EDITORIAL: Opposing extremists are two sides of the same coin
They said they were there to “march for Australia.”
But there is nothing more incompatible with Australian values than nazism.
In every Australian capital city on Sunday, thousands turned out to protest what they call an unsustainable level of immigration, which they claim is the cause of the nation’s housing crisis.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Thousands more came to protest those protests, in counter-demonstrations organised by pro-Palestinian groups.
The result: violence, division and a further fraying of Australia’s increasingly fragile social cohesion.
Particularly sickening was the sight of a group of dozens of neo-nazis, mostly clad in black, attacking an Indigenous protest camp in Melbourne. At least one woman was hospitalised.
In Sydney, a police officer was injured in a post-rally fracas outside a pub, with two men charged with the officer’s assault.
As much as they despise each other, these groups — far-right and radical left — are two sides of the same coin, both fighting for extreme ideologies way out of step with Australian life.
And caught in the crossfire is middle Australia.
Most of the protesters and counter-protesters involved in Sunday’s demonstrations want the same thing: a safe, prosperous Australia.
And both sides feel a deep anxiety that we are headed in the wrong direction.
Because the fact is that Australia is indeed facing a housing crisis. Housing supply has not kept pace with demand, partly driven by immigration.
It is also a fact that Palestinians in Gaza are suffering terribly as a result of the brutal war which was the consequence of Hamas’ terror against Israel. It is a credit to Australians’ compassion that so many are desperate to do something to help alleviate that suffering.
These are incredibly difficult issues with no easy solutions.
It’s important to note that Australia is not the only nation grappling with them. Look to the UK, where protests and counter-protests outside migrant hotels have become a weekly occurrence this northern hemisphere summer, or to the US where Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington DC, as even more extreme examples.
In Australia, this tension and agitation is being exploited by bad actors: white supremacists on one side and pro-Hamas anti-Semites on the other.
These opposing forces are engaged in a brutal tug-of-war for the mainstream: if you aren’t one side, then you must be the other.
Rightly, Australian politicians have condemned the extremists for their violence and hate.
That part is easy. There’s no place for racism or for anti-Semitism in Australia.
What’s much harder is showing the leadership that is needed to actually address the issues which make the mainstream susceptible to that messaging and to heal over the divisions these groups are exploiting.
Until then, we’ll see the same problems crop up, the same protests, the same cycle of violence and fear.
