Australian PM Condemns Far-Right AU Senator’s Racist Response To NZ Massacre

Scott Morrison is sworn in by Australia's Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove as Australia's 30th Prime Minister at Government House on August 24, 2018 in Canberra, Australia.
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 24: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks after being sworn in by Australia's Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove as Australia's 30th Prime Minister at Government House on Augus... CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 24: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks after being sworn in by Australia's Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove as Australia's 30th Prime Minister at Government House on August 24, 2018 in Canberra, Australia. Former Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison won the Liberal party leadership spill against Peter Dutton 45-40 today, securing himself as the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. Morrison is the sixth Prime Minister of Australia in 11 years. (Photo by Martin Ollman/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined others in expressing outrage over a far-right Australian senator’s response to the massacre at two New Zealand mosques on Friday that left at least 49 people dead.

“Those views have no place in Australia, let alone the Australian Parliament,” Morrison said, calling the senator’s views “disgusting.”

In a vile statement obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Australian Senator Fraser Anning, who represents the state of Queensland, the commonwealth’s second largest state, blamed the “fear” of immigration, or the “increasing Muslim presence,” in New Zealand and Australia for the attack.

“The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place,” he said. “Let us be clear, while Muslims may have been the victims today, usually they are the perpetrators. World-wide, Muslims are killing people in the name of  their faith on an industrial scale. … The truth is that Islam is not like any other faith. It is the religious equivalent of fascism. And just because the followers of this savage belief were not the killers in this instance, does not make them blameless.”

After Morrison — and many others — condemned Anning’s remarks, the senator doubled down, suggesting the prime minister lives in a “bubble” and is turning his “back on Wester Civilisation.”

Several of Anning’s recent tweets were removed from his timeline by Twitter for violating rules, but two tweets questioning whether “the left wing” would condemn the next “Muslim terrorist attack” remain.

Anning is known as a far-right lawmaker and has a history of making racist and anti-Muslim comments, especially in his views on immigration policy.

Several other Australian politicians decried the senator’s remarks, including former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and parliament member Bill Shorten.

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