Jakarta – Shawwal 16, 1428/ October 27, 2007 – The visit of a delegation of Australian Muslim community leaders to Indonesia from tomorrow would help strengthen mutual understanding and links between religious leaders of both countries, according to Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer. The delegation would visit Jakarta and West Java from October 28 to November 2 following a five-day visit to Malaysia with the aim of "promoting understanding, tolerance and cooperation", the Australian embassy said in a statement quoting the ambassador.
Farmer said the visit, initiated by the Australian government, represented a great opportunity for senior Australian Muslims to engage their counterparts in Indonesia on a range of important issues affecting people in both the countries. He said the visit would also help promote messages of cross-cultural understanding, with the delegates keen to discuss their individual experiences as members of Australia‘s highly diverse and expanding Muslim community. "Islam in Australia is a dynamic, evolving story with a rich history, and one of which our country can be extremely proud," Farmer said. "The more than 350,000 Australian Muslims, stemming from over 70 different national backgrounds, including Indonesia, have made an enormous contribution to the success of contemporary, multicultural Australia," he said.
Farmer said he hoped the visit would also contribute to a better understanding in Australia of contemporary Indonesian society, and the role of Islam in particular. He believed the visit would serve to highlight the extent to which both Australia and Indonesia were "countries built on diversity". The delegation will visit urban and rural areas for dialogs with local education and religious leaders, academics, government officials and media representatives. They were scheduled to meet the Minister for Religious Affairs, talk to teachers and students at pesantren in Banten and Tasikmalaya in West Java, participate in public discussions at Hamka University and the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations (CDCC) in Jakarta, Antara reported. The make-up of the delegation reflected the broad cultural diversity of Australia‘s Muslim
Source: www.indianmuslims.info (29 Oktober 2007)
