PM says some good people marched on Sunday, blames exploitation by neo-Nazis

2 weeks ago 4

Good people attended Sunday’s fiery anti-immigration protests, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared, warning that neo-Nazis were exploiting people’s grievances to spread hatred.

Parliament erupted on Monday as Labor, the Coalition and the Greens blamed one another for fuelling the hostility displayed by far-right extremists on Sunday and those waving terror group insignia at pro-Palestine rallies.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during question time on Monday.

But after Labor ministers spent the day decrying the weekend’s anti-immigration demonstrations as racist, Albanese took a more measured tone on Monday afternoon, acknowledging the anxieties of disaffected Australians while calling out extremism.

“Multiculturalism is a part of who we are as a modern nation,” Albanese said on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

“I’d just say to people, and I have no doubt that there would have been good people who went along, heard about a rally, concerned [about social problems] … have a look at who you were with on Sunday.”

“The motivation that they have, which isn’t actually about housing or our economy or anything else, it’s about sowing division. Neo-Nazis have no role.”

Political debate was on Monday consumed by the topics of migration and social cohesion, carrying echoes of the previous term of parliament when former Coalition leader Peter Dutton often focused on antisemitism.

His successor, Sussan Ley, has struck a more centrist tone on migration. Before question time, Ley delivered a statement to the parliament saying pro-Palestinian marches had fuelled division and that the weekend’s rallies were “attended by people of goodwill, but hijacked by violent neo-Nazis spouting hate and racism”.

“The prime minister must show that leadership now,” she said.

The March for Australia rallies across the country on Sunday seized on growing community anxiety about the rate of migration since the pandemic, while promoting other far-right and anti-government sentiments.

“Net overseas migration is falling,” Albanese said on Monday. “Of course there was going to be an increased number after the lockdown of our entire continent.

“We are getting the numbers down. But migration also is important.”

Senators brawled as they tried to agree on a symbolic written motion condemning fringe elements involved in Sunday’s rallies, which sparked a national conversation on attitudes towards non-white Australians.

An initial motion moved by Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi condemned “racist, white supremacist” marches and called out MPs who attended them. No major party politicians attended but One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, as well as under-fire MP Bob Katter, went.

Faruqi’s motion claimed racism had been “normalised and legitimised” by politicians and the media who “fan the flames of hate”.

Faruqi described One Nation senators as “merchants of hate … who have nothing to offer but their racism and white supremacy.”

Both Labor and the Coalition offered their own amended version of the motion. Labor’s – which was ultimately successful – softened much of the language in the Greens amendment but was substantively similar.

The Coalition’s amendment focused on the commitment to “free speech and lawful assembly”. It went further than others, to condemn rallies by “pro-Iranian government extremists and those supporting terrorist organisations”, a swing at pro-Palestinian marches that featured Iranian, Hamas and Hezbollah iconography.

Strong words flew across the chamber amid the debate. Greens senator David Shoebridge accused the Coalition of wanting “to be in a position to platform neo-Nazis” to divide Australians on the lines of race.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie shouted back “who supported Australian Jews in your team? No one.”

Shoebridge compared the quote of a neo-Nazi – “we need to send them back, no debate, no discussion” – to remarks from Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke – “anyone who doesn’t have a valid visa should leave the country”.

The comparison drew a rebuke from Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who said to Shoebridge: “You are an absolute disgrace.”

Later in the debate, McKenzie accused Faruqi of double standards by not condemning pro-Palestine protesters on the Sydney Harbour Bridge who held a poster of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei holding a machine gun.