Last Friday, on Australia Day, I called my eldest daughter to say something I never imagined possible: “masked neo-nazis have boarded a train at Artarmon (our local station) – lock the doors and be careful”.
As has now been well reported, a large group of men led by Thomas Sewell, the leader of the neo-nazi National Socialist Network, boarded a train at Artarmon (a small, quiet, suburban train station on Sydney’s north shore) where they claimed they were travelling to the City to participate in Australia Day events. This is also where large ‘Invasion Day’ rallies were taking place.
NSW Police acted promptly and decisively where they intercepted the group at North Sydney Station. Six were arrested and 57 were issued with Rail Infringement Notices and prevented from continuing their journey and attending Australia Day events in the City.
The group then walked up the Pacific Highway from North Sydney back to Artarmon, escorted by police cars and a police helicopter. There is some commentary that the group had travelled to Sydney from Victoria.
The following Sunday they were also seen gathering at a local Artarmon park where the police again acted quickly.
I follow politics and the news cycle closely every day through my work as a political commentator and campaigner. This is sadly far from the first time I’ve seen such a group gather and intimidate in this way in Australia and ASIO has been raising the alarm about a rise in neo-nazi groups for some time. However, seeing neo-nazis in my local community, in locations that are so familiar, is frightening and a strong reminder that none of us are immune or protected by where and how we live.
In recent years, Australia Day has become an issue where the views of an increasing number of people in our community have evolved to be more aligned with the views of Indigenous Australians and their concerns with this day. Politicians such as Peter Dutton and others, are increasingly using tactics straight out of the Trump playbook to whip up nationalism against these views through outrage and division.
Starting in early January, Australia Day has become a standard day in the calendar for these Trump-like tactics where this year we also saw violent attacks at various Woolworths stores as a direct outcome of Peter Dutton’s (and other’s) nationalistic calls.
Such tactics by politicians can’t work in isolation. They feed the agenda-led 24/7 mainstream news cycle of a highly disrupted mainstream media sector – whose revenue model now largely relies on how many listen to and watch shock jocks and click to read outrage headlines. This then flows to and amplifies across social media platforms which are mostly unregulated and unmoderated.
It’s these tactics, these ‘ecosystems of outrage’ which are deliberately put into play by politicians and media again and again over a range of issues. Rinse. Repeat.
These deliberate and predictable tactics find their audience through a ground ripe with social division. The annual Scanlon Report (out of Monash University), recently showed we are more divided now than at any time since the report’s commencement 16 years ago. The Report, which measures Australia’s social cohesion, found the “relentless cost-of-living pressure, rising interest rates, uncertainty about the direction of the economy and growing concern about inequality has undermined Australia’s sense of social cohesion”. The pandemic and The Voice also contributed.
Throughout history we’ve seen populist politicians take advantage of social division with the most terrible and tragic outcomes. Those of us who are watching, clearly see history repeating, certainly overseas and increasingly here in Australia where we are also vulnerable to the global shift to populist politicians and parties.
This concerning and highly charged environment coincides with 40 countries holding their elections this year (the most in a single year in history) including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, The EU and Indonesia. It is not alarmist to say that democracy is at risk.
Australia also has multiple elections – state/territory elections in QLD, NT and ACT – and council elections in Vic and NSW with media reporting the plans of fringe groups in some of these elections.
As I highlighted last year for the Women’s Agenda Keynotes series – the solution is in our hands. It requires our active, positive and inclusive participation in our democracy within our communities, and using the power of our compulsory vote to ensure we elect representatives who prioritise our interests in their actions and decision making.
Our participation in our democracy is also perhaps the most profound legacy we can leave to our kids and our grandkids. I was reminded of this when I made that phone call to my eldest daughter warning her about the group of neo-nazis in our local area.
No one is coming to save us but us. We all have a role to play to support and strengthen our democracy. It’s time to step up!