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Muslim Community Reference Group

{{Islam in Australia}}

The Muslim Community Reference Group (MCRG) was an advisory body to the Australian federal government, set up by the Howard government, from mid-2005 to mid-2006. The board served to provide the federal government with proposals on strategies and practices to help integrate the Muslim community and to foster greater understanding towards Muslims among the general society, public institutions and governmental bodies.{{cite web|url=http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/a-diverse-australia/communities/MCRG/index.htm|title=Muslim Community Reference Group|accessdate=2006-10-04|publisher=Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australia |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060918235700/http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/a-diverse-australia/communities/MCRG/index.htm |archivedate = 2006-09-18}}Black, Ann. [http://www.jlp.bham.ac.uk/volumes/65/black-art.pdf "Replicating ‘A Model of Mutual Respect’: Could Singapore’s Legal Pluralism Work in Australia?."] The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 44, no. 65 (2012): 65-102.

Founding

The Muslim Community Reference Group was founded by John Cobb, the former Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA), under Parliamentary Secretary Andrew Robb, provided secretariat support to the MCRG.[http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/19710/2006_Muslim_Community_Reference_Group_Report.pdf "Building on social cohesion, harmony and security: An action plan by the Muslim Community Reference Group "] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514004107/http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/19710/2006_Muslim_Community_Reference_Group_Report.pdf |date=2013-05-14 }} Muslim Community Reference Group. (2006). Canberra.

Board members

The following members were listed as members of the MCRG's main board in the group's September 2006 report:

  • Ameer Ali, an Australian academic and former President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, an umbrella group for various Islamic groups or councils in Australia, was the appointed chairman of the Australian Muslim Community Reference Group in 2006.
  • Dr. Mustapha Kara-Ali served as a member of the MCRG and chaired its Schooling Subgroup. He is a community developer and a former Harvard University scholar who worked on political philosophy and religion.{{cite web|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/mustapha_kara-ali |title=Dr. Mustapha Kara-Ali |publisher=Scholar.harvard.edu |date= |accessdate=2015-07-02}} Prior to that he won a Commonwealth Endeavour Award for his PhD on comparative philosophy.{{cite web |url=http://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/files/klpr/AEI%20Malaysia%202008%20Newsletter.pdf |title=AEI Malaysia Annual Newsletter |publisher=Malaysia.highcommission.gov.au |accessdate=2015-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204054251/http://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/files/klpr/AEI%20Malaysia%202008%20Newsletter.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-04 |url-status=dead }} In relation to the work of the MCRG, he founded Birr in 2006 as a Government-Community Partnership in Western Sydney.
  • Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly, Imam of the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney and appointed Mufti of Australia by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils in 1988, was a member of the board until he was sacked in July 2006 following comments he made in which he denied the Holocaust, calling it a "Zionist lie."{{cite web|url=http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=1189 |accessdate=October 27, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205060737/http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=1189 |archivedate=December 5, 2008 |title=Call for legal action over mufti's Holocaust denial (July 21, 2006) }}
  • Aziza Abdel-Halim, President of the Muslim Women's National Network Australia.
  • Mohammed Taha Al-Salami, President of the Iraqi Islamic Council of Australia was also among the initial group of Australian Muslim leaders who met with John Howard in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.pm.gov.au/news/media_releases/media_Release1509.html |title=Meeting with Islamic Community Leaders - 18 August 2005 |accessdate=2015-07-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919224023/http://www.pm.gov.au/news/media_releases/media_Release1509.html |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}
  • Sheikh Fehmi Naji El-Imam
  • Nadia Gani
  • Amin Hady
  • Harry Hage
  • Iktimal Hage-Ali
  • Kemal Ismen
  • Abdul Jalal
  • Yasser Soliman
  • Malcolm Thomas

=Others=

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Category:Islam in Australia

Category:Social policy

Category:Advisory councils for heads of state

Category:2005 in Australia

Category:2006 in Australia

Category:Public policy in Australia