ABC TV Capital Hill with Lyndal Curtis

Lyndal Curtis:

The Government has put some money and says it’s putting a lot of work into preventing young Australians being radicalised. The Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for multicultural affairs is Concetta Fierravanti Wells. I spoke to her a short time ago. Senator Fierravanti Wells, welcome to Capital Hill. President Obama told the UN Security Council essentially that the world has to deal with the root causes of extremism, not just deal with what grows from it. In Australia what is the government doing to tackle the root causes?

Senator Fierravanti-Wells:

We have got the package of announcements that have been made and the national security component is obviously a very, very important component but there is another very important component and that is the community engagement and some monies, about $13.4 million will be used specifically to deal with countering violent extremism and assisting those young people that are being radicalised or are at risk of radicalisation.

Lyndal Curtis:

You were part of the consultations with the Muslim community over the counter terrorism laws that are now before Parliament. Did you at all pick up from the people you spoke to, a fear that they were being unnecessarily targeted?

Senator Fierravanti-Wells:

These laws are not about a religion. They are about terrorism. They are about dealing with this death cult. It happens that at this particular time the young people that are being targeted and that are the subject of the radicalisation come from the Muslim community so in that respect it was important that we did speak with the Muslim communities and I say communities because there were different nationalities. The Muslim community is very diverse and quite complex and so that was really worthwhile and the communities were very grateful for the consultations we undertook not just about the legislation but also about how we can deal with some of the issues that we are currently facing.

Lyndal Curtis:

How careful or how strong does the Government need to be in it’s language to prevent a backlash against the Muslim community, prevent members of that community being the focus of people’s fears about terrorism?

Senator Fierravanti-Wells:

Lyndal, can I take the opportunity to commend the Muslim communities for the work that has been done to date. A lot of their work, particularly in terms of counselling, in supporting and precluding young people from travelling has been done out of the public eye. Therefore the Imams, the families, the community leaders should be commended because they themselves have denounced the barbaric acts of ISIL. They are united with the Australian public. They live in Australia and they themselves have condemned the abhorrence of what is happening overseas. They do understand that we need to work together to deal with the issues, particularly in relation to young men, and some young women.

Lyndal Curtis:

It’s not just the Muslim community though, isn’t it? It’s the attitude of others towards them, some of the language we are seeing, including in the media, calls from high profile like Jacqui Lambie for people who sign up to sharia law to get out Australia, calls from her and others including one of your Senators, Cory Bernardi to ban the burka, although he has extended his call to say any sort of facial coverings. Are those sorts of things acceptable to you in this climate?

Senator Fierravanti-Wells:

At the moment it’s very important that we take a very calm and reasoned approach. The community itself has called for a calm and reason approach and I would reiterate that as well. It is a difficult and complex issue. But if I can put it in a historical context. We have had different waves of migrants come to this country, my parents are migrants to this country, and with each successive wave we have had community attitudes that have been antagonistic. And then with the passage of time and with the integration of those communities into Australia, that antagonism has lessened.

I myself come from the Australian Italian community and whilst today we are lauded as being integral to our Australian multiculturalism, that was not always the case. We too went through the 1980s and all the issues during the years of the Donald McKay incident. So those things have been a feature of migration.

But let’s not forget that since 1945 we have had 7.5 million people come to Australia, including 800,000 under our humanitarian programs. We are one of the most socially cohesive nations on earth.

Lyndal Curtis:

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells thank you for your time.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells:

Thank-you Lyndal.