A New South Wales Senate candidate for the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) has compared controlling Muslim immigration in Australia to stopping the spread of bird flu.

The Christian Democrats are pushing for a halt to Muslim immigration because there has been no serious study of the effects of Muslims on Australia.

They say the 10-year measure would give some breathing space to assess the situation.

The party today officially introduced pastor Paul Green as its number-one candidate for the Senate at a media conference in Sydney.

Green says he believes Australian people are very concerned about Muslim immigration and would support an immediate moratorium.

"If there was bird flu coming from a people's groups across the nation, would we not stop to assess the risk management of what it means to Australia and then assess the factors, and say, 'Is it safe to continue that or withhold it until it is dealt with?'" he said.

"We are saying there's cracks in the foundation.

"We need to address them. We need not rush it because we could be making a bad decision."

Green is urging the Federal Government to conduct a social impact study on the effects of Muslim immigration.

"It's much easier to do that with 300,000 Muslims than it would be with 3 million," he said.

"Let's take a breather and give the Australian people an opportunity to say, 'How do we want to work this?'"

PHOTO CAPTION

Auburn Gallipoli mosque, Sydney, Australia. (jkpm30)

ABC News