http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/15/woz15.xml
Australia 'will be Muslim in 50 years'
By Mark Chipperfield in Sydney
(Filed: 15/02/2006)
Australia is at risk of aborting itself out of existence and could
become a Muslim country "within 50 years" if a controversial,
abortion-inducing pill is made available, an Australian MP claimed
yesterday.
Danna Vale, a former minister and an MP with the governing Liberal
Party, said the drug, known as RU486, could drastically reduce the
country's native-born, largely European population.
"I have read comments by a certain imam from the Lakemba mosque [in
Sydney] who actually said that Australia is going to be a Muslim
nation in 50 years' time," she said.
"I didn't believe him at the time, but when you actually look at
the birth rate
we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence
by 100,000 abortions a year. You multiply that by 50 years and
that's five million potential Australians we won't have
here."
The Australian parliament in Canberra is debating whether to allow
the introduction of RU486, also known as mifepristone - a move that
is opposed by Church groups and the staunchly Catholic health
minister, Tony Abbott.
The inflammatory remarks upset Australia's Muslim community, which
is still reeling from December's race riots, when white and
Lebanese gangs fought pitched battles in the Sydney beachside
suburb of Cronulla.
Keysar Trad, head of the Islamic Friendship Association of
Australia, said Mrs Vale was trying to exploit people's ignorance
of Islam. "It's just a cheap shot and it's very unfortunate," he
said.
Mrs Vale's comments were also condemned by her own party, which is
already divided over the abortion question.
The immigration minister, Amanda Vanstone, said the suggestion that
people from Muslim countries might eventually outnumber native-born
Australians was "completely ill-founded".
The opposition Labour Party described Mrs Vale's comments as
"weird" and called on her to retract them.
17 December 2005: Race riot fears turn Bondi into no-go zone
14 December 2005: Australian police given emergency powers to quell
riots
13 December 2005: Mobs riot again as Sydney race tensions
explode
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.
