One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has appeared to equivocate over comments from his party leader Pauline Hanson, in which she said “how can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
Joyce, who appeared on Today this morning, was played a clip of Hanson on Sky News last night.
Speaking about the IS brides returned to their Syrian camp yesterday, she said of radical Islamists: “They hate Westerners, and that’s what it’s all about. You know, you say, oh, well, there’s good Muslims out there. Well, I’m sorry, how can you, you know, tell me there are good Muslims?”
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce and party leader Pauline Hanson. Alex Ellinghausen
Here’s Joyce’s response:
“Well, that’s – I believe that there are people who are of the Islamic faith who, obviously I know, so I’m not going to say that I don’t have people who are friends of Islamic faith. I do, but I’m not going to say because of that, I’m going to put so many people at risk,” he said.
He went on to say he agreed “100 per cent with Pauline” that people were coming to Australia with values “generationally at odds with what Australia is”.
Hanson’s comments echoed her 2016 first speech to parliament when she said lives would be destroyed while trying to distinguish between “good” and “bad” Muslims.
“Our leaders continue to tell us to be tolerant and embrace the good Muslims. But how should we tell the difference? There is no sign saying ‘good Muslim’ or ‘bad Muslim’,” she said then.