The prime minister has condemned a suspected Islamophobic attack on two women at a suburban shopping centre, almost a week after the assaults.
An unidentified woman allegedly assaulted a 30-year-old woman inside the shopping complex before she pushed a 26-year-old woman to the floor in a separate incident about 10 minutes later, Victoria police said.
Ealaf Al-Esawie, who wears a hijab, said she had been living in fear since the alleged attack. The 26-year-old said she was randomly hit in the face and then pushed to the ground. The alleged attack occurred last Thursday and was reported in the media on Monday and Tuesday.
“I am terrified to go out, I am terrified to leave these four walls of my house, something I never thought I would say,” Al-Esawie told Guardian Australia on Monday.
“It is 100% because I am Muslim. I am born here, this is my country. Where do I go when I am attacked in my own country?”
Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja on Tuesday accused Albanese of being silent over Islamophobic attacks and favouring other faiths.
The “atrocious” attacks would be “swept under the rug like all attacks against the Islamic community”, Khawaja said in an Instagram post.
“Prime minister and definitely not the opposition leader will mention it. It’s amazing how one-sided the [world] is.”
Khawaja called for a summit to tackle not just antisemitism but Islamophobia too.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Albanese said: “I have every respect for Usman Khawaja, he’s a great Australian … my view is that any attack on people on the basis of their faith or who they are is reprehensible. And I certainly hope that the perpetrators get tracked down and face the full force of the law.”
Asked again about the perception from some Muslim leaders that his government did not take Islamophobia seriously, Albanese responded: “I take all attacks on people on their basis of their faith seriously, and they should all face the full force of the law.
“We’ve appointed a special envoy on Islamophobia. That’s an important step forward. And I’m someone who celebrates our diversity and who respects people, regardless of their faith.”
The special envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, told ABC radio on Wednesday the alleged attacks were “abhorrent and disgusting”.
Malik toured the country late last year and said many Muslims told him they had been subject to attacks but hadn’t reported them to authorities.
“One [reason] is the normalisation of Islamophobia … many individuals, when they are attacked, think it’s just part of being Muslim in modern-day Australia – which is condemnable and nobody should tolerate that.
“There’s also fear of stigmatisation. A lot of Muslims are fearful that if they report, the the Muslim community will be seen as … a community that complains.”
Malik said there was also a “lack of trust” in police and people felt intimidated when reporting alleged hate crimes.
“There’s also past experiences … [where people] feel they have reported a crime and nothing has taken place. There’s also language barriers.”
Malik said women were overwhelmingly the target of Islamophobic attacks.
When asked on Tuesday for a comment on the attacks following his prompt responses to a spate of antisemitic incidents, Albanese’s office pointed to a statement released by Julian Hill, the federal assistant minister for multicultural affairs.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said the violence was unacceptable, egregious and a disgrace, and of particular concern was one of the victims being pregnant.
The president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Rateb Jneid, said in a statement that he was “alarmed” at the “continuing trend of physical assaults against members of the Muslim community across Australia”.
He claimed Muslims were facing threats of violence on an “almost daily basis”.
“These attacks are not isolated but indicative of a growing trend of Islamophobic violence that must be addressed immediately.
“The physical security of Australian Muslims is being threatened on an almost daily basis, yet the response from authorities and political leaders remains grossly insufficient.”
