Sydney - Australian Anglicans said Friday that they would fight the introduction of sharia law, a development that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said was "unavoidable" in Britain to promote social cohesion. Williams, the leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans, shocked Britons with his view that Britain's 1.7 million Muslims should not be forced to chose between the "stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty."
"We don't agree with the archbishop's comments," Sydney Bishop Robert Forsyth said. "In the case of Australia, we are thankful for freedom of religion but would oppose the idea of different systems of law for different people groups."
Sydney, Australia's biggest and most influential diocese, is home to most of the country's 350,000 Muslims. Forsyth said the rule of law and the secular state were non-negotiable aspects of Australia society for new arrivals.
"You are welcome, but you are welcome to this country on these fundamental terms - the terms are rule of law and secular state," he said.
The government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not commented on Williams' views on Islamic law, but opposition Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson said there were "no circumstances" in which he would support the introduction of sharia law.
"The idea that in some way you would change your basic values, culture and law to accommodate some people who feel that they don't want to see themselves as Australia's first, above all else - under no circumstances - would I support that," he said.
