ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a failed attempt at using Islamophobia in the western suburbs of Sydney during an Australian federal election. The purveyors of the Islamophobia intended to distribute a fraudulent electoral leaÀet, a few days before the election, to make residents anxious about the local development of a mosque. The pamphlet sought to link the opposing political party with Muslim organizations and suggested that there was a tolerance of Islamic terrorism. The political party targeted by the leaÀet was tipped off, and they photographed and confronted the leaÀet distributers that same night. Two days later, the leaÀet affair was national headline news and became known as the ‘Lindsay leaÀet scandal’.
