Australia: “Charter of Rights Needed” to Protect Muslim Brotherhood, sez Ameer Ali

 Oz faithful ‘need a bill of rights’

(to protect Islam from scrutiny and to shut down all criticism of Islam)

This morning the Gillard government released the final report of its second big inquiry into media regulation – so-called ‘Convergence Review’.

• Australia’s media has come under the most sustained government attack in living memory.

Faithful ‘need a bill of rights’

Sheradyn Holderhead and Tom Bowden/thanks to Mullah
April 29, 2012

AUSTRALIA should have a bill of rights to protect human rights such as freedom of religion, an Adelaide law professor says.

Adelaide Law School Associate Professor Dr Paul Babie said under the Australian Constitution there was little protection for the right to freedom of religion.

More on Dr Paul Babie:

Books

Climate Change, Private Property, and the Children of Abraham (Vancouver: UBC Press, fothcoming 2012)

Public Lectures, Conference and Seminar Presentations refereed or invited

‘Law and Religion in Australia’, Dinner Address, University of Melbourne, Centre for Islamic Law and Society, Australia, 17 November 2008 (invited)

Grants

University of Adelaide, Law School, Small Research Grant 2007, $2000 for ‘Choices of Faith: how private property and the Abrahamic religions can work together for the good of the environment’

University of Adelaide, Law School, Small Research Grant 2006, $2000 for ‘Choices of Faith: how private property and the Abrahamic religions can work together for the good of the environment’

We need a Bill of Rights (2009)

Muslim Leader Decries Erosion of Religious Liberties in Australia, calls for Charter of Rights

Dr Ameer Ali says government must pass a Charter of Rights to protect religious freedom

Dr Ameer Ali, former head of the Howard Government’s Muslim advisory group and a leading Islamic scholar, has called upon the Federal Government to pass a strong Charter (or Bill) of Rights to thwart real threats to religious freedom in Australia.

[...]

Conference Co-Chair, Dr Paul Babie, said he welcomed Dr Ali’s comments. Dr Babie, who is head of the Research Unit for the Study of Society, Law and Religion at The University of Adelaide, said, “We expect a vigorous debate amongst the participants. Just as Dr Ali’s views in favour of a Charter of Rights are strongly held, so too are the views of those who oppose one.”

Dr Babie spoke of the numerous respected co-sponsors of the conference, including the Australian Human Rights Commission, who wanted to ensure that Australian opinion-makers and the public were well informed about a Charter of Rights. He said there was a dearth of knowledge about what such a charter meant for Australia and relatively few people understood its effect.