Excerpt:
Poweful Muslim clerics in Jakarta are raising money for Islamic schools and mosques by forcing Australian businesses to pay an inflated religious levy on meat exports.
The Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI), the top Islamic body which orders Fatwa religious rulings, is dictating how much Australian companies must pay to have their food certified as Halal, or legal under Islamic law.
The MUI has expelled three Australian certifiers of Halal meat - even ordering one to stop doing business because it was charging less than its rivals. The scandal has triggered a boycott by some of Australia's leading meat processors, which are refusing to use more expensive certifiers endorsed by the MUI.