Australia’s grand mufti sought to cover up his “graphic failure” in leadership shortly after this month’s deadly Paris attacks, the resources minister, Josh Frydenberg, said.
The mufti, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, had been criticised for the statement he released shortly after the attack which did not explicitly condemn the terrorist attack. He later issued a clarification.
Frydenberg, the most senior Jewish member of the government, said he was “very concerned” by Mohammed’s initial statement, which he claimed was a true representation of the mufti’s thoughts on the attack.
“He sought to cover that up subsequently, but it was a graphic failure and he has more of a responsibility not only to the Muslim community but to the community at large,” Frydenberg told Sky News on Sunday.
But he stopped short of calling for Mohammed’s resignation.
“That’s a question for the mufti and the Islamic community,” he said. “I think that he needs to show greater leadership than he did.”
Frydenberg said that members of the Islamic community must acknowledge that a “small but significant” number of its adherents are extremists.
“We have to acknowledge that religion is part of this problem,” the resources minister said. “I would say it is a problem within Islam.”
He pointed out that Jewish schools in his Melbourne electorate have taken extra security measures, including armed patrol guards, as a result of the terror threat.
“Is this acceptable in modern day Australia? It’s not to me,” Frydenberg said.
Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, said politicians should work on promoting social cohesion.
“I think it’s important for all members of parliament to be leaders that bring our community together,” she told reporters on Sunday. “I think we by our own actions and by our own words need to set an example of unity in Australia.”
The Greens senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, praised the “change in tone” on radicalisation ushered in by new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who has stressed the importance of “mutual respect”.
“Let’s back that up with action,” she said, adding that the community needed to work together to ensure that young people aren’t “disaffected and any more inclined to be caught up in extremism”.
Turnbull on Sunday wrapped up the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Malta.
The group decided to establish a new unit in the Commonwealth secretariat dedicated to stopping radicalisation.
“A team of experts will be seconded into the Commonwealth Secretariat to build expertise in tackling the common threat we are all facing from violent extremism, and foreign fighters,” the official communique said.
Australia will contribute $2.5m over five years to the initiative.