Australia's Church leaders have entered a growing national controversy over an independent member of Federal Parliament who is opposed to the national policy of accepting migrants from Asia.

Over recent months Pauline Hanson's anti-immigrant and anti-Aboriginal views have provoked widespread anger in a country that has one of the most diverse racial mixes in the world. But she has also gained support from some quarters. Ms Hanson promotes an extreme right-wing populism that, according to one recent opinion poll, has won her the support of one in four Australians. A recent book, written anonymously but authorised by Hanson, speculates that in the year 2050 Australia will be part of the United States of Asia, ruled by a lesbian president called "Poona Li Hung". Leaders of Australia main churches - including the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Uniting churches, the Churches of Christ, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Orthodox Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church , the Salvation Army and the Society of Friends - urged Christians to repudiate the "voices that call forth racism and hate".

The 11 Church heads published - through the National Council of Churches in Australia - an unprecedented joint pastoral letter urging Christians to stand up against "falsehoods that pretend to be the truth"... "In the present atmosphere we who claim to be Christians have a special responsibility to ensure our attitudes and involvements as citizens are informed by the faith we profess."

Among the signatories are the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal Edward Clancy, the Primate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Keith Rayner, and Archbishop Stylianos, of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The letter, to be distributed to congregations across the country, said there were signs of "growing suspicion, anxiety, even fear in this country ... Serious divisions have appeared in the community. The unease is fed by a number of factors, including the pace of change, marked and growing inequities and a widespread feeling that decision-makers are remote from people's difficulties."

"When jobs, money and services appear to be dwindling, our compassion, generosity and respect for one another can easily diminish too.

"Voices that call forth resentment, racism and hate receive a hearing Australians normally would not give them," it said. "We call on Christians to cherish Australia's rich diversity of ethnic identities and resist the idea that any migrant group can be blamed for the country's problems."

It also urged Christians "to stand with Australia's indigenous people, beyond doubt the most disadvantaged group in this country".