Pauline Hanson: ‘Go buy non-Halal Easter eggs’

Megan Palin, news.com.au @megan_palin

PAULINE Hanson has urged Australians to buy “non-halal” Easter eggs and boycott brands that offer halal-certified products, including Cadbury.

The One Nation Senator made the appeal in a video posted to her Facebook page on Tuesday morning, in line with the party’s stance that buying halal-certified products equates to “financially supporting the Islamisation of Australia”.

Ms Hanson said one of the “biggest complaints” she has received since being elected was about halal certification.

“We see these products out there that are actually halal-certified, Cadbury chocolate for instance, halal-certified,” Ms Hanson said in the video.

News.com.au has contacted Cadbury, which sells several Halal certified products including Easter eggs, for comment.

Ms Hanson went on to plug Cadbury’s competitors including Lindt and Darrell Lea.

“If you want to get product that’s not Halal certified I’d suggest Lindt,” she said.

“And another great one is Darrell Lea, an Australian company not Halal certified.”

“Halal” is the Arabic word for “permissible”, and defines the food that Muslims are allowed to eat.

Halal certification indicates that a product does not contain traces of alcohol, blood or pork — all forbidden in Islam — and can be consumed by Muslims under Islamic religious rules.

It also applies to the way an animal is slaughtered, meaning animals are pre-stunned, but still alive when their throats are cut, so that the blood leaves their bodies.

But for some people and groups, including Reclaim Australia, halal certification is a “religious tax” and a sign that Australia is becoming increasingly “Islamified”.

Ms Hanson said some companies were “misleading” consumers by “not printing (‘halal-certified’) on the wrappers”. She informed supporters the information can instead be found on company websites and urged them to shop for Easter products at local newsagents.

“Go and buy some non-halal Easter eggs and chocolate and have a very happy Easter everyone,” she said.

Many other Australian staples including Vegemite, Bega cheese and Kellogg’s cereals are also halal-certified. As is most bread, milk, cereals and at least 80 per cent of chicken processed Down Under.

Worldwide, the halal market is valued at $2.1 trillion. In Australia, it is worth about $8.5 billion, $1.5 billion of which is in the meat sector.

Ms Hanson told viewers she was still waiting on answers to questions she put on notice to the government about how it was going to respond to recommendations handed down by the third party certification of food inquiry in December 2015.

“They’ve got 30 days to answer the question,” she said.