The planning application landed on Rosalie Crestani’s desk last October, three weeks after she was elected to Casey Council. Little did she know it would change her life.
Cr Crestani has since become, depending on your viewpoint, a crusader defending the rights of Australians against encroaching Islam, or a bigot promoting intolerance and suspicion.
The application was for a mosque in Doveton, next to a church and headquarters being built for Catch the Fire Ministries, headed by anti-Islam pastor Danny Nalliah.
The application for the church attracted no objections. The mosque, by comparison, drew more than 100 objections and, since then, more than 1600 people have signed petitions opposing it.
The opponents have Cr Crestani on their side: last month she appeared on Channel Ten’s The Project, claiming Islam was an ideology preaching fear, hatred and intolerance. Would the mosque be used for military training, she asked?
Cr Crestani, a born-again Christian, said she received a “tsunami” of responses. “There were a few critical ones, saying I didn’t represent their views, but most were supportive.”
At a council meeting in December, she described Islam as “a political ideology that seeks to control every follower’s life — and eventually the surrounding community and beyond”. She was cheered from the crowded public gallery.
Wayne Smith wasn’t applauding: Casey’s longest-serving councillor, with 17 years under his belt, has come under fire from some in the anti-mosque camp for insisting the application be decided solely on planning principles.
Asked if the vitriol of the debate was a symptom of growing intolerance, Cr Smith said it was more likely Casey’s changing demographics.
“We’ve outgrown Dandenong in terms of our multiculturalism. Each group brings its own culture. We want them to be Australian but we shouldn’t expect them to turn their backs on their own cultures. It’s really sad that people have to start off their time in Australia with this animosity.”
The mosque is not the only divisive cross-cultural issue in Casey. A fortnight ago, residents appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against a permit for a Sri Lankan Hindu community centre.
And a petition of 255 signatures has been collected from residents objecting to Buddhist and Hindu groups buying houses in Narre Warren North and Endeavour Hills to use as places of worship.
One of those against the community centre is Kathryn Caldwell. She says it has nothing to do with religion.
“[It’s about] our desire to retain the lifestyle characteristics of our area. We’ve paid a lot of money for our properties and we would like their values retained and not turned into an area of temples, car parks, noise, lights, statues, signs and traffic.”
Asked if she is a racist, she sighs. “When you first go to council that’s what they continually say.”
Cr Crestani admits some of the objections to the Doveton mosque are based on fear. She claims many people are too frightened to speak.
“One lady has already applied to move. She says she’s been around mosques before and she’s not waiting.”
Hayat Doughan, founder and director of Al-Emaan Muslim Women Support Group and a founding member of the Casey Multifaith Network, is disappointed but not surprised by talk of violence and fear.
She doubts there would have been the level of opposition if Mr Nalliah was not spearheading the campaign against it. “I don’t blame people for being fearful because someone is preaching fear. Always you’re scared about something you don’t know.”
She said people should know the Afghan mosque had been based peacefully in a residential area of Doveton for 18 years, with no concerns from neighbours except on parking and traffic, which was the reason for the move to an industrial area.
So are Australians becoming less tolerant? Her own experiences in Australia, since arriving from Lebanon in 1988, have been overwhelmingly positive but she says the automatic coupling of Islam with terrorism by some people is a heavy and unfair burden for Muslims.
“Whenever there is something in the news about something happening overseas, people start reacting to us in a negative way. Most migrants come to Australia because we want to live in peace.”
Casey Multifaith Network president Pam Mamouney grew up as a Methodist at a time when Catholic and Protestant kids threw stones at one another. When she married, a Catholic friend wasn’t allowed to come to the church.
Now a Mormon, she, too, knows what it’s like to face religious discrimination. When her church applied to build a diocesan building in Narre Warren North about nine years ago, the council knocked it back. “They called us a cult. Some councillors in the past were anti-anything that wasn’t mainstream.”
It took a two-year battle at the VCAT before the church was approved. It is now well accepted and residents and the neighbouring Catholic church use its basketball courts and meeting rooms.
Similarly, the fledgling multifaith network faced a stiff battle when it was set up about six years ago. The opposition was led by the ubiquitous Mr Nalliah. “First up, they wouldn’t have a bar of it. Now they see we’re no threat.
“It’s simply fear of the unknown. I have seen the reaction of people going into a mosque for the first time. They go in so fearfully and they see some of the imams sitting on the floor and kids playing around them.
“They change completely. You see it in their faces when they come out. You don’t have to agree with it all but you can learn to accept it.”
Hayat Doughan said Casey increasingly promoted itself as a city of diversity and vibrant multiculturalism, but the lead had to come from its councillors. She urged them to be cautious in their words.
“My belief is that if everyone has good intention in their heart we can work through this. The councillors have a big influence. We want them to represent us and do what’s good for our community.”
A few weeks ago, at Cr Smith’s urging, Cr Crestani and deputy mayor Sam Aziz — another strong critic of Islam — met the mosque applicants, an Afghan group.
Cr Crestani said it was a constructive meeting. “I said to them I was pleased to meet them and to understand they want peace for their families in the community. They could see I was not out to hurt anyone but just raising the concerns of the community.”
But, asked if it was the siting of the mosque that disturbed her, or the fact of a mosque, she answered indirectly: “I would not support a mosque if there was going to be hatred preached or anyone seeking to remove the rights of others.”
The council is expected to consider the mosque application on March 12. Whatever is decided, it will not be the end of the matter as both parties have indicated they will appeal an unfavourable decision at the VCAT.
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