Why do we think these protesters are worse than neo-Nazis?
If the Australian government is serious about cracking down on dangerous social behaviour it might want to focus on an upcoming neo-Nazi gig before going after climate change activists, writes Tory Shepherd.
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On Wednesday, Extinction Rebellion plans to bring Flinders Street to a standstill doing the Nutbush.
Nutbush City Limits, by Ike and Tina Turner, still gets dragged out at cheesy discos and cheesier weddings. Extinction Rebellion (XR for short) will be pulling out the moves in a line dance: “A church house, gin house/a school house, out house”. Step, step, knees up, kick, jump to the right.
On Saturday, the band Fortress will be disrupting Melbourne at a secret gig put on by neo-Nazi groups Blood and Honour and the Southern Cross Hammerskins. Fortress’s song, Parasite, a protest against immigrants, includes the lyrics: “Repatriate, ship ‘em out, send the bastards back/If they don’t f…ing like it, it’ll be in body bags”. I couldn’t find the dance moves, but imagine they’ll involve conga lines of skinheads nodding away. Maybe some jackboots shuffling in time.
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XR members call themselves “reluctant” protesters. There are hundreds of groups around the world disrupting cities to bring attention to climate change. They’ve locked themselves to bridges and fences, chucked some fake blood around, streaked a bit. They’ve stopped traffic, started conversations, and frustrated many.
The activists are regularly arrested — but Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton wants more. He says they should have welfare payments cut. His colleagues chimed in, supporting the idea that if someone is on Centrelink they should be deprived of their basic democratic right to protest. It’s not clear if Mr Dutton would support taking the pension away from older protesters.
He’s also in favour of heavy fines, and maybe even mandatory or minimum jail sentences, “because they are putting lives at risk”, he told 2GB’s Ray Hadley.
But wait, there’s more: “People should take these names and the photos of these people and distribute them as far and wide as they can so that we shame these people.”
MORE OPINION FROM RENDEZVIEW: Spare us this cringe-worthy sham protesting
Lock them up, take their payments, fine them, then publicly name and shame them. It’s a surprise the Chinese Government hasn’t asked for his help quelling the dissent in Hong Kong.
But he hasn’t done much about the growing white supremacist movements in Australia. And they are growing.
University of Tasmania Asian Studies lecturer Kaz Ross points to research showing Australia, after the US, has the most active white nationalist presence on social media.
There’s been an increase in anti-Semitic attacks around Australia, and the plastering of neo-Nazi propaganda in major cities. ASIO and other authorities are monitoring right-wing extremists, and national security experts warn of the sort of lone-wolf attacks that are inspired by these guys.
Some have succeeded in infiltrating mainstream politics — the ABC uncovered a successful Alt-Right plot to get into the Young Nationals. And of course their rhetoric has entered the halls of parliament with the “it’s OK to be white” motion.
Kristy Campion, a terrorism studies lecturer at Charles Sturt University, lists a dizzying array of groups in the journal Perspectives on Terrorism. The Proud Boys, Right Wing Resistance, Soldiers of Odin, Identity Australia, the Nationalist Australian Alternative, The Australian Traditionalism, the Australian Liberty Alliance and the New National Action.
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And there’s more. The Lads Society, the Australian League of Rights, Women of the Southern Legions, United Patriots Front and True Blue Crew. On and on, they break up and form new groups, shift and reshape, but always with the core of white supremacy.
Out of this maelstrom come killers like the Christchurch terrorist. Not all extremists are terrorists, but all terrorists are extremists. And not much can be done in advance when it comes to events such as Saturday’s concert — even though Canada has put Blood and Honour on its terror list, and its leader has talked about shedding blood in a race war.
The Hammerskins, globally, have a long history of violence and reported connections to killings.
At an earlier gig the two groups held in Brisbane, partiers raised their glasses “in honour of Adolf Hitler”.
Anyway. Moving on. Let’s make sure the police are on top of this mob tomorrow doing the Nutbush in Flinders Street.
Tory Shepherd is a columnist for the Adelaide Advertiser.
Originally published as Why do we think these protesters are worse than neo-Nazis?