E/CN.4/1998/6/Add.1 page 15 (b) Other areas 66. In recent years, there has been a large increase in the number of Buddhists and Hindus in Australia and their communities are now being structured. As indicated above, their integration into Australian society has been facilitated by the authorities, which are also helping to maintain their cultural and religious identity in accordance with their policy of cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. The situation of these minorities in religious and non-religious matters seems to be satisfactory, despite a few isolated incidents attributable not to religious intolerance, but, rather, to ignorance fuelling manifestations of racism encouraged by some isolated extremist political statements, such as those by MP Pauline Hanson. 4. (a) Other communities Church of Scientology 67. By virtue of the 1983 High Court decision in Church of the New Faith v. Commission for Pay-Roll Tax, the Church of Scientology is recognized as a religious institution in Australia and is therefore entitled to tax relief (see above, para. 11). Several religious and non-governmental commentators expressed the view that it was really a sect based on a combination of elements borrowed from psychology and religion and on a search for profit at the expense of its members, achieved through brainwashing, chiefly among young people. Scientology awoke not only suspicions, but also fears owing to its aggressiveness and virulence, especially in its legal proceedings against any opponent. 68. Other non-official commentators criticized the pressures exerted by the Church of Scientology on its members to extract money from them, but they said that they were not opposed to the community as such. 69. The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that the Church of Scientology represented only a small number of individuals in Australia, where people were free to do what they wanted within the law of the country. He added that new religious movements sprang up and vanished “like mushrooms” in Australia and that they did not constitute a problem. The Minister recalled the basic principle of Australian society, which was religious freedom for any denomination without the State deciding whether a belief was good or bad, in order to avoid causing social divisions. Undoubtedly any violations committed by a religious group should be sanctioned, but they should not lead to banning the religion as such. 70. Representatives of the Church of Scientology reported that they enjoyed total religious freedom, including for their places of worship, and entertained good relations with the authorities. A few minor problems were mentioned by those representatives, such as the fact that some religious groups spread negative propaganda against all new religious movements. Generally speaking, however, according to the Scientologists, their church maintained “cordial” relations with the representatives of major religions,