Passionate locals attend pro-immigration, anti neo-Nazi rally at Geelong’s City Hall
About 100 residents have gathered on steps of City Hall in Geelong amid a number of shocking stunts in Geelong by a white supremacist group.
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About 100 people gathered on the steps of Geelong’s City Hall to rally against a white supremacist group that has targeted the city in a series of recent stunts.
The pro-immigration rally, spreading a message that racism and extremism will not be tolerated, was organised by members of the Norlane community and was held before the City of Greater Geelong’s council meeting on Tuesday night.
Activists held up banners reading: “Keep Geelong Diverse and Colourful”, “No Room for Racism” and “Fight Racism. Solidarity is Strength”.
In recent weeks, a group of masked men, believed to be from Melbourne-based neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network (NSN), posed in front of City Hall and the CFMEU’s Geelong headquarters, holding a banner that read: “Stop Immigration. Keep Geelong White.”
Geelong Trades Hall secretary and treasurer Tony Anderson said people from “all walks of life” attended the rally on Tuesday that aimed to demonstrate racism had no place in the city.
“We were very glad to see all the people who turned out and it was a very inclusive and diverse bunch of people,” he said.
Mr Anderson said diversity was one of Geelong’s biggest attributes.
“A lot of people immigrated here and love Geelong because it is very multicultural,” he said.
Geelong Interfaith Network spokesman Randall Apps said many refugees chose to call our region home.
“We want to make sure, whatever background they are from, they can find a feeling of home here,” he said.
Geelong councillors Sarah Hathway, Jim Mason and deputy mayor Anthony Aitken also attended the rally to show their support.
On Monday, the Addy reported eight masked men were photographed in front of the CFMEU’s Geelong headquarters on Gheringhap St, with some performing a Nazi salute and others holding Australian flags.
Earlier this month, photos of the group posing in front of City Hall were circulated on mobile messaging app Telegram with the caption “Geelong is being invaded by hordes of blacks and islanders”.
“White men must organise a collective defence against the non-whites the Liberal and Labor parties are bringing here to replace us,” it read.
In March this year, about 30 members from the NSN marched down Spring St in Melbourne and repeatedly performed a Nazi salute.
Anti-Defamation Comission chair Dr Dvir Abramovich said it was clear neo-Nazism was“alive” in Geelong.
“These individuals with malice in their hearts are targeting migrant communities and blowing on the embers of division and xenophobia,” he said.
“Such hate-filled rhetoric ... can have deadly consequences and can act as justification for individuals committing heinous acts of violence.”
Dr Abramovich said the incidents were a “wake-up call” that society needed to keep a close watch on the “resurgence of this dangerous movement”.
“This is a fight we have to win,” he said.
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Originally published as Passionate locals attend pro-immigration, anti neo-Nazi rally at Geelong’s City Hall
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