It’s been a big year for racist activism in Australia. Muslims ruined vegemite, Adam Goodes ruined football and Chinese foreign investment continued to ruin the housing market. However, among the many subjects racists felt compelled to yell about this year, the overwhelming majority concerned Muslims.
The current face of racism in Australia is that of Islamophobia. Ironically enough, that face is sometimes obscured by patriotic facial coverings. While anti-immigration political parties here have been kickin’ it since the 80s, the loudest crop of groups now—mainly Reclaim Australia and The United Patriots Front—have gained attention thus far as grass-roots movements only.
With their John Farnham sing-a-longs (much to the opposition of Farnham himself) and misspelled signs, Reclaim Australia and their ilk would be almost laughable, if they didn’t also reflect the deep vein of Islamophobia in Australia present since 9/11.
These newest groups have gained considerable traction by distancing themselves from neo-nazism, and instead positioning themselves as upholders of democracy; representing a portion of conservative Australians who feel their views have been ignored in public debate. They harbour intense suspicion and concern over Islam as a faith, call for boycotts on halal products, protest mosques and Islamic schools and oppose Muslim immigration – but just how representative are they, and how much of a threat do they pose to Australia’s social fabric? Will their momentum last when they parlay their moderate success into a fully formed political party?
Spurred on by the recent events in Parisand one week away from the 10-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots, Reclaim Australia (currently sitting at close to 64,000 facebook followers) have been working overtime to make themselves seen and heard. Their national rallies last weekend attracted the largest numbers in Melbourne and Brisbane (500 and 200 respectively), though anti-racism groups turned up in equal force, reportedly drowning out the Reclaim Australia rally in Brisbane.
Troy Whitford, an expert in Australian political history at Charles Sturt University has been watching the Reclaim Australia movement closely, and believes that while they’ve had a few “moments of glory”, they haven’t successfully challenged mainstream media or political and social leaders.
“The radical right lasts when it’s a grassroots movement,” he says. “But once a leader emerges, the group tends to fall apart. Because of the nature of leadership and personalities, they can never really build a cohesive executive or leadership that would galvanise a large group of people.”
Still, Reclaim Australia have managed to consistently raise their profile and attempt to convert the 48 per cent of Australians who Kevin Dunn, professor of human geography and urban science at the University of Western Sydney, says “feel uncomfortable with the Islamic presence.”
Dunn was the lead researcher on a 12-year national survey published in 2011 that tracked racism in Australia. “In the survey we asked ‘would you be concerned if a close friend or relative married someone of a Muslim background’, and 45 per cent of respondents said they would be concerned,” Dunn says. “Those results don’t mean that people hate Muslims or are indeed fearful of them, but it indicated that there’s some social distance. It’s this distance that these groups target and attempt to bring into their political orbit.”
That 48 per cent of Australians uncomfortable with Muslims include both white Australians and migrants who’ve faced similar discrimination. One reason why Reclaim Australia has picked up momentum is that they aim to unite “ordinary Australians”, including those of different ethnic backgrounds and faiths, against the shared ‘threat’ of Islam. And while their cause naturally attracts white supremacists, their ‘broad’ church of acceptance is also why you can spot the odd non-white face found at their rallies.
Despite this, Dunn and Whitford think the extreme views of Reclaim Australia and similar groups are far from representing the mainstream, but both acknowledge it takes only a small number of people to create inter-communal harm.
What does that harm look like? You don’t have to cast your mind far to see consistent reports of racial hatred and abuse directed towards Muslims in the community – both online and on the streets.
Aamer, Youth Engagement Officer at the Islamic Council of Victoria, says the ones who suffer most from Islamophobic sentiment are always the most vulnerable. “It’s usually the women who wear hijabs, or headscarves, or old men with beards, because they’re the most visible targets. It doesn’t take much to bring out this kind of behaviour. It doesn’t need to be an international incident, it could be a right-wing article that can lead to a spike in attacks and abuse.”
Mariam Veiszadeh, who founded the Islamophobia Register in Australia to record incidents of anti-Muslim sentiment has herself been the receiver of death threats and social media vitriol. Supporters of multiculturalism aren’t safe either – earlier in November, members of the United Patriots Front (a splinter group of Reclaim Australia) stormed the 3CR community radio station in Fitzroy, Melbourne to intimidate members.
But for Aamer, the media coverage and focus on groups like Reclaim Australia detracts from the damaging policies and statements made by the Australian government. “The more oxygen racist groups like Reclaim are given, the more opportunity they have to attract people to their rallies,” he says. “The other thing is that we’re concentrating the conversation around extreme groups when mainstream politicians have been saying equally divisive things.”
He’s referring to the laws proposed under the Abbott leadership and the surrounding rhetoric– from ‘Team Australia’, to (now reformed) plans to give the immigration minister unconstitutional powers to strip dual-nationals of their citizenship, to hard-line border security measures, and pushes to change Australia’s racial discrimination act. Indeed, a recent study found that close to 75 per cent of Muslim-Australians felt counter-terrorism laws passed since 9/11 were unfairly aimed at them.
“Mainstream conservative politicians have essentially said that Muslims are not integrating, that Muslims are a threat, and that feeds ultimately into racism and violence,” says Aamer. “Malcolm Turnbull has really softened his language around the Muslim community compared to Tony Abbott, but the reality is people in his party like treasurer Scott Morrisson and immigration minister Peter Dutton are using exactly the same language.”
Professor Whitford concurs. “You had a government mostly under the Abbott times that said we’ve got a war on terror, we’ve got to monitor Islamic extremists, we’ve got to be scared, worried and alert. That feeds into the public consciousness, and right-wing groups are capitalising on that fear created by mainstream government.”
So with the current political backdrop and emboldened right-wing groups – do we risk a replay of the Cronulla riots? Police are on high alert in the lead up to the anniversary. The Party for Freedom has been planning a “peaceful memorial rally” on December 12 at Cronulla beach for months. Police and local council have refused various permits for the rally, but the small group have been defiant, posting that they would be gather in Cronulla regardless.
No one wants to see the bloody scenes of Cronulla happening again, but no one’s ruling it out. “It happened once, and the fear mongering around Muslims has not toned down since,” says Aamer.
President of NSW’s Anti-Discrimination Board, Stepan Kerkyashiarian expressed optimism in the Australian community, despite acknowledging the current low point in racial harmony. “Whenever there is any individual or organisation which comes to prominence on a racist agenda, the Australian public overwhelmingly defeats them and puts them in place,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Whether The Party for Freedom’s rally is successful or not, it’s clear that Australia is at a heads as to how to deal with rising Islamophobia. “Racism fades or flourishes depending on the political setting and statements from our leaders,” says Professor Dunn. “People who have very racist beliefs are more likely to act out and speak out when they feel like their views are the consensus. So it’s very important that we remind groups with marginal status that they’re a deviant group.”
