Mayor defends decision to build mosque

The Catholic mayor of Cardinal George Pell’s birthplace, the Victorian Goldfields city of Ballarat, has defended Muslims’ rights to build the city’s first mosque despite objections by a group hostile to Islam, writes Mark Brolly.

Councillor Josh Morris told the Australian Broadcasting Commission on 4 February that one of the best things about Australia was its religious and cultural diversity.

A former student of the cardinal’s alma mater  – St Patrick’s College, Ballarat  – who obtained his Bachelor of Education degree at the Australian Catholic University, Morris said that while teaching for seven years in the United Arab Emirates, he was fortunate to have access to a Catholic church.

“Irrespective of faith, everybody has a right to a place of worship and that’s something that I respect and something that as a society we should respect,” Morris said.

Ballarat, Victoria’s third most populous city with about 95,000 residents, has no mosque. But its small Muslim community – comprising about 65 families and 150 Muslim university students – has established an Islamic Society, which has received planning approval for a mosque. Until now, Muslims have used the prayer room at the University of Ballarat.

A group called Restore Australia has campaigned against the mosque. Its website declares its opposition to Australia’s policy of multiculturalism, saying: “We have seen what islam [sic] has done in other nations, and we do not want the same thing to happen here.”