Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I wish to speak about the achievements of the Islamic community in the Northern Territory, who are working together with their local community and this government to build a new community facility which will promote peace, tolerance and racial harmony. I was very pleased that the Islamic Society of the Northern Territory was recently successful in gaining funding, under the Regional Partnerships program, for an Islamic community centre. Currently, there are 800 to 1,000 Muslim adults living in the Top End, with numbers bolstered in recent years by an influx of Sudanese and Somalian refugees. This trend is likely to further increase the Muslim population in Darwin and has highlighted the need for a multipurpose Islamic community facility.

While Muslim clerics like Sheikh Hilali have been a divisive force in the Australian community, Muslims in the Territory have sought interaction, not isolation, with the wider community and are promoting cultural diversity rather than division. They have demonstrated their loyalty and friendship to Australia while building good relations with people of other ethnic groups and faiths. The construction of the centre in Darwin can only further promote understanding between all races.

A three-member subcommittee headed by Dr Waqar Ahmad has been instrumental in securing funding for the Islamic community facility. The other two tireless workers are Dr Hasan Bajha and Mr Jillu Rahman, who is President of the Islamic Society of the Northern Territory. Mr Adama Konda is the full-time imam for Darwin and regularly visits Muslims right across the Top End. His talents are not singular; I am told he has a black belt and also teaches karate and martial arts.

The Islamic Society of the Northern Territory has an open-door policy. They regularly invite members of non-Muslim faiths to attend the Darwin Islamic Centre and engage the imam or other senior members of the Muslim community to discuss any issues or misconceptions that may arise. The centre also offers free Arabic language classes to all residents of the Territory, regardless of faith.

In June this year, the Islamic Society of the Northern Territory is organising a Muslim awareness week in Darwin, which will include an open day at the Darwin Islamic Centre, an interfaith symposium at the Charles Darwin University, a youth and women’s forum, a BBQ and a community soccer match.

A special mention should be accorded to Dr Waqar Ahmad, who has been the key driving force in looking after the interfaith harmony programs and community related projects of the Islamic society. Others deserving of a mention for their good work include Mr Ishfaq Haider, Mr Feeroz Ibrahim, Mr Jeff Skegg, Mr Adjrun Kamaruddin, Mrs Madiha Haider, Mrs Poppy Mustafa and Mrs Asma Akram.

Muslims have a long history in the Northern Territory. The Darwin Islamic Centre recently celebrated its 35th anniversary. Its success can be attributed largely to one of its key founding members, Mr Muhammad Nurul Huq OAM. Islam is woven into the fabric of the Territory’s history. The Muslim Macassans had trade and cultural contacts with the people of Northern Australia for centuries, later working in the pearling industry when many became indentured to local employers.

The growing demand from the east coast of the continent for new land and new mining areas in the middle of the 19th century led to the introduction of the camel and its appendage, the Muslim Afghan cameleer. Muslims were vitally important in every exploratory expedition into Central Australia from the time of Burke and Wills until the 1939 crossing of the Simpson Desert. Their role in the construction of the 1872 overland telegraph line, in carrying supplies into the interior and in keeping remote stations, settlements and desert mining towns alive in the most severe droughts, made their mosques and their faith a rich and colourful vein in our history.

The current project of the Islamic Society of the Northern Territory continues that pioneering spirit and, in turn, the new Islamic community facility will further strengthen ties between Muslims and non-Muslims in the Northern Territory while providing a shining example of racial harmony to the rest of the nation.