Danny Nahlliah, Australia First Candidate, Pastor for Catch the Fire Ministries and keynote speaker at the Melbourne Reclaim Australia rally on April 4, rang Tom Elliott on 3AW on April 7 and accused Socialist Alliance of planting neo-Nazis in the Reclaim Australia crowd to make the rallies and participants look bad.
This is an accusation that is even more ridiculous than their other claim that Halal certification funds terrorism.
I decided to ring Elliott and respond to the claims on air. After introducing myself as a Socialist Alliance member and a participant in the counter protest in Melbourne on April 4, I was put through to live radio almost immediately.
I called not just to denounce Nahlliah’s accusation as ridiculous, but to also highlight the racist and possibly even fascist elements of the Reclaim Australia rallies. The fact is, no one planted the people with swastikas and other SS symbols tattooed on their faces, heads and necks.
Those people were drawn to the rally due to the racist and bigoted views being promoted, and because it was a free kick at migrants and people of colour in our community.
When it became clear I wasn’t going to back down on that point, and the fact that Australia has anti-discrimination laws so these bigots do not actually have a right to spread their hate speech, Elliott quickly diverted the argument to the merits of socialism. Then he asked how old I was before cutting me off with a remark implying naivety due to my young age.
But it doesn’t end there. Elliott then published an article in the April 11 Herald Sun, “Socialist Alternative living in a Soviet dream”.
The article referred to our previous the conversation. Unfortunately his research into the right-wing interpretation of history did not extend to getting the name of the organisation he thought he was attacking correct.
In his article, Elliott accuses me of being inconsistent in my beliefs because “the Islamic faith practises the subjugation of women”. For a start, the last thing the feminist movement needs is Elliott speaking for it.
Second, the claim that all women who practice Islam are “subjugated” is just ignorant and a sexist comment in itself. It fails to acknowledge that many women actually choose to wear the hijab (or not), and are perfectly capable of making their own choices about their religious beliefs and practices.
If we want to talk about the “subjugation of women” let’s look at how race and gender intersect in this instance.
When racist and bigoted ideas like those promoted at the Reclaim Australia are allowed to thrive in the open without being challenged, and when they’re backed and promoted by the mainstream media and government policy, racially motivated attacks increase.
In this instance, increased attacks on people with Arabic features, specifically attacks on Arab women or even any non-white woman with some kind of head covering.
Not only do these rallies lead to increased racism, they lead to increased violence against women, which is already a serious problem in this country with two women being murdered each week.
Perhaps if Elliott was actually concerned about the subjugation of Muslim women or women in general, he might explore some of these issues on his radio show rather than defend his right to discriminate against religious minorities in this country.
However, Elliott wrote that what really angered him was my belief that “migrants to Australia were lured here on the false promise of a good life” and he goes on to say “from her left-wing perspective it’s clear our high standard of living, political freedom, generous welfare state and tolerance for cultures are worthy of public criticism”.
My original comment was about refugees as well as migrants, but it applies to both. Australia projects an image of being the “lucky country”, but lucky for who? The wealth of this country was gained by racism, genocide and blood that continues to the present day. Do the First Nations people of Australia feel lucky when they’re told 150 of their communities are to be shut down because the government refuses to fund their “lifestyle choices”? Do the two women who are murdered each week feel lucky? Or do the 6.3% of the population currently unemployed feel lucky?
The fact that he mentions “tolerance for cultures” is beyond a joke when this whole discussion began because a rally was held in 16 cities and towns across the country, involving people who are clearly intolerant of a particular culture.
It is important that those on the left of politics continue to engage with the right wing media as much as possible to challenge their ideas. This experience has also highlighted the importance of independent left wing publications like Green Left Weekly, which is the best resource we have to counter the right wing dominated media.
[Sarah Hathway is a national co-convener of Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance.]
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