SYDNEY – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese downplayed anti-immigration protests over the weekend in major Australian cities, but urged vigilance after Neo-Nazis addressed some rallies.
“They weren’t big numbers in the scheme of things, in a nation of almost 27 million people, let’s be clear here,” Mr Albanese told ABC TV on Sept 1, referring to the protesters.
“There has always been an element of people who would appeal to anti-immigration as a platform.”
Protesters in cities and regional centres
were met by counter-demonstrations, with the largest in Melbourne and Sydney.
Members of the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Network spoke at several rallies, using slogans such as “hail White Australia”.
In Melbourne, a group of men attacked an Indigenous protest site, with critics pointing out the contradiction of those opposed to immigration targeting Australia’s first people.
“What we have here is Neo-Nazis being given a platform,” Mr Albanese said.
“That’s what we saw on the weekend and the tone, of course, of much of the rallies was unfortunate, the best way you can put it, but hateful in some of the extreme examples.
“And the idea that an open Neo-Nazi was able to give a speech from the steps of the Victorian Parliament” is not acceptable, he added.
Australia’s immigration policy favoured Whites until 1973, and racism has remained a persistent issue.
A fringe far-right movement has long existed, with anti-immigrant sentiment typically rising during economic uncertainty.
Today’s housing shortage, which has
driven rents and property prices sharply higher
, has fuelled anxiety over rapid population growth.
Ten years ago, a group called “Reclaim Australia” was marching and in 2005 anti-Muslim sentiment erupted on Sydney’s Cronulla Beach when crowds of Whites attacked Lebanese Australians.
The riots prompted retaliatory attacks on shops and cars.
Almost one in three Australians was born overseas, with the UK, India, China and New Zealand the top source countries.
Almost half the population has at least one parent born overseas.
“We’re a modern nation that’s benefited from our multiculturalism, that overwhelmingly people live in harmony, of different ethnicities, different religions, different backgrounds, and we’re enriched by the diversity in this country,” Mr Albanese said.
“We need to show respect for each other, and there will always be people who seek to” try to use race as a reason for broader problems. BLOOMBERG
