the centre of town with coloured balloons in a show of solidarity”, he says.
The planning permit for the mosque was approved. However, it was revealed in August that the council had inserted a clause barring political discussion at the mosque. This attack on freedom of speech is likely unconstitutional and will be challenged by the Australian Islamic Mission. In a statement to the Bendigo Advertiser, councillor Elise Chapman said that Islam “isn’t aligned with Australia politically”. Other members of the council claimed the clause was created to appease members of the community.
Ashby disagrees, citing clear popular opposition to the clause. In an online poll run by the Bendigo Advertiser, more than 82 percent of respondents opposed the council’s attempt to restrict speech at the mosque. The council’s decision is a part of a general push by the mainstream political establishment to demonise Muslims.
“It seems like racism is just whipped up every so often to divide the community, keep people separated and against each other.”
