When Bill Shorten was standing before Labor's assembled members and senators on Tuesday morning taking questions, Ed Husic stood up. The good-humoured, wise-cracking member for the western Sydney seat of Chifley wasn't smiling when he took up the controversy of Australia Post's former boss.
"I understand people's objection to Ahmed Fahour's salary," the $5.6 million that Australia Post tried to keep secret, "and I'm not endorsing it," Husic began.
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Ahmed Fahour slams Pauline Hanson
Pauline Hanson speculated whether he was an Islamic fundamentalist; now Australia Post chief Ahmed Fahour responds.
"But what I find odd is that Malcolm Turnbull has been overseeing Australia Post's salaries since 2013," when Turnbull became communications minister "and he never objected".
"Pauline Hanson made it her cause to target any Muslim in public life," Husic told the Labor caucus.
"She objected to Ahmed Fahour's religion, she objected to him making donations from his salary to the Islamic Museum of Australia, and, incidentally after she's a big deal in the Senate, Turnbull suddenly has a problem with his salary.
"Ahmed Fahour is a role model for many people; a man with humble beginnings who worked hard, he's been successful, he's improved a major corporation. We want positive role models yet we are going after people like Ahmed Fahour.
"We need to take a stand and call these things out. People have an objection to Ahmed Fahour's salary but nobody seems to worry about Bill Morrow's $3 million at NBN, a company that people have a lot of complaints about.
"In the pit of my stomach, I felt it was wrong. What can we do to promote good role models?"
Husic's question was rhetorical, which is just as well as Shorten had no answer except to criticise Fahour's salary again while restating the principle of religious non-discrimination.
Husic won the warm support of his colleagues. A number later commented to him along the lines of "I hadn't thought of it that way". But neither had Malcolm Turnbull. And Husic's casual accusation that the Prime Minister is prepared to persecute Muslims for political advantage is unfair.
Husic was understandably upset. With Labor's Anne Aly, he is one of only two Muslims in the Parliament. He does not trade on the novelty of his "diversity". He rarely brings up his faith. He refuses to be defined by his religion and concentrates on his job as shadow minister for the digital economy and employment.
This week, however, was exceptional. He was feeling hurt and depressed at the apparent persecution of Fahour, at the constant conservative agitation to liberalise hate speech laws despite the staunch opposition of every major ethnic community in the country, and then there was Bob Katter.
The big-hatted bigot from North Queensland got to his feet in the House in question time on Wednesday and, trading on the news of the arrest of a suspected terrorist in the town of Young, put this question to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton:
"The Daily Telegraph in October 2014 reported that Young in NSW is the unofficial Muslim capital of the outback. With a population of 7000, Arabic is the second language, and it is home to 400 Middle Easterners. Yesterday, Haisem Zahab from Young was arrested on allegations of assisting ISIS to develop long-range missiles. Last week, the Federation of Islamic Councils' president reportedly stated domestic violence is 'the last resort'.
"Will the minister listen to his own backbench and the US and ban visa holders from North Africa and the countries between Greece and India, exempting, of course, persecuted minorities, namely Sikhs, Jews and Christians – persecuted or not!"
It seems to be heyday for the hatemongers. Pauline Hanson's One Nation calls for a ban on Muslim immigrants. Katter's Australia Party wants the same thing by a different name. Jacqui Lambie is antagonistic to Muslims. Cory Bernardi and the Nationals' George Christensen blow the dog-whistle of anti-Islam.
As prime minister, Tony Abbott implied that Australia's Muslim leadership lacks loyalty to the country. Last week Abbott called for a cut to the immigration intake, though he didn't hint at any racial or religious exclusion; he framed it as a way to ease pressure on housing prices.
But Malcolm Turnbull is not among these ranks. Two key points. First, Ed Husic couldn't have known, but Turnbull did, in fact, flag Ahmed Fahour's provocatively large salary years ago.
When he was communications minister, Turnbull privately warned the chairman of Australia Post, John Stanhope, that Fahour's pay was out of line. But it's the board's job to set the chief executive's pay and Turnbull left it to Stanhope. The chairman evidently didn't take the warning seriously.
Second, contrary to being any sort of Islamophobe, Turnbull has been a firm defender of Muslim Australians, just as he has been a firm friend of Jewish Australians.
Indeed, a leading figure in Sydney's Muslim community, Dr Jamal Rifi, said that on taking the prime ministership Turnbull had taken community relations a "quantum leap" ahead.
President of the Lebanese Muslim Association Samier Dandan said Turnbull's leadership on social cohesion had "invigorated the community" into doing more to tackle the problem of extremism and terrorism.
Turnbull has been a strong voice of national cohesion, as any Australian leader should be. Four out of 10 of us were born overseas or have at least one parent who was. Racial and religious co-existence and co-operation are in Australia's deepest national interest. Racial or religious strife in such a country would be national suicide.
So what did Peter Dutton say in response to the crank Katter on the floor of the House? It will surprise those who've dismissed Dutton as a xenophobe to learn that he replied:
"It is important to point out that the vast majority of people are working hard in the community and supporting, for example, the abattoir that can only stay open because of the local Muslim population.
"It provides support to local farmers and to the local economy. They are hardworking people. They are doing the right thing. Like 99 per cent of people from the Islamic community in this country, they are doing the right thing. Where we find the one per cent and where the one per cent are doing the wrong thing – people who seek to do harm to our country – we will come down on them hard ...
"We will stamp out ISIL. We will stamp out those people who seek to do us harm. We are not going to change our migration program, because we have one of the best border protection systems in the world. That has been acknowledged by many countries. We have been able to deal with threats as they present at our border.
"We have stopped boats, and we have been able to stop threats at our border. We will not step back from the tough decisions that we have had to make, because they are in our national interest; that point needs to be recognised as well."
Dutton did take Katter's invitation to chide the president of Australia's Federation of Islamic Councils, Keysar Trad. Trad had said on Sky News that under an Islamic hadith, or a report of Mohammed's teachings, that a husband should hit his wife as "a last resort". Trad seemed to be endorsing this concept. He later apologised and said that "it is never OK to hit a woman".
Dutton told the House that "if you come to our country you abide by our laws and one of the things that sets us apart from many other nations is our respect of women".
Point for point, Dutton addressed the fundamentals of Australia's national interests. He defended law-abiding Muslim immigrants, welcomed their contribution, committed to protecting the country from criminals and terrorists, reaffirmed the immigration program as a national asset, and stated the equality of men and women in Australian culture as well as in our law.
Dutton was also demonstrating a political interest. He knows that Australia's rising temptation to racism is occurring on the political Right, and that the Right of politics has to deal with it.
The immigration minister knows that the Liberal Party cannot appease racial and religious hatred. If it does, it will be consumed. If the Coalition seems to be condoning a Muslim hate-fest, it will license its more reckless supporters to vote One Nation, while losing its legitimacy with the great centre of the Australian population.
The real task for the Coalition is to deal with the problems of extremist Islamism, while advancing the core Australian commitment to mutual respect, regardless of race, religion or gender. That is the responsible Right's formula for winning the political contest with the fringe. That way, the Coalition can offer solutions to real problems and hope for the future. The hate-mongers offer no solutions, only a bleak self-perpetuating cycle of hate, division and violence.
Husic is right to worry about the rising racism on the fringe of Australian politics. We all should. But he's wrong to think that the government is on the brink of surrendering to Hanson's hatred.
It's in vogue these days with the rise of angry, nationalist populism, to quote the William Yeats poem The Second Coming: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed."
In Australia the centre is being tested but, so far, at least, it is holding.
Peter Hartcher is political editor.
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