THE head of the Halal Certification Authority has apologised for suggesting Australian women need Muslim men to fertilise them to “keep them surrounded by Muslim babies” and declaring that the “white race will be extinct” in 40 years.

Speaking to 2GB’s Chris Smith, Mohamed Elmouelhy said he was a larrikin and his damning Facebook post was meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

Mr Elmouelhy made the comments on Facebook in response to a study by researchers from the Hebrew University, published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, which found declining fertility rates among men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

“According to the Hebrew University, Australian men [sic] sperm count has declined by 52 per cent over the last 40 years so your men are a dying breed, Australian women need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies while beer swilling, cigarette smoking, drug injecting can only dream of what Muslim men are capable of,” Mr Elmouelhy wrote in a Facebook comment, which was first reported by The Daily Mail and has since been deleted.

“If the country is left to the bigots the white race will be extinct in another 40 years. Muslims have a duty to make your women happy because you are declining, better go chose [sic] a plot for yourself at your local cemetery. If you can’t afford it, commit suicide it is a cheaper alternative for bigots,” he wrote at the time.

Mr Elmouelhy defended his comments on the radio show, saying “you have to understand that the article that I wrote was on my Facebook and addressed to the thousands of people who insult me on a daily basis, my religion, insult Muslims.

“Derogatory things are said every day. I am writing to specific people who are bigots.”

Mr Smith questioned whether Mr Elmouelhy was calling all Australian bigots and he said he was not.

“I’m teasing certain people who are teasing me in the first place,” he said.

“Other Australians who are not bigots, I’ll apologise to, but I will not apologise to any bigots.”

Earlier Mr Elmouelhy defended his post in an email to news.com.au. He said it was intended to “stir the bigots” who had now descended on his Facebook page “using all manner of expletives and attacks possible including promises of physical attacks etc.”

“Last night Facelessbook deleted the post, yet venomous messages devoid of any humour addressed to me about Islam remain published,” he wrote. “You can see other messages from the bigots on other posts I have.”

He attached a longer version of the original Facebook post, which continued the theme. “It will [sic] mandatory for all women to wear hijab or burka if they prefer, bikinis will be displayed in Museums but not on nubile bodies anymore,” he wrote.

“When that happens everything in Australia will be Halal certified. Bigots and pigs will be declared Haram and must not be approached or touched, they can live together in reserves. There will be a Halal butcher on every corner, all other butchers will be offered to convert to Halal or given [sic] a passage back to where their ancestors came from.

“Mr Dutton will be exiled on Manus Island never to set foot in Australia again. Mosques will be everywhere, and the religious police will make sure all businesses are closed at the time of prayers. The call to prayer will be announced from loud speakers at dawn everyday to make sure the lazy good for nothing dole bludgers can start looking for jobs early.

“Jackie [sic] Lambie will be appointed keeper of the Sharia law and Poorleen (the r is silent) will be appointed emigration Minister to stop all the impotent whites [sic] male bigots from coming to our country girthed by sea!”

Australian Conservatives Senator Cory Bernardi said Mr Elmouelhy was “the perfect example of why our immigration system needs reform”. “Frankly, I don’t want him, his halal racket or his extremist poison in our country,” he said.

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Mr Elmouelhy, who has lived in Australia since 1975 and became a citizen in 1981, earlier this week ridiculed anti-halal campaigners, saying they had “failed miserably”. “Halal is actually increasing in leaps and bounds, despite all the false information and speeches from the coward’s castle,” he wrote.

“Everyone will be eating more halal than ever, we have just employed three more auditors to cope with the extra work. Anti-Muslims will be supporting halal and I thank them in advance.”

A Senate inquiry into the halal certification industry in 2015, led by Senator Bernardi, concluded that the practice of halal certification was misunderstood and the industry was under-regulated.

This compromised the integrity of the system and allowed “the proliferation of questionable conduct by certifiers of questionable expertise and intent”, the report stated. But the inquiry also found no links between halal certification and the funding of terrorist activity.

At the time, Senator Bernardi was critical of Mr Elmouelhy for refusing to appear before a committee hearing, saying he had also insulted submitters to the inquiry.

The authors of the fertility study did not pinpoint a reason for declining sperm counts, but fingered a number of potential suspects including obesity and hormone-disrupting chemicals found in plastics. “Decreasing sperm count has been of great concern since it was first reported twenty-five years ago,” study co-author Dr Shanna H Swan said.

“This definitive study shows, for the first time, that this decline is strong and continuing. The fact that the decline is seen in Western countries strongly suggests that chemicals in commerce are playing a causal role in this trend.”

Professor Kelton Tremellen, Professor of Reproductive Medicine at Flinders University, noted the issue did not appear to be apparent in Africa or Asia, suggesting an “environmental or lifestyle issue specific to western society is the underlying cause”.

“The most likely cause of this halving of sperm count is obesity,” he said. “Poor diet and lack of exercise, both endemic in the western world, has resulted in two-thirds of men being overweight or obese, and obesity is known to be a significant risk factor for both low testosterone levels and sperm count.”

frank.chung@news.com.au