Police will conduct a risk assessment into a “Reclaim Australia” rally planned for Newcastle on Easter Saturday, part of a nationwide demonstration building support on Facebook.
More than 2500 people have registered their support for the Newcastle “pro-Australian” rally, using Facebook forums with an anti-Islamic bent.
Newcastle police customer service duty officer Inspector Terry Burns said he had spoken with rally organisers and any demonstration would be subject to a risk assessment.
“We certainly respect people’s right to free speech and to hold a protest, but we won’t tolerate anything that borders on antisocial behaviour or criminal activity,” Inspector Burns said.
Any need for extra police would also be assessed.
Rally organiser Steve, who wanted his surname withheld due to “threats”, said his motivations weren’t racist. Rather, he said the April 4 march would be about defending mainstream Australia.
“A minority group is trying to take away our rights and the things we hold dear as Australians,” Steve, 48, said.
He said it just happened that most of those who opposed the Australian status quo were Muslims. Islam, he said, was a religion, not a race.
Though the rally is yet to be granted a venue, Steve said he envisioned a peaceful march devoid of far-right symbols and chants.
Opponents see the rally as a thinly-veiled attack on Newcastle’s immigrant community, and are planning a counter-protest. The two could face off.
University of Newcastle student Will Brown was considering whether to meet the rally head-on.
“I’m not sure yet if we want to block their protest, make a mockery of it or something else,” he said.
“There’s a lot of anger online.”
Twenty people have so far said they will attend Mr Brown’s counter-rally, the “Australia For All Counter Protest”.
Reclaim Australia’s stated aim of protecting Australia from Islam, Mr Brown said, wouldn’t stop there. Instead, the rally act would act as a beacon for the far right.
“I’m all for criticising a religious institution, but that isn’t what this is. This is people who want to march because they bloody hate people,” Mr Brown said.
“Immigrants are going to get bashed, that’s what’s going to come out of this.”
Despite the scrutiny of opponents and the police, Steve denied his march would be a gathering of far-right elements such as the Australian Defence League.
“We are not white supremacists,” the father-of-one said.
“We are down-to-earth, true blue Aussies who want to see the status quo maintained.”
The group’s objectives are listed on their Facebook page: a ban on Sharia law in Australia, protections for Christmas and Easter, banning the burqa. There is a post urging supporters not to “fuel the media fire”. Coming out and saying “white power”, for instance “means moslems [sic] win”.
The images on the page, though, are pointedly provocative, an approach Steve said was in response to last month’s terrorist attack on satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
“The message is that killing cartoonists ain’t gonna work,” Steve said.
Any Muslim wishing to attend the rally would be welcome, he said, “as long as they don’t mind being offended”.
Diana Rah of the Newcastle Muslim Association said any action with “the potential to destabilise community harmony” was of concern.
“We live in a democratic society where we have the right to protest,” Ms Rah said.
“Unfortunately, the ideas of certain groups are so often based on misconceptions and misguided information.”
She advised Muslims angered or upset by the planned rally to use legal means to voice their concerns.
Since the Sydney and Paris attacks there have been isolated cases of verbal abuse directed at Muslim women in the Hunter, Ms Rah said, tempered by “overwhelming support from the wider community”.
“We have had bunches of flowers and notes of support placed at the mosque door,” she said.
“Old relationships have been strengthened as well as new ones formed with with various church and community groups.”
The rally organisers would need a notice of intent of public assembly from the police, a Newcastle City Council spokeswoman said, before any request to use public land would be considered.