AUSTRALIA-MOSLEM GATHERING AT THORNBURY, STATE OF VICTORIA (FRIDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2012)

Dr Mohamad Rameez Yahaya, Consul General Malaysia in Melbourne attended the Australian-Moslem Gathering at 15A Anderson Road, Thornbury (18km from CBD) last Friday evening (17/2/2012). The gathering was in conjunction with the working visit of Professor Ekmelledin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to Australia. The OIC Secretary General is in Australia on the invitation of the Australian government to educate and help Australians to overcome the so-called “Islamophobia”.

The gathering also saw the soil-turning ceremony for the first Islamic Museum in Australia. The event was also attended by the Premier of Victoria, Ted Baillieu and some other State and Federal Ministers. Around 100 people including officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade attended the event. The venue of the gathering was also the site of the Islamic Museum. The project for the Museum was funded by the State Government, the Federal Government as well as by the private sector (Leighton Holdings).

The first phase included the acquiring of an old warehouse at the site which approximately cost AUD500, 000, and it is estimated that there will be a further cost of more than million dollars to launch the project this coming July 2012. The Islamic Museum of Australia which is due to open by early 2014 will showcase Islamic history, culture and art with four permanent exhibits namely- Islamic Practices, Islamic Art, Contribution of Islam to Civilisation, and Australian Moslem History. The project was spearheaded by a group of Melbourne Moslems is to dispel stereotypes of the often misunderstood religious minority, Islam in Australia. The 2006 Census done in Australia indicates that there are more than 350,000 Moslems in Australia, of whom 128,904 were born in Australia.