Opposition criticises Australian PM’s response to racist rally
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday slammed “ugly racial protests” in Melbourne, where far-right demonstrators gave Nazi salutes.
An anti-immigration rally at St Kilda Beach drew hundreds of demonstrators and counter-protesters on Saturday, but a large Victoria Police presence kept the two sides mostly apart.
“I thank Vic Police for their efforts dealing with the ugly racial protests we saw in St Kilda yesterday,” Mr Morrison tweeted. “Intolerance does not make Australia stronger.
“Australia is the most successful migrant country in the world. Let’s keep it that way. It makes Australia stronger.”
But he was denounced on social media by critics who said he appeared to condemn the rally and those protesting against it.
“Is it so hard for Morrison just to name it for what it is?” tweeted former Labour prime minister Kevin Rudd. “Not just ugly. But a fascist, racist rally.
“One million Australians enlisted in the last war to defeat fascism. Thirty thousand died. Seventy-five years later our policy should be zero tolerance. That demands leadership.”
Australia’s former race discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane wrote that “going soft on neo-Nazis and white supremacists does not make Australia stronger”.
“Name the hatred,” Mr Soutphommasane tweeted. “Don’t encourage false equivalence between neo-Nazis and anti-racists.”
Police Supt Tony Silva said there were three arrests.
The rally was organised by the United Patriots Front, which holds occasional anti-immigration demonstrations in Melbourne. They said Saturday’s protest was against what they called African gang violence.
St Kilda has a large Jewish population.