On the way in on the train, I encountered four large, close cropped headed men and their female equivalents heading into Martin Place. One with his XXXL black hoodie with a logo on the back 'Isis Hunting Team, Royal Australian Infidel'. The words surrounding a bullet shattered, grinning skull. At Town Hall, the lads all needed to find a dunnie to relieve their excitement at making the parade. Hitting Martin Place, at least this time I was not being drowned like a fish but I was quickly identified by polite questioning from boys in blue that I was not there to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Reclaim Australia at the top of Martin Place. They were kind enough to let me through to take some photographs but with a reminder if I caused any trouble...
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| Off to invade NZ... fush and chups? |
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| The boys waiting for their parade |
The Party for Freedom seemed to dominate the posters and slogans for Reclaim Australia. 'Say no to Sharia Law', 'Immigration the elephant in the room', and 'Its a foreign invasion'-only a few hundred years too late on that one. 'Assimilate or Leave!' Ouch! There was a home made sign 'No bacon, no boobs, no beer-no one will be happy.' I guess they were upset at Hooters going into liquidation. Then there was the freedom of speech banner 'Marxist Scum off our streets'. Our streets? A woman interviewed claimed "I believe we are under threat from possibly Sharia Law coming in, or Muslims getting their demands met." Possibly? By what means? The front page of the Telegraph? And which demands will Muslims be getting met? The ones to be vilified in rallies such as these, or the right to be told they are not real Australians until they behave a bit more whitely, sorry Australian as defined by right of reclaim. Ned Kelly made an appearance-reclaim our bank robber hero! And what about the group of four lads dressed in Ulysses clobber? I heard a wee lad ask his father hopefully "Dress-ups?" Then it was identified they were Spartans! Of course! The same Spartans of my book learning who liked nothing better than boot camp like marches with no kit on, followed by a bit of nudie wrestling. Then there was the man from United Patriotic Front with his lolly stick crucifix and the slogan 'Aussie Pride'. If Jesus, a jew and brown was at your rally he would be asking you where is your compassion. Actually, the police would have grabbed him and marched him down to the other mob, long haired zealot that he is/was. A few hundred had turned up by 10.30am.
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| Kneeling at the feet of Bronwyn |
By this stage even I had outstayed my welcome and asked the kind policeman if I could leave the Reclaim Australia and move down into the counter rally. They were kind enough to let me through to take some photographs but with a reminder if I caused any trouble... And I went to take a photograph just behind the thin blue line when an over zealous fifteen year old weighed down by acne and too much riot equipment hauled me out by my backpack and instructed me 'To get on the other side". Looking like a juvenile RoboCop he must have got the message from a wiser, more senior officer to put his testosterone back in its bag and talk nicely to the old man. 'Would you mind moving down behind the line sir?"
Socialist Alliance, Red Flag, the Anarchists were present and a range of Indigenous speakers. It appeared the counter demonstration had tried to engage Reclaim Australia and been pushed down towards the bottom of Martin Place.
One speaker noted three people had been arrested during this including an elder. The younger speaker made the point that Aboriginal opposition to fascism is not new and the tactics of arrest and beatings have been the result of their history of activism. In amongst this a Reclaim Australia supporter pushed his way up through the crowd. Although he had balls of brass-it was met with him being surrounded and confronted. Likewise where I stood an old man making his way up to Reclaim Australia was followed, identified as a racist and taunted. There was heat, some of it unnecessarily aggressive (the old man) but it was defused when an older Aboriginal speaker reminded people not to act in a way which would lead to the anti-racism movement being dismissed because they are violent. Another speaker said let them come down here and debate their understanding of history, test their view of history against Aboriginal history. The speaker was clear who would win. But then even though a few had the balls to walk through the crowd, they did not have the balls to debate and test their views, well, even expose their views to daylight. Which seem to be a call to arms to defend a White Australia, free the streets not just of Marxists, Anarchists and anyone who opposes their narrow view of the world but to make an Australia cleansed of muslim and free of foreigners. It smells like, and behaves like old fashioned fascism. The drums are beating and we have been warned, the fascists are on the rise!
As for Reclaim Australia it is at heart just another conservative movement of people who want to go backwards into what they think were 'better times'. Like the forces opposed to Italian, Greek, Maltese, Lebanese and Pacific Island migrants in the post Second World War up to the sixties and more recently before muslims of multiple nationalities were targeted, the Asians-anyone from India to Indonesia, the Philippines and China. Although Reclaim Australia believes it supports Indigenous people, it is not evident in their rhetoric, more assimilate, be like us not like you and it explains why there was a large number of Indigenous speakers in the counter rally. And like similar conservative movements, think USA 'Tea Party', they are afraid of the future. They think if we were all like them, we would be a better society. 'Assimilate or leave!' And despite banging on the drum of not being racist, or nazis, their fellow travellers, white supremacists, were made welcome at both rallies.
AND THE PHOTOGRAPHS
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| Admire the spirit comrade! |
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| Grannies for anarchy |
It must be lonely living in fear of difference and the threat that we might not be part of the master race after all. Smells like fascism...
Postscript 1 August 2015: Awoke this morning to hear the English Defence League had marched in my home town of North Shields. One hundred of the mongrels, with their hate infested views. They were counter rallied by over three hundred anti racism supporters. See the pictures in the Newcastle Chronicle on line. Love my people!
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