Back in the day we were keen watchers of Kurt Kennedy.
We thrilled at his tilt for the the 2004 Legislative Assembly with his policies which included stamp duty concessions for having the relatives living next door, more voting power for large families, and being able to sink a bore in your backyard to get ‘free’ water.
We pondered the madness of his website (sadly now reworked, but happily still just as mad. And then when he sent in the answers to our candiate questionaire we really had a good old giggle.
We were a little bit sad when he only got 168 votes in that election (by no means the lowest candidate vote in Molonglo that year).
Then he surprised us all by converting to Islam and founding the “Best Party of Allah” which managed to goad Sophie Mirabella (née Panopoulos) into hysterics on the floor of the national parliament. This was followed up by a withdrawal of the party’s application allegedly for fear of being tagged as terrorists.
So imagine our surprise when today’s Canberra Times ran a story on this local legend getting beaten up on the grounds of the Canberra Mosque. It seems Kurt is now the secretary of the ACT Islamic Society. He had just announced that he was replacing the local imam of 13 year’s service, Mohammed Swaiti, with Yahya Atay.
While we would never advocating beating Kurt Kennedy up, we do wonder how more traditional members of the Muslim community would feel about this recent arrival, with a most unconventional grasp on reality, ditching their long standing spiritual leader?
We also wonder why the Canberra Times didn’t see fit to mention Kurt’s past.
UPDATED: The CT’s Graham Downie is now on the story with more background and at least a passing mention of Kurt’s colourful past. The Australian is always keen on a story about violent muslims and does not fail to deliver. The Oz notes that an AVO has been sought, more interestingly they also have the claim that Kurt converted to Islam 11 years ago. Maybe he’s been off in his tardis since 2004 when he was asked about his faith by this website and replied thusly:
“what are your religious beliefs and how do you anticipate they would guide your actions in the Assembly, which policies of yours are motivated by your religious beliefs” I BELIEVE IN SOMEONE STRONGER THAN YOU AND ME. I’M JUST A SERVANT OF THAT PERSON.
An answer which could be consistent with being a Muslim, but is not one of more ringing statements of faith ever uttered.