Hi there ONTHEBEACH...

Thank you for your kind wishes, like many hereon, I get sick and tired of arguing matters that are simply common sense. It's not racism, or any other 'ism' it's fact! If we don't take a hard line with protecting our borders, then the inevitable will happen and these detestable people smugglers will restart their awful trade, and many of these poor buggers will be once more, at their mercy with a distinct possibility of perishing at sea.

Foxy,
Yes I do understand exactly what Peter Costello was saying and I agree with that. Our laws must, and do, come before any religious ruling or cultural practice.

The problem we have is that politicians do not enforce the laws. They are chasing the ethnic vote and are scared to upset some sections.

We have made a rod for our own backs by not insisting that our laws and social standards are upheld right from the start. By being too tolerant, we have given the impression that we will adapt to almost any alien cultural practice. Our interpretation of multiculturalism was wrong.

//Why then is ritual slaughter tolerated?//

Because if you banned it for Muslims you'd have to ban it for Jews as well: rabbinical law also forbids stunning prior to slaughter. Ever since the Shoah, interfering with Jews' freedom to practice their religion is something that no Australian government is going to touch with ten-foot pole. Nobody wants to be seen to be seen as persecuting Jews these days.

Here's one link that explains exactly what sharia
law is:

htto://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/09/23/explainer-what-sharia-law

And here's another link that explains what ritual slaughter is:

http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/ritual_slaughter.php

cont'd ...

Please excuse the typo in my previous post.
Here's the link again:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/2014/09/23/explainer-what-sharia-law

I'll try again:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/09/23/explainer-what-sharia-law