Australia's MUSLIM heritage???

There were a few Afghan cameleers in the early days but just about all other Muslim influences in Australia are very recent

Arts Minister Simon Crean and Multicultural Affairs Minister Senator Kate Lundy today announced $1.5 million in Australian Government funding to support capital works for the creation of the Islamic Museum of Australia in Melbourne.

Speaking at the launch of a new documentary Boundless Plains – the Australian Muslim Connection, Senator Lundy said the Australian Government was proud to support such a significant project that recognised the invaluable contribution of Islamic culture and heritage.

'The Islamic Museum of Australia will help to foster understanding and promote community harmony and social inclusion,' Senator Lundy said.

'It will serve to educate the wider Australian community of the rich and longstanding history that Islam has had in our nation.

'Here in Melbourne, the Museum will join a rich tapestry of cultural institutions celebrating the contribution of Greek, Italian, Jewish and Chinese communities.'

Mr Crean said the Islamic Museum of Australia would make a significant contribution to the cultural life of our nation.  'Culture is incredibly important to understanding ourselves better, not just as individuals, but as a nation,' Mr Crean said.

'Australia is uniquely placed. We have one of the oldest living cultures on earth and we continue to attract the greatest diversity of cultures on earth.  'That is why we are proud to be involved in this partnership for community cultural development.'

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Tony Abbott accuses Julia Gillard of playing ‘class war card'

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has accused the Gillard Government of playing "the class war card" in the Budget by dumping a company tax cut to pay for means tested cash payments to families.

"The fundamental problem with this Budget is that it deliberately, coldly, calculatedly plays the class war card," he said in his televised formal Budget reply to Parliament last night.

"A drowning government has decided to portray the political contest in this country as billionaires versus battlers."

Mr Abbott said he would deliver tax cuts without a carbon tax but gave no specific detail of the size or how he would pay for it.

"It's not as if savings are impossible to find," he said.

He suggested he would cut funding for the African Development Bank, the National Broadband Network and defence purchasing public servants.

Mr Abbott's pledge that all pre-school children will have the chance to learn Asian languages such as Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Indian if he becomes Prime Minister was the only new focus in his Budget reply.

Mr Abbott gave no details about how much his Asian language plan would cost but said it would require a "generational shift" to train teachers.

Mr Abbott said while Australia was supposed to be adapting to the Asian century, the proportion of year 12 students studying a foreign language had dropped from 40 per cent in the 1960s to 12 per cent.

He said there were only 300 year 12 Mandarin students who were not of Chinese-speaking heritage.

"If Australians are to make their way in the world, we cannot rely on other people speaking our language," he said.

Mr Abbott promised the fiscal details of the his alternative Budget would be revealed before the next election as he hit back on criticism that his reply was short on detail.

While his response has received criticism that it was short on detail, Mr Abbott said the Opposition had a plan to find the savings it had promised.

"Yesterday was a Budget reply, it's not an alternative Budget," Mr Abbott said Channel 9 today.

"In good time before the next election people will have all of the fiscal detail from us."

Finance Minister Penny Wong described the Opposition leader's tactic when it came to the Australian people as: "Tell them nothing."

"Tony Abbott has simply rehashed old policy, not put forward any detail, in an attempt to pretend that he has something other to say than 'No'," she said.

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Why Did a Judge Waive a Jury Trial for an Islamist Who Allegedly Tried to Throw His Sister-in-Law Off a Parking Garage?‏

In 2009, Ismail Belghar reportedly attacked his sister-in-law, Canan Kokden, after she “dared” take his wife to the beach without his permission.  Given away by his wife’s “slightly sunburned shoulders,” Belghar reportedly called Kokden in a rage and said: “You slut, how dare you take my wife to the beach?”

