Watch Yassmin Abdel-Magied Shut Down Jacqui Lambie’s Anti-Islamic Views On ‘Q&A
"You're talking about stuff you don't know anything about."
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie and author/engineer/activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied were at the centre of an especially nasty exchange on Q&A last night, after Lambie declared that supporters of Sharia law should not be allowed in Australia.
Asked by host Tony Jones whether she thought Australia should take a page out of Donald Trump’s book, Senator Lambie replied that “anybody who supports Sharia law in this country should be deported”.
“Do you know what Sharia law is?” asked an incredulous Abdel-Magied. “Do you know what it is?”
Abdel-Magied, a Sudanese-born Muslim who immigrated to Brisbane as a child, accused Lambie of “talking about stuff [she] don’t know anything about”.
“My frustration is that people talk about Islam without knowing anything about it, and they’re willing to completely negate my rights, as a human being, as a woman, as a person with agency, simply because they have an idea about what my faith is about. Islam to me is the most feminist religion. We got equal rights well before the Europeans. We don’t take our husbands names because we ain’t their property.
“The fact is what is culture is separate to what is faith.”
Lambie responded by asserting that “we have one law in this country and it is the Australian law, not Sharia law — not in this country, not in my day.”
BREAKING: Lambie continues personal #QandA tradition of losing the plot, regaining it, & then dousing it in petrol & setting it on fire.
— Kenny Devine (@TheKennyDevine) February 13, 2017
As the exchange got more and more heated, Jones stepped in and told the panelists that “shouting at each other is not going to help”.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied went on to defend her love of for her country. “Jacquie, you talk about protecting Australian, well I am Australian. I have gone around the world talking about how much I love Australia. And so it hurts me deeply when my elected representatives don’t want to have me in this country simply because of my faith or because of where I was born.”
But Lambie accused her fellow panelist of “playing the victim,” and insisted that her views represented “what the majority want.”
That sigh you just heard from @yassmin_a – that's the collective sigh of all of us. #QandA
— Mariam Veiszadeh (@MariamVeiszadeh) February 13, 2017
It's an unfair imposition to have Aussie Muslims put on #QandA to deal with folks like Jacqui & Pauline who speak in #AlternativeFacts
— Mariam Veiszadeh (@MariamVeiszadeh) February 13, 2017
You can watch the entire exchange below, although I’d recommend making yourself a soothing cup of tea before you do.
Is it time to define new rules so that migration doesn’t disturb the peace? @JacquiLambie & @yassmin_a disagree vehemently #QandA pic.twitter.com/nRXyj3p2hG
— ABC Q&A (@QandA) February 13, 2017