One Nation senator, Peter Georgiou has rejected his party’s proposed ban on Muslim immigration.
The newly appointed senator said that every person seeking to live in Australian, regardless of their religious background, should go through the same channels including strict background checks.
“If they are Muslim and they’ve passed the checks that the Australian government has on it, then I don’t see it as an issue,” Mr Georgiou told ABC radio last week.
“That is different to my party’s policy and everyone has their own … everyone thinks differently in the party [about] policy and we all have different thoughts on different policies.”
Leader of the party Pauline Hanson is an advocate of the ‘Muslim ban’; she came under fire in March for comparing Islam to a disease, stating “Islam is a disease; we need to vaccinate ourselves against that” and has also called for a royal commission into Islam.
As the son of migrants, Senator Georgiou said his stance was influenced by his familial background.
“The thing is my parents are immigrants. They came here 42 years ago so, you know, we all embraced Australia,” he said.
“I’ve been a very lucky person to be raised in Australia. Australia has given me lots of opportunities and I’m very grateful for it.”