Speaking in the calm, flat voice of one who is used to protesters with megaphones crashing his media appearances, the far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders stood behind a bank of microphones and recommended Australia close its borders and abandon its long-held policy of multiculturalism, lest “Australian society” be irrevocably lost.
“You will have millions of people coming to Australia, like we do in Europe, and you will not be able to handle it,” Wilders said. “You should be a sovereign country that closes your borders to those kinds of immigrants.”
“Those kind of immigrants” are Muslims. Opposing Islam is the central tenet of Wilders’ Party for Freedom, which has been leading the polls in the Netherlands since August. It is also the key policy of the Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA), the new party that Wilders flew to Australia to launch. » | Calla Wahlquist | Wednesday, October 21, 2015
