Story Archive

Blunder Down Under

When Stephanie Banister, 27, announced her candidacy for the seat of Rankin in Queensland, Australia, she quickly landed a network TV interview. Running on an anti-immigration platform as a candidate for One Nation, a nationalist right-wing political party, Banister proclaimed “I don’t oppose Islam as a country, but I do feel that their laws should not be welcome here in Australia.” She noted that 2 percent of Australians “follow haram,” apparently referring to halal, or the Islamic equivalent of kosher in Jewish law. Speaking of Jews, “Jews aren’t under haram, they have their own religion which follows Jesus Christ,” she asserted. After a worldwide uproar over her remarks, Banister withdrew from the race, even though One Nation leader Jim Savage said Banister “continues to have the full support of the One Nation executive.” Banister said she was the victim of “editing” by the network, which “completely twisted all my words and made me out to be a stand-up criminal and a stupid moron.” (RC/Sydney Morning Herald) ...No, not a stupid moron! Just one or the other.