Debate on Multiculturalism, The Australian, publication circa 2005, confirming date

John Stapleton

SYDNEY historian Keith Windschuttle has said multiculturalism is damaging Australia and Muslim women should be banned from wearing traditional headscarves in schools.

``I am in favour of multiracialism but not I am not in favour of multiculturalism,'' Mr Windschuttle said last night in his address to the Sydney Institute about the White Australia Policy.

``Multiculturalism says people should stay in their ethnic cocoons, we should have diversity, we should not have integration, people should preserve their own ways including wearing the burka and all that kind of stuff that our Muslim guests now indulge in,'' he said.

``We didn't have problems when everybody was in favour of integration, when Australians were called `New Australians' which meant that they were people on the way to becoming the same as the rest of us. That policy, I think, was a good one and we should go back to it.'' Mr Windschuttle blamed former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser for introducing a mutlicultural policy to Australia in the 1970s _ a policy that he said: ``has been damaging to Australia''.

After his address Mr Windschuttle told The Australian Muslim women should be banned from wearing headscarves to schools, supporting France's bill banning people from overtly wearing religious symbols in state schools passed last year.

``I support the French model ... burkas divide (Muslim women) from the rest of the community,'' he said. ``At public schools, people should wear school uniforms.''

Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder Keysar Trad said such a ban was unlikely to be introduced in Australia.

``I don't think Australian politicians are that backward, they are far more responsible,'' Mr Trad said last night.

``I find this to be a highly repressive view that seeks to undermine religious freedom. It is the sort of view you expect in the dark ages.''

Instead of encouraging integration, Mr Trad said the ban would only increase ethnic separatism.

``We would see a lot of Muslims become house bound and it would drive a lot of Muslim women out of schools and away from education.''