Leading Islamic groups have condemned Scott Morrison as “deeply ill-informed” and “dangerous” after the former prime minister demanded a national register and accreditation for imams, and expanding foreign interference frameworks to capture foreign links in religious institutions.
The former Liberal leader, speaking at an antisemitism conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, claimed the measures were needed after the Islamic State-inspired Bondi terror shooting at a Hanukah event, which left 15 people dead. Morrison demanded a focus on “radicalised extremist Islam”, noting the two alleged Bondi shooters “were Australian-made” and demanding local Muslim bodies do more to stamp out hate.
“It is time for nationally consistent, self-regulated standards: recognised accreditation for imams, a national register for public-facing religious roles, clear training and conduct requirements, and enforceable disciplinary authority,” Morrison wrote in The Australian newspaper.
“Safeguarding, financial accountability and scrutiny of overseas funding must also be strengthened.”
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But the nation’s peak Muslim body, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC), labelled Morrison’s remarks “reckless, deeply offensive and profoundly dangerous”, branding his calls for Islamic preachers to be accredited a “fundamental attack on religious freedom and equality before the law”.
“Rhetoric like this inevitably creates a divide between so‑called ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ Muslims, with politicians positioning themselves as arbiters of our faith,” the AFIC president, Dr Rateb Jneid, said.
“That is not leadership. It is dangerous, and history shows us exactly where it leads.”
The AFIC said it rejected the notion that Islam required “special regulation, surveillance, or state‑imposed oversight”.
Aftab Malik, the federal envoy on Islamophobia, said those promoting violence did not represent Islam, and that extremism must be confronted.
“However, it must never be used as a pretext to curtail freedoms, police faith, or cast suspicion over an entire community. Doing so provides a social licence to hate,” he told Guardian Australia.
“Conflating criminality with the lived faith of Australian Muslims undermines trust and weakens genuine efforts to keep all Australians safe.”
Giridharan Sivaraman, Australia’s race discrimination commissioner, said he agreed with Morrison’s assertion that freedom of religion came with responsibility – but warned against singling out particular communities.
“If you single out one community or religion, you run the risk of that whole community being racially vilified or blamed for the actions a few,” he told Guardian Australia.
“Even more so, you run the risk of pitting communities against each other. If you’re highlighting only one community, you create this hierarchy of whose identity is acceptable and whose is not.
“Once you accept religion is practised in many ways in Australia, singling out one faith for proscribing is isolating that faith, and causes people of that faith to feel victimised, humiliated, distanced and not Australian. That can actually feed into extremism.”
The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, speaking on ABC radio, described Morrison’s idea as “really problematic and troubling”, praising the Muslim community as “incredibly valued Australians”.
“Some of the earliest people condemning the vile attacks in Bondi were leaders of our Muslim Australian community, and we’ll continue to support their right to practise in peace,” he said.
Morrison – who has spoken often of his Pentecostal faith – claimed Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain had taken authority over religious teaching, licensing of imams, and revising curriculums, and that such reforms would help the Muslim community “keep the wolves from their flock”.
“If you want to be an Anglican minister, you’ve got to have the right accreditation, do the interviews, have training in all the things you have to have training in, to make sure you’re compliant with Australian laws. If you don’t do that, you don’t get a ticket,” Morrison told 2GB.
But the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), which represents more than 300 Muslim leaders and clerics nationwide, slammed Morrison’s claims as “deeply ill-informed”.
Bilal Rauf, special adviser at the ANIC, said Morrison’s call for Islamic teachings to be translated to English reflected a “fundamental ignorance”, noting there were already translations which are “readily utilised”.
“Law enforcement authorities have been unequivocal that these attacks were not directed, organised, or endorsed by any religious community. It is profoundly disappointing to hear such divisive language from a former prime minister who understands, better than most, the importance of unity, social cohesion, and responsible leadership,” the ANIC said in a statement.
The ANIC noted that when Australian man Brenton Tarrant killed 51 worshippers at a Christchurch mosque in 2019 – during Morrison’s time as prime minister – “no collective blame was placed on a race, religion, or community, nor should it have been. That same standard must apply consistently.”
The ANIC also condemned comments from current Liberal senator and shadow minister Andrew Bragg, who endorsed Morrison’s comments on ABC radio and called on Muslims to “take some responsibility” for acts of terrorism.
“This rhetoric, coming from senior opposition figures, reflects a failure of leadership at a time when calm and responsibility are required,” the ANIC said.
Bragg, asked about Morrison’s claims, told the ABC: “I think the Australian Muslim community has to take some responsibility for the behaviours we’ve seen exhibited over the last couple of decades.”
“The west has probably been too nice for its own good, and a lot of western countries probably feel that they can’t be honest and open about some of the issues.”
Morrison said he was not proposing the government “run religion” and denied his idea was about policing faith, instead claiming it was about “responsibility and accountability”.
Morrison was criticised over the secrecy and lack of accountability in his decision to covertly appoint himself to multiple ministry portfolios during the Covid pandemic.
Gamel Kheir, secretary at the Lebanese Muslim Association, said Islamic extremism needed to be examined in the context where Australia is also seeing a rise in neo-nazism.
“To somehow say that the Muslim community is responsible for the ills of the world is living in a cocoon and putting your head in the sand,” he said.
Morrison has been approached for comment.
