Just as we’ve been reeling from the thoroughly depressing poll pushed out by Essential which held that 49% of Australians agree with Pauline Hanson‘s proposed Muslim immigration ban, we’ve got another shithouse stat to chew on: 60% of Australians would be concerned if a relative married a Muslim.
This comes via a study by Deakin University, which set out to track people’s response to Islam. Over a third of respondents said they would not object to Muslims being subject to more scrutiny at airports, and a quarter weren’t opposed to the idea of anti-terror action focusing on Muslims exclusively.
It’s worth noting however that it looks like a number of Australians might not be reserving their ire entirely for followers of Islam – 33% of respondents said they would be concerned if a Jewish person married into their family. So, uh, that’s something to consider too! Maybe we’re just broadly prejudiced! Hooray!
“The result is really similar to the Essential poll of last week,” said Matteo Vergani, a research fellow at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. “People who know Muslims and more about Islam as a religion are the ones who don’t feel threatened.”
This shows there’s a huge barrier to overcome when it comes to assuaging the fears of Australians – and a structural difficulty with fighting the kind of prejudiced shit Pauline Hanson and her ilk are eager to spew out. What that looks like is another matter – but we’ve got a long road.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images / Anadolu Agency.
