Speaking in support of government controls on the controversial abortion pill RU486, Danna Vale said that Australians were aborting themselves almost out of existence.
SYDNEY: An Australian government politician provoked anger from the Islamic community Tuesday for suggesting that abortion was so prevalent that the country would become a Muslim nation within 50 years.
Speaking in support of government controls on the controversial abortion pill RU486, Danna Vale said that Australians were aborting themselves almost out of existence.
"I've actually read in The Daily Telegraph where a certain imam from the Lakemba mosque actually said that Australia's going to be a Muslim nation in 50 years' time," Vale told reporters Monday.
"I didn't believe him at the time, but you know when you actually look at the birth rates and when you look at the fact that we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence by 100,000 abortions every year and that's on a guesstimate.
"You multiply that by 50 years, that's five million potential Australians we won't have here."
The comments have drawn indignation from the Muslim community with the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ameer Ali, terming Vale's words "the most racist comment I have ever seen".
"Muslim people are human beings, they are also living in poverty, they can't afford to have more than a couple of children these days," he told ABC radio.
Vale, whose Sydney electorate takes in parts of the area where race riots between white and mainly Lebanese Australians took place in January, was also criticised by government colleague Amanda Vanstone.
"Apart from them being completely ill-founded, that's just a complete misunderstanding of how our migration programme works and where our source countries are," Vanstone said of Vale's comments.
Vale on Tuesday refused to make any further comments.
Abortion has been legal in Australia for decades but RU486 is effectively banned in the country because access is controlled by the health minister. Parliament is currently debating whether control should be handed over to the country's drug regulatory agency.
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