Am I the new Pauline Hanson? I hope so
Damien Murphy; 31/5/08
The hair is assisted blonde rather than red, but the rawness of Kate McCulloch’s words curiously echoes Pauline Hanson’s redneck worries about dispossession and the need to curb Muslim immigration, especially in the white-bread community of Camden. Mrs McCulloch, a Catholic mother of four, became the poster girl for Camden’s Muslim-shy residents this week when local councillors voted unanimously “on planning grounds alone” to reject a Quranic Society proposal for a $19 million Islamic school on Sydney’s rural outskirts. Having railed against Muslims who “take our welfare”, Mrs McCulloch, 45, now says she is considering following Mrs Hanson into politics. She met the Queenslander when she pulled into Camden last November to help oppose the Islamic school as part her failed crack at a Senate seat.
Pride and prejudice the Australian way
Damien Murphy; 31/5/08
Pride and prejudice take a lot of dressing up these days. The amusing SBS program Salam Cafe had one of its characters, Uncle Samir, campaign for the mayor’s job in Camden to ensure the Quranic Society got to build its Islamic school on the outskirts of town. Kate McCulloch does not see the issue in such satirical terms. On Tuesday evening, the Catholic mother of four stood in the bedroom of her Mount Hunter home in a dress of patriotic yellow and green and, looking in the mirror, she completed the Cronulla chic look with an Akubra adorned with small Australian flags.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pride-and-prejudice-the-australian-way/2008/05/30/1211654312930.html
The path to a schools policy runs through Camden
Editorial; 31/5/08
Camden Council’s decision to reject the Quranic Society’s application for an Islamic school in the town was based on planners’ advice. Camden’s planning department found a school for 1200 pupils at Burragorang Road, Cawdor, would generate too much traffic and did not comply with building rules. It would also “compromise important cultural, agricultural and heritage views and vistas of the Camden floodplain”. Planning decision or not, both opponents and supporters of the school have seen it as some kind of victory for notionally Anglo-Australian values. About 200 opponents of the school, some wearing green and gold or holding the Australian flag, cheered the decision when it was announced. Some supporters have implied the outcome is based on prejudice, and have said the Quranic Society will take the council to the Land and Environment Court.The mayor of Camden undermined the claims of both sides when he pointed out, quite rightly, after the decision was made that the Quranic Society could submit plans for other sites already set aside for schools around Camden.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/editorial/index.html
Tags: Australia, Christianity, Education, Human Rights, Muslim, Racism