Taxpayers shouldn’t pay a cent for Anning’s neo-Nazi jaunt

The senator who called for a “final solution” attended a rally with white supremacists that had nothing to do with his parliamentary role, writes Dennis Atkins.

Fraser Anning is a Queensland Senator who lives in Gladstone, just under 2010 kms from St Kilda beach in Victoria.

Just how Anning could justify flying to Melbourne and billing it to the taxpayer (a cheap business class return ticket is just under $1400) is a riddle.

When he was in St Kilda at the weekend, Anning attended what was euphemistically called a rally about patriotism or reclaiming Australia. In fact it was a collection of white supremacists, Nazis, know nothing thugs and lost idiots who were out for trouble.

They gathered under the banners of Reclaim Australia (run by a couple of race baiters with criminal convictions), United Patriots and True Blue Crew.

RELATED: Fraser Anning defends his appearance at United Patriots Front rally

Senator Fraser Anning stood with United Patriots front leader Blair Cottrell at the weekend.

There’s no possible way Anning could claim this was business connected with his role as a Queensland senator or had anything to do with Parliamentary business — unless he’s set up a secret committee to propagate race hate with himself as the sole member.

Anning reckons he attended because the “gang violence” seen in Melbourne was spreading to Brisbane suburbs where Sudanese youths were rioting and responsible for car jackings.

In fact there’s no evidence of any such thing. Just this morning The Courier-Mail carries a story about violence across many suburbs, including car jackings.

Only one suburb is even close to Moorooka where refugees have mostly settled. Police say these crimes are down to an increase in the use of methamphetamine or ice and no ethnic group is behind the incidents.

We shouldn’t be surprised by Anning’s behaviour or his jaunt to Melbourne to hang around with neo-Nazis.

RELATED: Fraser Anning defends appearance at far-right protest

After he arrived in the Senate — occupying the seat of One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts which was declared empty by the High Court in the great dual citizenship clean-out of 2017 — he disavowed his allegiance to Pauline Hanson, played footsie with David Leyonhjelm and finally sat as independent.

Anning is billing the taxpayer for his attendance at the rally after claiming, without any evidence, that “gang violence” is spreading to Queensland. Picture: AAP Image/Kenji Wardenclyffe

He joined Bob Katter’s KAP and gave a first speech in which he called for a “final solution” for problems associated with immigration.

Despite public outrage at the Hitler Germany connotations, Katter stuck with him — for a while. On reflection that went on far too long, the Cloncurry “maverick” expelled the Gladstone Senator.

RELATED: Fraser Anning slammed for maiden speech

Anning courts controversy — either wilfully or by happenstance — in an apparent bid for name recognition and to garner support from the small section of the Queensland electorate that gives more than lip service to racism and bigotry.

He’s probably gone too far — he said after his Melbourne Nazi sightseeing trip his antics would likely cost him his seat. It’s hard to see many, if any parties or individuals giving any preference oxygen at the election in a few months.

On considering Anning it’s good to read the senator’s very well sourced Wikipedia entry — it has excellent historical references.

Telling the story of the Anning family and their pastoral holdings in Central and North Queensland, it contains accounts of massacres of Aboriginal adults and the conscription of youths to work on their properties.

It looks like the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

Dennis Atkins is The Courier-Mail’s national affairs editor.

@dwabriz