A tribunal has found media personality Sonia Kruger vilified Muslims when she called for Australia to close its borders to followers of Islam because she ‘didn’t feel safe’.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal delivered their decision on Friday – almost three years after Kruger’s explosive comments were made on the Today Show in July 2016.
The tribunal found Kruger’s ‘vilifying remarks’ had the ability to ‘encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population’.
But the tribunal dismissed a racial vilification complaint, determining The Voice Australia host did not engage in directing the controversial comments towards a race but rather a religious group.
A tribunal has found media personality Sonia Kruger vilified Muslims when she called for Australia to close its borders to followers of Islam on the Today Show in 2016 (pictured)
‘The evidence does not support a finding that Muslims living in Australia are a ‘race’ by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin,’ the tribunal said.
‘Apart from that issue, we would have found that both [Kruger and the Nine Network] engaged in racial vilification of the Australian Muslim community, being Muslims living in Australia.’
Australian Muslim man Sam Ekermawi filed had the complaint saying Channel Nine had vilified ‘ethnic Muslim Australians’.
Kruger shocked her fellow presenter David Campbell and former Today host Lisa Wilkinson when she discussed a column written by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt following a terrorist attack in Nice on Bastille Day.
‘I mean, personally, I think Andrew Bolt has a point here, that there is a correlation between the number of people who are Muslim in a country and the number of terrorist attacks,’ she said.
![The tribunal found Kruger's 'vilifying remarks' had the ability to 'encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/15/04/9845764-6707475-image-a-13_1550203636942.jpg)
The tribunal found Kruger’s ‘vilifying remarks’ had the ability to ‘encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population’
![Australian Muslim man Sam Ekermawi filed had the complaint saying Channel Nine had vilified 'ethnic Muslim Australians'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/15/04/9845740-6707475-image-a-12_1550203607212.jpg)
Australian Muslim man Sam Ekermawi filed had the complaint saying Channel Nine had vilified ‘ethnic Muslim Australians’
‘Now I have a lot of very good friends who are Muslim, who are peace-loving who are beautiful people, but there are fanatics.
‘Personally I would like to see it stopped now for Australia. Because I want to feel safe, as all of our citizens do, when they go out to celebrate Australia Day.’
The tribunal decided Kruger was ‘calm and measured’ in her comments and believed she made it clear she did not think every Muslim person was a fanatic.
‘Broadly, the Tribunal accepts that the purpose of the discussion in question was to have a debate about the size of the Australian Muslim population, the levels of Muslim migration and whether an increase in the level of either increases the likelihood of future terrorist attacks in Australia,’ the Tribunal said.
‘Further, the Tribunal accepts that to have a public discussion on such matters was in the public interest.’
While the tribunal accepted Kruger and Nine acted in good faith and without malice, they could not accept that her remarks were ‘reasonable’.
![But the tribunal dismissed a racial vilification complaint, determining The Voice Australia host did not engage in directing the controversial comments towards a race but rather a religious group](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/15/04/9845874-6707475-image-a-18_1550204046981.jpg)
But the tribunal dismissed a racial vilification complaint, determining The Voice Australia host did not engage in directing the controversial comments towards a race but rather a religious group
![Kruger shocked her fellow presenter David Campbell (right) and former Today host Lisa Wilkinson when she discussed a column written by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt following a terrorist attack](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/15/04/9845742-6707475-image-a-15_1550203649244.jpg)
Kruger shocked her fellow presenter David Campbell (right) and former Today host Lisa Wilkinson when she discussed a column written by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt following a terrorist attack
‘The principal difficulty we have with Ms Kruger’s comments is that she suggests that 500,000 ‘Australian Muslims’ is too many and that, in and of itself, such a number of Muslims living in Australia poses a safety threat to persons in Australia,’ the Tribunal said.
‘Consistently with this proposition, Ms Kruger concludes that all Muslim migration should be stopped because any addition to the number of Muslims in Australia increases the risk of terrorist attacks.’
Kruger told her co-workers that Japan has a population of 174 million people and 100,000 Muslims and the country never suffers terrorist attacks.
The Tribunal said Kruger’s view about the Australian Muslim population and future Muslim migration was unsupported by any evidence placed before the Tribunal.
During the 2016 segment, Kruger’s remarks drew a passionate response from her co-workers.
Hands waving, Campbell replied: ‘I’d like to see freedom of religion as well! As well as freedom of speech! They both go hand and hand!’
![Wilkinson (pictured) pointed out closing the borders to Muslims was the 'Donald Trump approach'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/15/05/9845746-6707475-Wilkinson_pictured_pointed_out_closing_the_borders_to_Muslims_wa-a-39_1550208638145.jpg)
Wilkinson (pictured) pointed out closing the borders to Muslims was the ‘Donald Trump approach’
Campbell said the article they were talking about – written by conservative columnist Andrew Bolt in News Corp newspapers – ‘breeds hate’.
When Wilkinson asked her directly whether she wanted the borders totally closed to Muslim migrants, Kruger said: ‘Yes, yes I would’.
Wilkinson pointed out closing the borders to Muslims was the ‘Donald Trump approach’. ‘Well, perhaps it is,’ Kruger said. ‘For the safety of our citizens here I think it’s important’.
The next day Kruger explained what led her to call for a ban on Muslim immigration: she was ‘rocked to the core’ after seeing a photograph of a child’s dead body in Nice the previous week.