"Given my background, there are some people taking a small slice of pride or happiness," Ed Husic told The Australian daily.
Husic, of Bosnian origin, was elected a member of parliament for western
He took the oath with his hand put on a copy of the Noble Qur’an.
Husic, a former national president of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union, arrived in
Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened the 150-member parliament on Tuesday, urging MPs to engage in “consensus not confrontation”.
“This term of Parliament is not an opportunity to refight the election, vote after vote, bill after bill,” Gillard said at a ceremonial opening of
“This is a time for consensus, not confrontation; debate, not destruction.”
The new parliament, which has a three-year term, includes
It also includes
Enormous Privilege
Husic has described his election as
“Being elected as an MP is enormously humbling because it reflects the diversity of
The Muslim MP has admitted that anti-Muslim sentiments have risen since the 9/11 attacks on the
“There absolutely have been tensions since 9/11, but I think no one person can contribute to easing that tension,” he said.
“It has to be a genuine collective approach.”
Muslims, who have been in
Islam is the country's second largest religion after Christianity.
In post 9/11
A 2007 poll taken by the Issues Deliberation Australia (IDA) think-tank found that Australians basically see Islam as a threat to the Australian way of life.
A recent governmental report revealed that Muslims are facing deep-seated Islamophobia and race-based treatment like never before.
