A controversial NSW senate candidate will be in Wagga on Saturday to spruik her party’s policies.
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Australian Liberty Alliance’s Kirralie Smith, who has risen to prominence on the back of a movement against Halal-certified products, is calling on those jaded by the major parties to listen to another alternative.
The ALA party was founded last year and has an anti-Islam idealology. It does not have a House of Representatives candidate for the seat of Riverina.
Ms Smith said ALA represented conservative values. The crux of what the party stands for is stopping what it says is the encroachment of Sharia law into Australia.
The outspoken anti-Islamist said she had visited Islamic countries and had spoken to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
“All of them have said ‘We fled the shadow of Islam to come here, to Australia, where we thought we would be safe. If Islam encroaches here as well, where else can we go?’” Ms Smith said.
“The words racist, bigot, fascist and Islamaphobe are often thrown around in an attempt to shut down debate.
“I will not be silenced. Islam is not a race, it is a political religious ideology that must be subject to criticism in the same way Catholicism, Nazism, or communism is.”
Ms Smith said she stood for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
“But when one religion is attempting to impose itself on or above others, a line must be drawn,” she said.
Local Greens House of Representatives candidate Kevin Poynter said the anti-Halal label movement was “misguided”, adding people shouldn’t mistake an extremist view as representative of the whole religion.
“We shouldn’t condemn people using religion in a peaceful way who contribute to society,” Mr Poynter said.
“I meet a lot of people in the community (from various religions and countries) who give a positive contribution to the economy.
“We need to calm down,not create division in the community – which is what (extremist group) Islamic State wants.”
The ALA event will be held at the Astor Inn on Edward Street from 7pm.