Police are investigating after a swastika and anti-Islam graffiti was spray-painted on a mosque in Brisbane’s north.
The swastika and the words “f— Allah” and “No Muslims = peace” were written in black paint on the Bald Hills Mosque on Telegraph Road on Wednesday night.
Local MP Bisma Asif, who posted a photo of the graffiti on social media, said everyone deserved to feel safe in their community as the country comes to grips with the Bondi terrorist attack.
Graffiti on the wall of a mosque in Bald Hills.Credit: Facebook
“Frankly, I’m sick of the constant antisemitic, Islamophobic and racist incidents we’ve had in our community,” she wrote.
“Now more than ever, it is important we stand together against divisiveness.”
The Labor politician, who was the first Muslim elected to the Queensland parliament, urged the state government to pass racial vilification laws.
Premier David Crisafulli said his government would focus on stamping out antisemitism in an opinion piece for the News Corp media published this morning, promising “stronger legislation backed by real enforcement” and stronger bans on hate symbols.
“We must all understand, words became vandalism, vandalism became violence, violence became murder,” he wrote.
Australia’s only Muslim Test cricketer, Usman Khawaja, also posted about the graffiti on social media, reposting Asif with the message: “Don’t let the haters divide us.”
Tensions have heightened around the country following the attack that killed 15 people in Sydney on Sunday.
On Thursday, internal Queensland police communications about a potential attack on a shopping centre also in Brisbane’s north were leaked to the public and quickly spread online.
A QPS spokesperson said the service received an anonymous tip about a potential attack at North Lakes Westfield earlier this week.
Police have failed to find any credible threat on any shopping centre in North Lakes or in Queensland, superintendent Chris Toohey said on Friday.
“We always take any information seriously, and particularly coming after Bondi, we’re aware the community are in a heightened state, and we want to make sure that we not only have the community safe, but they are reassured that they are safe.”
There was an increased police presence at the centre on Friday as a precautionary measure.
Toohey cautioned against spreading unverified reports online: “Those threats then become the reality for some people. Unfortunately, people stay in the house as a result of seeing these incidents reported on social media, and in fact they’re very untrue.”
Toohey said the information was sent to police in good faith.
“It was secondhand information, and it was a very vague threat towards a shopping centre,” he said.
“That was then changed in social media and enhanced to make it a lot more threatening and has caused a lot of unrest for people in the community.”
Toohey also addressed the mosque vandalism, saying it went against Australian values.
“Everyone should feel safe, no matter what their culture or what their religious beliefs are. We find it unacceptable in the Queensland Police that any members of the community feel persecuted, and we will take measured steps to make sure they feel safe,” he said.
“We want to remind people to remain tolerant and calm in these times, and that way the community can feel safe and continue the lifestyle that we appreciate here.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the mosque vandalism to contact Policelink on 131 444.
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