The ‘Muslim Problem’ in Australia: The role of political leadership

The recent withdrawal of American and coalition forces from Afghanistan marked the end of the longest war in Australian history (2001–21). To the roughly 600,000 Muslims in Australia, the war in Afghanistan was a poor foreign policy choice borne of the misconceived ‘War on Terror’. Indeed, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Muslim Australians have endured a domestic ‘era of terror’. While the opportunities provided by a multicultural and liberal Australia have generally seen Muslim Australians thrive, they have become since 9/11 one of the country’s most targeted and vilified groups. Muslim communities have endured repeated mosque attacks and verbal and physical abuse in public spaces such as buses, trains, streets and suburban shopping centres. They are frequent targets of right-wing extremism.