"There are countries that apply religious or Sharia law; Saudi Arabia and Iran come to mind. If a person wants to live under Sharia law, these are countries where they may feel at ease, but not Australia."

- Peter Costello, from an address to The Sydney Institute, 23.2.06 (source: AM, ABC)

So there you have it. The aspirant future Prime Minister taking up the cudgels of wedge politics, invoking a bogeyman - Sharia law - that has never been raised by anyone of consequence in Australia before. Most islamophobes in this country would never have heard of Sharia law, let alone understand what it is.

Or perhaps Dollar Sweetie (as the good folk of Crikey call him in honour of his finest hour as a union-bashing barista) is merely playing diversion politics - ie, get the AWB scandal off the front pages...