- The Guardian
- Issue #2184
Anthony Albanese was heckled during a recent event at a Sydney Mosque to mark the end of Ramadan. Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke were attending an event at Lakemba Mosque as part of Friday morning Eid prayers.
Some of those attending the event jeered the politicians and accused them of being “genocide supporters.” Albanese continued to be heckled as he made his way out of the mosque, with one person shouting, “Get him out of here! It’s a disgrace.” He was able to escape via a back door, chased by the crowd. Said one, “He wants to come here after shaking hands with the president of Israel, who’s got blood on his hands. And that means our prime minister has blood on his hands. To come here and act like nothing has happened is a disgrace.”
There is deeply-felt anger within Australia’s Muslim community over the government’s response to Israel’s war on the Palestinians in Gaza, its attacks in Lebanon and rising Islamophobia at home.
In a statement after the event, the Lebanese Muslim Association, which operates the mosque, said, “We understand that emotions are high, particularly given the ongoing suffering in Gaza and the devastation in Lebanon. These are not distant issues for our community.”
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: Fossil fuels polluter Santos. Gomeroi Traditional Owners, NSW Farmers, the Country Women’s Association of NSW, Unions NSW and the Lock the Gate Alliance have signed a joint declaration calling on the NSW government to withdraw support for Santos’ Narrabri gas project, as tensions escalate over threats of compulsory land acquisition.
The landmark declaration warns the project would harm the Pilliga forest, water resources and prime agricultural land, stating any attempt to acquire land for the project’s high-pressure gas pipeline would be “vigorously opposed with all available means.”
The NSW government approved the gasfield in 2020 despite record public opposition. The proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline is facing concerted opposition from rural landholders and the associated Narrabri Lateral gas pipeline is still awaiting state and federal approval.
In a show of unity, the groups met in north-west NSW to sign the declaration, sending a clear message to Premier Chris Minns over his threats to compulsorily acquire land for the pipeline.
Gomeroi Traditional Owner Karra Kinchela said,“Gomeroi Mob don’t want to see hundreds of coal seam gas wells drilled into the sacred Pilliga Forest. We will continue defending our land, water and cultural heritage from industrial gas development and are proud to be joined with unionists, farmers, and country women in defending the land we all love.”
Unions NSW Assistant Secretary Vanessa Seagrove said, “We stand in solidarity with the Gomeroi people, who have overwhelmingly voted against the Santos Narrabri gas project because of the harm it will have on the Pilliga forest, people, water and culture.”
NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said, “NSW Farmers is greatly concerned about any projects or activities that may detrimentally effect our aquifers or the Great Artesian Basin.”
Country Women’s Association of NSW CEO Danica Leys said, “You cannot talk about supporting regional NSW while running over the top of the very communities you claim to represent. This community has been clear with this declaration. It does not want to be an industrialised gas field and it does not want its water resources harmed. That should be the starting point for any decision.”
Liverpool Plains farmer Margaret Fleck said, “The Liverpool Plains farming region is one of most productive farming regions in the country. Farmers don’t want gas fields and pipelines cutting through waterways, and risking the land and food that feeds the nation.
“The breadth of this coalition sends a clear message to the NSW government that it should stand with us, not with Santos.”
Santos’ Narrabri gas project is facing a Native Title Tribunal challenge by the Gomeroi people.