But when he next saw her, things escalated to a frightening degree.  Kokden was shopping with her brother shortly before Christmas 2009 when she encountered Belghar. He allegedly came up to her, slapped her across the face, and then dragged her to the railing of a high-rise parking garage and dangled her over it.  Kokden was saved only when her brother tackled Belghar, and forced him to let her go.

But this is not why Belghar’s story has made international news. Rather, it is because the man was due to have what is believed to be the first jury-less trial in Australia, because of his religious beliefs.

“The attitude of (Belghar) … is based on a religious or cultural basis. In light of the fact there has been adverse publicity regarding people who hold extreme Muslim faith beliefs in the community, I am of the view that the apprehension by (Belghar) that he may not receive a fair trial is a reasonable apprehension,” Judge Solomon said.

“Are Aussies too biased to try this Muslim man?” the Australian Telegraph asked today.

Still others wonder: Are this man’s religious beliefs somehow granting him special considerations? Would an ordinary accused woman-beater be excused from a jury of his peers?

Australians have been so outraged by the matter that the Crown intervened in the case, saying that every Muslim would have to be granted a judge-only trial if it prevailed.

Belghar’s trial was due to start yesterday, but because he denied the charge of attempted murder and apologized to his sister-in-law, the charge has been dropped. Rather, he is pleading guilty to detaining and assaulting Kokden, and will be sentenced at a later date.

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Leftist ideas about school discipline reap their inevitable reward

TEACHERS and principals have stepped up calls for help to deal with rising child mental health and behavioural issues as student violence continues to cause problems across the state.

It comes as bus companies in southeast Queensland consider banning students because of wild behaviour accusations.

At Caboolture, a school community is still in shock after a 14-year-old girl was stabbed multiple times, allegedly by a 16-year-old fellow pupil this week - the third Queensland schoolyard stabbing in a little over two years.

Figures show about 20,000 suspensions were handed out last year for physical misconduct in state schools alone, with about 62,000 suspensions issued overall.  That's about 300 suspensions for every school day.  Exclusions have gone up with more than 1000 state school students expelled or excluded last year.

Last year The Courier-Mail revealed some principals complained their days were consumed with dealing with child behavioural and mental health issues and had called for every school to have access to a professional who co-ordinated issues involving child social and emotional wellbeing.

Yesterday, Queensland Association of State School Principals president Hilary Backus said schools were a reflection of society and they had seen an increase in the mental and emotional needs of students, along with those diagnosed with verified disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder.  "We have seen a rise in students displaying anxiety and depression from quite an early age," she said.

Schools were now dealing with these issues "on a daily basis" and she renewed her call for stand-alone professionals.

Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates said its policy was for every school to have access to a guidance officer. But he said the number of guidance officers simply hadn't "kept pace with the needs of schools as these sorts of issues have expanded" and were "spread thin" across the system.

Queensland Secondary Principals Association president Norm Fuller said they had also called for extra support, while behaviour issues in schools were a reflection of what was happening in society.

But last night Education Minister John Paul-Langbroek crushed the idea of providing more guidance officers, saying the Labor government legacy meant there was not enough money in the kitty and chaplains would do instead.

"The mental health of Queensland school kids is of paramount importance," he said.  "Unfortunately, due to Labor's debt legacy, we just simply do not have the money to have a guidance counsellor in every school."

He said 80 per cent of state high schools and more than 40 per cent of state primaries had a chaplain and the LNP had committed a further $1 million to fund them.

Education Queensland assistant director-general Tom Barlow said there were 477 guidance officers in about 1250 state schools.

It is understood there are a further 1271 specialist staff including chaplains, nurses, therapists and teacher aides.

Queensland Catholic Education Commission executive director Mike Byrne said student behaviour and mental health were growing issues and his schools had structures in place to deal with it.

He said it would be up to the individual 22 Catholic school authorities on whether they placed a blanket ban on knives, suggested by the Queensland Schools Alliance Against Violence (QSAAV).

Yesterday he sent QSAAV materials to Diocesan leaders and school principals.

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