In Australia, radicalization is a very small threat and a threat that can be isolated to just a small segment of the Muslim Australian community. Just as it is in the Christian community, the Jewish or the Hindu and so forth. In Australia we have nutcases and radicals who preach that we should protect ourselves and our children from the evil influences of a non-believing society. That is relatively harmless albeit distasteful. But this is reality. Differences of opinion are healthy for societies and in many respects keep our lives dynamic and challenging. As they say if you have two Muslims in a debate you will get three opinions. In Australia the average Muslim lives an invisible life. On the fringe, however, those who tend to hold strong views about government policies and feel passionate about international affairs tend to be more vocal and conspicuous. Yet, in terms of numbers they are significantly small and only a tiny percentage within that tiny percentage have the potential for extreme violent behaviour. More people are likely to die from road rage accidents involving Middle Eastern drivers than a home grown Middle Eastern terrorist.

Kerbaj did not actually check to see if Kara-Ali’s claims were correct. In fact, Kara-Ali lied when he claimed to have received $200,000. DIAC has not provided a single cent to Kara-Ali. Instead, the BIRR Project is a project run by al-Amanah College who disburse funds for the project in accordance with the grant. Further, the amount awarded was just over 75% of the amount Kara-Ali claimed to have received.

All Kerbaj had to do was check the DIAC website and he would have discovered Kara-Ali’s deliberate deceptions. Instead, Kerbaj took Kara-Ali’s words as gospel and plastered the results on the front page of the national broadsheet.

So we have perhaps the biggest story of the week being based upon unsubstantiated lies which are easily checkable by recourse to information that has been in the public domain for well over 12 months.

I could make a 100 page pamphlet in a couple of days from my home pc with better quality than the “report” from both him and the “reference group” combined.

Provided you can somehow link your ‘research’ to terrorism and have a suitably scary story to tell the media, I see no reason why you too can’t also apply for a federal government grant.

For example, take your “Organic Halal cruelty free granola”. I don’t think most extremists, terrorists or other assorted radicals eat this stuff. When was the last time you saw Osama delivering one of his missives with a bowl of granola next to him? Exactly.

Therefore, we have an inverse correlation that, I am sure, would be worth at least $200,000 to the Australian taxpayer. The opportunities are endless: after establishing that most terrorists don’t eat organic granola, you could then ask for an additional $200,000 to produce a pamphlet targeted at potential radicals extolling the virtuous effects of the product on the digestive system.