Television host Sonia Kruger’s calls for Australia to close its borders to Islamic migration were a “stereotypical attack on all Muslims in Australia” and vilified the religious group, a tribunal has found.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Friday ruled Kruger’s July 2016 assertion that there was a correlation between the number of Muslims in a country and the number of terrorist attacks “vilified” an ethno-religious group.
She called for an end to migration from Islamic countries.
“Personally I would like to see it stopped now for Australia,” Kruger said while hosting the Today Show in mid-July 2016.
“Because I want to feel safe, as all of our citizens do, when they go out to celebrate Australia Day.”
Sam Ekermawi, a practising Muslim, filed a complaint to the tribunal against the Nine Network claiming the comments were racial vilification.
Nine argued Islam is not a race but the tribunal rejected its submission, noting groups of “ethno-religious origin” were contained in their definition of race.
The tribunal concluded Kruger and Nine acted “in good faith and without malice” in having the discussion but they could not accept her remarks were “reasonable”.
“She provided her own views and commentary on the issues and these additions were not just opinion, they were vilifying remarks in their own right,” the judgment states.
The tribunal said Kruger could have given her views in a “more measured manner” to avoid vilifying the group but instead presented “a stereotypical attack on all Muslims in Australia”.
The tribunal members, however, declined Mr Ekermawi’s request for an apology from Kruger and Nine because he was not personally named or defamed and the event took place more than two years ago.
