Far-right ‘hijacking’ Indigenous voice to parliament No campaign, says Labor

Murray Watt says ‘nasty elements’ joined anti-voice rallies on the weekend and now were ‘appearing to hijack the No campaign’.

Dusty Bogan and Gerry Smith at the No campaign’s Brisbane event on Wednesday headlined by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Senior government minister Murray Watt has accused far-right influencers of “appearing to hijack the No campaign”, as Fair Australia dismisses Yes camp warnings Warren Mundine was “encouraging violence” through a controversial tweet.

Both sides of the voice referendum debate have accused each other of violence and abuse, with a clash between Yes and No supporters outside a No campaign event in Brisbane on Wednesday night the latest confrontation on the campaign trail.

A member of the local chapter of the Proud Boys Ben Shand, known as the Dusty Bogan, was at the event headlined by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Mr Mundine.

Government sources said this appeared to be part of a larger pattern of infiltration of the Proud Boys in the official No campaign, with Mr Shand asking his followers to “jump on the bandwagon boys” and volunteer for Fair Australia.

A government source said polling booths staffed by members of a right-wing group known for political violence could pose a security risk at polling places.

Former Gold Coast Young LNP chair Barclay McGain, who was suspended from the party and then resigned after video emerged of him laughing at a school leaver’s suggestion Australia should stop celebrating Indigenous culture because it “couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel”, was also at Wednesday’s No campaign event, which was attended by an estimated 950 people.

Tom Sewell, a neo-Nazi and self-proclaimed leader of the National Socialist Network, and self-described “white advocate” Joel Davis were at anti-voice rallies on the weekend, which were not organised by the No campaign.

Mr Sewell has been recruiting volunteers while quoting Senator Price warning against dividing the country along the lines of race.

Senator Watt said “some nasty elements” had joined No rallies.

“Now we’re seeing them appearing to hijack the No campaign,” he told The Australian.

“This is really concerning. Peter Dutton has demanded a high standard from yes campaigners in this debate – I expect he holds those same standards for the No campaign. He needs to explain what he’s doing to make sure Liberal and other referendum volunteers aren’t being exposed to these kind of nasty characters. We all have a responsibility to have a positive, respectful debate.”

The Opposition Leader’s spokeswoman noted he’d been on the record numerous times calling for the debate to be civil and respectful and he didn’t control who was invited to events or what people said.

Fair Australia lashed Senator Watt’s attack as “just desperate and divisive nonsense”.

“They (the Yes campaign) should explain why Uluru Dialogue chairman Megan Davis marched beneath a Communist Party of Australia flag at the recent Yes rallies. Or why Yes23 board member Thomas Mayo gave regular briefings to the Search Foundation, which markets itself as a ‘successor organisation of the Communist Party of Australia’,” Fair Australia’s spokesman said.

“Or why Yes23 volunteers are spitting on people and racially abusing Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine?”

Yes23 and the Uluru Dialogue, of which Professor Davis is co-chair, were approached for comment. There was a Communist Party flag behind Professor Davis at a Yes rally but she was not holding it – she was holding a “You’re the voice: vote Yes” poster – or directly beneath it.

The No campaign was accused of “encouraging violence” on Thursday after Mr Mundine said he’d like to see a boxing fight between voice opponent and professional boxer Anthony Mundine and prominent voice supporter Thomas Mayo.

“I want to see that!!!” Mr Mundine tweeted on Wednesday alongside an emoji of a boxing glove and a Daily Mail story with the headline “No supporter Anthony Mundine says he wants to fight Voice architect Thomas Mayo”.

The Uluru Dialogue, which helped create the Uluru Statement, responded: “After encouraging its volunteers to stoke confusion and fear among Australians, the No campaign has now made the abhorrent leap to encouraging violence.

“While Yes leader Noel Pearson spoke yesterday in the National Press Club of uniting Australians in love of country for a more positive future, No leader Warren Mundine publicly endorsed threats of violence against other Yes spokespeople. Could there be a clearer illustration of the choice for Australian people on 14 October?”

A Fair Australia spokesman said it was the Yes campaign “trying to divide Australians with the voice of division”, defending Mr Mundine’s tweet as “lighthearted”.