Senator Cory Bernardi – image, www.smh.com.au
As a number of you will be aware Senator Cory Bernardi won a parliamentary inquiry into what he has called the “racket” of certification. This is the Halal certification process that he has so steadfastly railed against. More details of his rant and the inquiry are contained here:
Following this the inquiry was established and is being conducted by the Senate Economics Reference Committee over the next 6 months. The committee has started receiving the submissions regarding Halal. There are currently around 54 submissions that have been up loaded to the Website of the Senate Committee.
Don’t ask me why I punish myself in this way but I decided to read the submissions that are there. I am taking excerpts from the submissions for your edification. If you wish to read the submissions in full feel free to go on to the website (URL above) and trawl your way through them.
Submission 1: “The current mish-mash of certification schemes needs rationalising, consolidating and extending (Terms of Reference #1)
Foods should be clearly labelled where applicable as Low Glycemic Index (GI), and there should be a scheme where an accredited body can certify such foods, so that the consumer can have confidence that the food truly is Low GI. Current labelling is woefully deficient in this area, so that percentages of sodium, “energy” and sugar content have to be weighed up by the discerning shopper.
Certification labels simplify this process (Terms of Reference #2, #3, #4 and #8)
The certification process needs more transparency. Certifiers should be subject to a competitive market, and food suppliers encouraged to seek competitive bids for their product to be certified.
This will ensure that the mechanisms of the free market impact the cost to consumers (Terms of Reference #5 and #7)”
Submission 2: “I am mainly concerned about Halal certification. I would like to know why this certification is in Australia for such a small minority of the population. I would like to see this particular certification abolished and recognised as a scam.
I would like to know how much is passed on to the consumer and if we do buy halal certified because we have so little choice, will we be able to get a tax refund from the government as this tax does not apply to us.
I would like very clear labelling so I can choose not to support a death cult.”
Submission 3: “What we do not understand is what any religious certification is doing on any food item in this country. We are a mix Christian and atheist in our family and it is against our religious and non-religious beliefs to eat food that is sacrificed or funds from this food are set aside to a false idol (God). We find it discriminating that we have had to completely change our shopping items and even go without the basics of milk and bread (because there is none that is made by non-religiously certified companies). Our shopping bill has also increased by a lot because non-religiously certified foods are more expensive than religiously-certified foods. We are among hundreds of thousands of Australians who have gone to extraordinary measures to ensure we are not contributing financially to any religious institution who demands that food be certified for their followers to eat.
Submission 4: “I am generally quite a moderate person. However, I am truly concerned about the far reaching Islamisation of our Nation.
As an Australian citizen and mother, I worry about Halal certification. The food I buy doesn’t always state if it is Halal certified and I strongly oppose to funding what could potentially be a religious cause. I worry about the possibility for Halal Certification to be used as a cover to get money illegally to fundamentalist Islamist causes.”
Submission 5: “I am an immigrant who came to this country almost 20 years ago. I am also a Christian who practice her faith and I am devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been studying the bible for 30 years. I have also been studying Islam for the past 5 years. Bible teach us that Baal was the moon god, considered an idol to Jews and Christians alike and it was forbidden to them (us) to eat any food dedicated to him. The history of Islam tells us that Allah, even before Islam came around 600 years after Christ, was worshipped by pagans as the moon god… and that is where the Islamic moon crest logo came from. It is very clear to me that even thou there is only one true God, there are many false idols (gods) and Allah is one of them. Muslims are entitled to believe whatever they want. But you cannot force “Sharia law” on the rest of the citizens of this democratic country. When you find yourself doing your grocery shopping, as a Christian you want to avoid purchasing any item that has been dedicated to an idol (like in the case of meat.. when as part of the ritual slaughter of the animal, it is pray upon by a Muslim imam) or products that pay certification fees destined to the hands of people of one particular religion. I find it very deceiving, unfair and discriminatory the fact that the money pay towards Islamic certifications contribute Exclusively to the advancement of ONE IDEOLOGY (thru islamic only charities) opposed to mine while people from every other religion are paying for it at the cashier. I believe that there are many secular people that call themselves “Christians” of “Hindus” or “atheist” and they might not mind such discrimination committed against them in the name of “tolerance”. But I can assure you that it is very offensive for practicing religious Australians.”
Submission 6: “To the committee. My wife and I wish to add to the complaints regarding the halal certification on certain foods. We find ourselves concerned as to where money is going when money is paid for a halal certification. We do not want to be assisting the funding of terrorist activities. We believe that food labelling should be clear and legible to all, my wife is a diabetic and needs to be able to clearly read instructions/directions that are on food containers.”
