The federal government has cancelled a $670,000 grant promised to a mosque in Dandenong on the grounds of “social cohesion concerns” after it mourned the death of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly said on Wednesday afternoon she would not give funding to the Taha Humanity Association of Victoria after it reportedly held a service this week to mark the Iranian leader’s death.
In a video seen by this masthead, Labor MP Julian Hill had promised the Taha Centre funding to “support the next stage of community facilities” before the last election.
However, the Shiite Muslim organisation drew scrutiny in parliament on Tuesday when Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan said the group had mourned a “brutal dictator”.
Khamenei, who was also a religious leader in Shiite Islam, was killed by US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran over the weekend.
Aly said she had asked her department to halt the grant process after becoming aware of content posted online.
A video of a service “in honour of His Eminence Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei” has since been scrubbed from the Taha Association’s social media channels.
On Wednesday, Aly confirmed the commitment had been ditched.
“Due to social cohesion concerns, I’ve decided to not go ahead with a grant for the Taha Humanity Association,” she said in a brief statement.
“We are not proceeding with this election commitment.”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
