[Oz / Q Society] HALAL SHOW BAGS CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCED

HALAL SHOW BAGS CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCED

Volunteers of Q Society of Australia will hand out free shopping bags
this Saturday 31st August, at selected supermarkets around the
country. The bags, which state “Halal certification schemes fund
mosques, madrassas and jihad,” are designed to generate discussion
amongst Australian consumers.

While the re-usable shopping bags are free of charge, the imprint and
info material in each bag alerts consumers that halal certification
schemes are not free and have developed into a hidden Islamic goods
and services tax.

Q Society’s spokesman Andrew Horwood points out: “Halal food
itself is not of concern. Nearly all our food is naturally permissible
to Muslims and observant Muslims can make food of unknown origin halal
by proclaiming ‘bismillah’ over the food before eating. What is of
concern for Australians are the recently invented certification
schemes, designed to permeate the supply chain from feeding trough to
super market shelf, including many non-food goods and services.”

The show bags contain an educational video with references to Islamic
scriptures and results of the research conducted by Kirralie Smith of
HalalChoices.com.au, as well as a petition to parliament for mandatory
labelling. The educational video will be launched on YouTube on the
same day.

According to meat industry groups and resear ch, two thirds of chicken
and lamb meat and over half the beef sold in Australia now comes from
Halal-certified suppliers. Most dairy products as well as other food
and many non-food items are certified to sharia standards, but not
always labelled.

Islamic organizations have estimated the value of the global halal
certification market at USD 2.3 trillion in 2013, growing by 20% per
year. No other religious group has imposed a similar tax-like scheme
on the general public.

Q Society lobbies for a fair ’User Pays’ policy, clear labelling
and against discrimination against non-Muslims and women at certain
Australian workplaces, where now only Muslim males are permitted to
work.
Australians should not have to pay an ‘Islamic Tax’ for Halal or
be coerced to fund the Islamisation of Australia.

About Q Society of Australia Inc
Q Society is the leading Islam-critical civil rights movement in
Australia. The not-for profit group was incorporated as Q Society of
Australia Inc in 2010 by volunteers from all walks of life. The aim of
the society is to provide Australians with an independent and
critical view on Islam, leading to a more balanced public discussion,
and to policies with the interest of the majority of Australians at
heart.

Kirralie Smith is the founder and director of HalalChoices. What
started as an attempt to put together a shopping list for her family,
resulted in two years of research into Halal-certification schemes in
Australia and the most comprehensive halal shopping guide in
Australia.

# Original press release