Jeremy Pierce: Courier Mail | February 04, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25002827-952,00.html
CHRISTIANS opposed to a Muslim school to be built next door to their centre say more protests will be futile after Gold Coast City Council approved the plan.
The proposed Gold Coast Islamic College, to house 60 students at Chisholm Rd, Carrara, made headlines late last year when hundreds of protesters stormed the city’s council chambers shouting Australian slogans while boom boxes blared out Oz rock classics.
The project has attracted more than 1000 objections, with only 67 written submissions in support of the school, even though Mayor Ron Clarke said it was just as important to cater for the needs of minority groups as for the masses.
While some councillors expressed concerns over issues such as car parking and other infrastructure needed at the school, Nerang councillor Peter Young was the only one to vote against the proposal at yesterday’s planning committee meeting.
He said more time was needed to address the concerns of residents who feared the possibility of religious and racial clashes such as those seen in southern cities and overseas. Cr Young said: “If what is occurring overseas is to occur here then that is scary [more …]
Comment:
The following comment was rejected by the Courier Mail.
Back in the 80’s (in Brisbane), a tiny suburban Christian church in Lutwyche was sold to Muslims who began using it for their own religious purposes.
Six days a week you couldn’t tell anything had changed. One day a week was pure hell for the residents in the immediate area. Any that dared to go outside at the time risked verbal and physical abuse. Cars driven by “Skips” were not permitted to drive along the street. “Skips” walking along the footpath that were relatively ignored were bumped into with the pretence that they did not exist or forced into the gutter. Occassionally when large enough groups of “Skips” tried to visit friends who lived in the area, the Muslims would see them as a threatening force and a fight would break out. “Skip” parties were seen as an enticement to trouble and avoided on certain days.
Oh, we were so happy to enjoy the benefits of multiculturalism for one day a week.
Cailen Cambeul of Oaklands Park