You want a bigot? As the GhostBusters team used to say: “Who-ya-gonna-call?” Piers Akerman, of course.

Crikey’s favourite tabloid ranter extended his reach beyond Sydney’s
western suburbs overnight, popping up in a guest appearance on the
BBC’s world service.

The
Beeb’s man in Sydney, Phil Mercer, filed an upbeat piece about the
success of multiculturalism in Australia, interviewing happy migrants
like the couple who emigrated from Greece after the war and now own
Sydney’s O Cosmos newspaper, and the Uniting Church minister
Bill Crews, who gave his assessment of the success of Australia’s
post-war migration.

The BBC ran a grab from John Howard
recommitting his administration to governing for all cultures, and
positive words from the Islamic Council of Australia.

But
because the report was part of an international series called ‘Has
multiculturalism failed?’ Mercer had to find someone for the “Yes”
case. Enter Piers.

As Mercer put it: “However, there are those
who believe the Islamic community deserves to be scrutinised more than
others. Here’s where multiculturalism may be poised to take a few
knocks.” Cue boilerplate Akerman rant, followed by this ominous
warning: “… I can see problems ahead for this group of people. Of
course I refer to the recent wave of Islamic migrants…”

We await the latest pronouncement from the Piers blueprint, coming soon to a global media outlet near you.