The Facebook page of Katter’s Australia Party Senator Fraser Anning’s Facebook has been removed for reportedly breaching the website’s policy on hate speech.
An anonymous complaint was made about a post from the controversial Queensland Senator in which he called the anti-bullying Safe Schools initiative a degenerate sexual program.
He said today on Twitter that Facebook’s action was an attack on free speech.
“Free speech is under attack, and communication is being regulated by foreign companies with tendencies of political bias,” Senator Anning said.
Senator Anning has also been an outspoken critic of Muslim migration, spurring critics in the farm sector who are nervous about potential impacts with Indonesian trade.
He used his maiden speech to Parliament in August to call for a public vote on a ban on Muslim immigration.
“The record of Muslims who have already come to this country in terms of rates of crime, welfare dependency, and terrorism are the worst of any migrant [group] and vastly exceed any other immigrant group,” Senator Anning told the Senate.
"While all Muslims are not terrorists, certainly all terrorists these days are Muslims, so why would anyone want to bring more of them here?
"We need a plebiscite to allow the Australian people to decide whether they want wholesale non-English speaking immigrants from the third world, and particularly whether they want any Muslims.”
Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population and it is our fifth-largest ag export market.
Indonesia’s population of 260 million is the fourth largest in the world. Our farmers send them more than $2.4 billion of wheat, livestock, meat, sugar, cotton and more each year.
Australia supplies about 80 per cent of Indonesia’s beef and more than 50pc of its wheat imports.
Indonesia’s rising middle class of the developing nation is also a prime target for high-value Australian exports, particular horticulture, as their appetite for healthy, quality fruit and vegetables grows.
Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association advisor Tracey Hayes said a ban on Muslim immigration was “ludicrous” and highlighted the significance of livestock exports for Northern Australia.
“The Indonesian live export market is critical, it underpins the northern beef industry,” Ms Hayes said.
“They have growing levels of affluence and a demand for quality protein, and we’re well placed to deliver it,” she said.
“It is ludicrous to suggest a blanket ban on religious grounds in modern global operating environment.
“Those views aren’t representative of our engagement and aspirations in dealing with muslim countries.
“A critical part of any trading relationship is mutual respect and Indonesia is a case in point.”