Submission 7: “I would like to express my concern that the cost of some food items are being affected by some certifications that seem to be quite irrelevant (in particular I refer to “Halal” certifications). I believe that some of these certifications may be an extortion racquet and some organisations do not publish figures on their receipts and expenditures”
Submission 8: “I am a taxpayer who strongly objects to the Halal certification of our food. I understand that the producer pays for this certification. If Muslims require such certification then they must pay for it themselves, NOT the producer of the food. My family avoids any foodstuffs which bear the Halal label and it is outrageous that many producers who pay for the certification do not have the label on their products. Cadbury is one such example.
Any arguments about the selling of Australian foodstuffs overseas and the need for the certification do NOT apply in Australia. The producer for overseas markets can have the certification label added to the product when it reaches the applicable countries”.
Submission 9: “I am concerned and alarmed about the legality of the Halal certification, as I feel it is compromising my democratic right as a citizen of Australia. Ideally I would like the Halal certification banned and if not at least labelled on all the products that it applies to. This would enable me to make an educated choice to buy or not to buy the article”.
Submission 10: “I am an Australian born citizen who does not want to pay a religious tax on my shopping items. I was raised Lutheran and find the ritual slaughtering of animals for any purpose abhorrent in every way. I also find it unacceptable to pay a non government tax on everyday items.
It has been claimed by senators in our government that halal slaughter and certification are needed for our cattle export. Then why are we as Australians being forced to buy domestic halal slaughtered meat. We are not eating our export meat, so there is no reasonable purpose for halal certification on our Domestic market. If Muslims want ritually slaughtered meat to comply with their religion, then there should be specific butchers and slaughter houses that only do this, as there should be for Kosher as well, that does not infringe on the rest of the Australian Citizens rights to have non halal/Kosher meats.
By doing my own research I have also found with in the Quran that Halal when in regards to the Islamic religion only applies to Meat, Meat Products, Blood, the consuming of dog or pig meat and of Alcohol. Why then am I being forced to buy products such as Halal certified toilet paper, sanitary products and foods such as honey and milk that is natural and therefore already halal. If you don’t see this as a money making rort on the Australian people and in fact on the worlds non Muslim population, then you are blind to the facts.
It has also been claimed by a Senator that employee’s of Meat works will lose their jobs if the halal slaughter is stopped within the majority of slaughter houses. This is just not true, as Australian slaughter-men will always be needed within these companies, the only one’s that will lose their jobs are the Muslim slaughterers who can all find work at a specified halal only slaughter house, Therefore it will actually increase the jobs for Non-Muslim workers.”
And so it goes on. The main themes that seem to pervade the majority of the submissions that have been made to date are the following:
- Halal certification needs to be clearly labelled
- There are many who want to ban it altogether
- There are those that see the certification fees as being somehow akin to a GST
- There are a host of Non Muslims amongst the Submission writers who believe that this is somehow biased against Christians and other Non Muslims.
- There is concern about the “Islamisation” of Australia.
At the end of this exercise I am not sure which of the 54 submissions made to date satisfy the Terms of reference that say the following:
“On 13 May 2015, the Senate referred the following matters to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 30 November 2015:
- the extent of food certification schemes and certifiers in Australia including, but not limited to, schemes related to organic, kosher, halal and genetically-modified food and general food safety certification schemes;
- current labelling requirements of food certification schemes;
- the need for labelling on products produced by companies that pay certification fees;
- whether current schemes provide enough information for Australian consumers to make informed purchasing decisions;
- details regarding certification fees paid by food producers and/or manufacturers, and the potential for these to impact on prices for consumers;
- the importance of food certification schemes in relation to export market access and returns to producers;
- the extent and adequacy of information available to the public about certifiers including, but not limited to, certification processes, fees and financial records; and any related matters.”
There is still time for people to make submissions to this committee. The reporting date for the committee is November 2015. I look forward to reading the rest of the submissions in due course. Fortunately sleep has not been a significant priority for me. No doubt there will be some particularly stupefying revelations in the rest of the submissions. Those of you wishing to sample the experience of reading these submissions should take the opportunity to do so at the senate website (URL referred to above).
I also look forward to reading the submission from Luke Simpkins’ (Member for Cowan) who stated categorically in Parliament that the eating of Halal food was somehow magically converting us to Islamic doctrines. ““By having Australians unwittingly eating Halal food we are all one step down the path towards the conversion, and that is a step we should only make with full knowledge and one that should not be imposed upon us without us knowing,” Mr Simpkins told Parliament.
Very worrying that this atmosphere of anti-Muslim pogrom is being encouraged by the Abbott government. When seen with the intention to ethnically cleanse First Nation peoples from their homelands, warning bells must sound.