Lakemba Mosque: Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke condemns fourth Islamophobic bomb threat
An Australian Minister has condemned the recent spate of bomb threats against religious institutions in Sydney’s southwest after a mosque received four threats in two weeks. Here’s the latest.
The Express
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Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke has condemned the recent spate of bomb threats against religious institutions in Sydney’s southwest after one mosque received four threats in two weeks.
The Lakemba Mosque has been the target of several online bomb threats referencing the 2019 Christchurch massacre in which Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant opened fired on Muslim worshippers at a New Zealand mosque.
On Tuesday, a social media user commented “Blow it up” in response to a video about the Mosque’s Eid celebrations, published on the ABC News Australia TikTok app.
The comment has since been deleted, and commenting disabled.
Mr Burke said the latest slew of threats were a “horrific” example of hate speech.
“The people responsible need to be in absolutely no doubt – these acts are criminal,” Mr Burke said.
“People who act with criminal intent and use hate speech and Islamophobia are guilty of crimes. This cannot go on.
“The people responsible, we will find you and you will be charged. And the penalties now are much stronger than they used to be.”
It comes as online bomb threats to Islamic institutions spiked over the Islamic month of Ramadan which this year coincided with the month of March.
A man remains before the courts for allegedly making similar bomb threats about a newly opened Islamic primary school in Lakemba.
Meanwhile a Western Australian teen was arrested for allegedly making a “heinous” threat to the newly opened Australian Islamic House Masjid in Prestons.
A spokesperson for the Lebanese Muslim Association said: “Every time we publicly celebrate our faith or promote something positive, we are met with violence – online threats designed to instil fear and divide our community.”
“Authorities say they are investigating – but it keeps happening. Something is broken and it needs fixing.
“Are we seriously waiting for a physical attack before real action is taken?”
During the federal budget, the Albanese Government announced it will spend $178.4m over the next five years to improve social cohesion.
Of that, $60.4m has been committed over the next four years to fund extra security measures for Muslim and Jewish communities including at synagogues, schools and “places of significance”.
However, LMA has called for new legislation to explicitly define and criminalise Islamophobia alongside anti-Semitism and other forms of racial and religious hatred.
“This is not a fringe issue, it is a national one,” the LMA spokesperson said.
“We are not asking for favours – we are demanding the same safety and dignity every Australian deserves.”
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