'We felt frightened': Muslim girls speak out about backlash to Australia Day billboard
Two young Muslim girls at the centre of a controversial Australia Day billboard have spoken out for the first time.
The girls are in Adelaide for a Muslim peace festival, which aims to raise awareness and understanding of their culture.
The pair were the faces of a controversial Australia Day advertising campaign, which they had no idea about until they saw their faces on the news .
"They didn't tell us, just one day we saw on the news that two girls in hijabs were on the billboard and we looked closely and it was us," one of the girls told 7 News.
But the Australian-born Muslim girls, aged just 10 and 12, received so much backlash the billboard was removed and the girls feared for their lives.
"We felt frightened. Scared, and not safe," the girls said of the reaction. "Like something dangerous was going to happen."
An online crowd-funding movement to put the girls back in the advertisement was launched, and has since raised nearly $170,000.
Now their faces adorn another Australia Day campaign, being shared in print media.
"We feel now that we belong in Australia because everyone cared and we thank them a lot," the girls said.
It's the first time the young Melbourne girls have spoken publicly.
On Saturday, they were VIP guests at the festival at Veale Gardens.
The Al Salam Peace Festival has now been running in Adelaide for three years and organiser Sowaibah Hanifie hopes that as the event's popularity grows, so too will the wider community's understanding of Muslim culture.
"Where we don't have these fears and misconceptions about one another and we're able to build a more cohesive community that's built on understanding," she told 7 News.
News break - January 28
