INGRID DOULTON | Professor Of Women’s Issues and Minority Entitlements | Contact

Another tragic shooting.

A radicalised 15-year-old shoots a police accountant in an uncalculated, unorganised and random act of terror at Parramatta police headquarters in Western Sydney.

The offender and his associates have been ridiculed, by both the greater community and fellow Muslims, for the pointless act of violence which is sure to result in a resurgence of anti-Islamic sentiment across this great nation.

However, while this attack and recent Islamist attacks on Australian soil must be condemned – it should also be acknowledged, that, like any minority community in Australia, Extreme Islam has been a great contributor to this country of ours.

Be they offenders, conspirers, alleged associates or the everyday Muslim who refuses to condemn the above. Extreme Islam has been present in Australia since the Battle of Broken Hill.

In 1915, two former camel-drivers turned Extremist Muslims – Badsha Mahommed Gool (born c. 1874) an ice-cream vendor and Mullah Abdullah (born c. 1854) a halal butcher – fashioned a home-made Ottoman flag and discharged 20 to 30 bullets from their Boer War-era Kangaroo rifles at a passing train in Outback NSW. Despite justifying their attacks as an act of support for a trans-national community of religious followers, the offenders were violently killed by an angry mob of drunk Catholics and buried out of sight by Aboriginal trackers later that day.

2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Australia’s very first Islamist terror attack, one that resulted in six Austrians, four Germans and one Turk being ordered out of town by the public in a bizarre and hysterical response to the killings. Shortly after, all “enemy aliens” in Australia were interned for the duration of World War One.

A century has passed and little has changed. Badsha Mahommed Gool and Mullah Abdullah have been replaced by Man Monis and Farhad Jabar, the angry drunken mob has been replaced by Border Force – and the Ottoman Empire is replaced by ISIS.

It is time for Australians to understand that Extreme Islam is here to stay.

Like the Greeks and the Italians, the Irish and the Vietnamese, The Islamist Terrorist community have found a place that they too call home.

NOW, LET’S TALK SENSE

It’s time we all got along. Our government’s need to spend less time raiding the homes of Terrorists, and more time making them feel at home. It’s the only way.

Local councils need to provide support for Extremist Terrorist households, the public school system and suburban sporting clubs need to bend over and cater to the needs of Extremist Terrorist children. It’s the only way.

Australia can lead the world in our progressive stance towards Terrorists, but it starts in our homes.

If a new Terrorist family moves into your street. Invite them over. Islamic Terrorists can come in all shapes and sizes – some are Middle Eastern, some South-East Asian and some are just plain White.

We need to combat predjudice. We need to work together.

Next time you hear your children make a terrorphobic remark, remind them that Islamic Terrorists are Australians just like them.

I am, you are, we are Australian.

Professor Ingrid Doulton earned her PhD in women’s issues from the University of Sydney in 2012. She completed her undergraduate studies at La Trobe University in regional Victoria soon after completing high school. Immediately after, she began her Masters at The University of Canberra with her dissertation in women’s sport. She is chairwomen of the Women’s Literacy Foundation and a brand ambassador for Rexona. Prof. Doulton lives in Sydney’s upper north shore with her dog, Peter.

If you would like to contact Ingrid Doulton to discuss any of the things you read here, you can contact her via email at [email protected]otaadvocate.com