Scott Morrison almost got it right

If you want to know why the Australian Liberal Party is where it is read Scott Morrison's piece on fundamentalist Islamic terrorism in The Australian last Tuesday.

Great analysis, and then a brain fart of a solution.

His point was that the Islamic community has to take some responsibility for recent acts of terrorism. Not that the community is collectively guilty for them, but that they arise from a form of 'radical' or 'extremist' Islam, and that can best be policed from within the community.

About time someone said that. He had belled the cat.

But then came the clanger – he's going to fix the problem by regulating it!

He writes:

Over the past decade, countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan have reasserted authority over religious teaching, licensed imams, disrupted extremist funding and revised curriculums to remove antisemitism. The UAE has gone further, excluding universities for scholarships it believes contribute to radicalisation, including in the UK!

Let's license imams and school curricula. Morrison even left it open that these measures could be extended to Christian churches as well.

It is time for nationally consistent, self-regulated standards: recognised accreditation for imams, a national register for public-facing religious roles, clear training and conduct requirements, and enforceable disciplinary authority. Religious education should promote coexistence, reject antisemitism explicitly, and be transparent. Safeguarding, financial accountability and scrutiny of overseas funding must also be strengthened.

And:

Where similar weaknesses exist in other faiths, including my own, the same standards should apply. And where safeguards are absent, public funding and tax concessions should not be automatic.

At that point I remembered he was the Liberal Prime Minister who, during Covid, presided over the greatest circumscription of civil liberties in the history of the country where he talked a good liberal human rights game, but never brought it to the match.