Deporting White Supremacists could backfire

By Helen Said, a proud migrant living in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia) 

Pictured above is the anti-refugee boat trophy that conservative former Prime Minister Scott Morrison kept on his desk, which had a sign reading "We stopped these". The sign has been corrected to say "We arrived on these", to remind Australians that 97% of us are of immigrant origin.

Last weekend, a misnamed "March for Australia" was organised in a number of cities in Australia. The marches scapegoated immigration for domestic problems such as the current housing shortage. People who marched had varying motivations. These marches were led and addressed by aggressively racist politicians and violent Nazis, however many who marched were not violent racists. 

Australia's mainstream political parties condemned the marches as racist, however many people have been manipulated into believing that migration levels are responsible for the current housing crisis and they were unaware of the violent intentions of some of the march's organisers.

Their mistaken belief begs the question - if migration causes a housing crisis, how is it that most post-war migrants were able to move into houses quite quickly in the 1950s and 60s, when we had mass migration? Of course the answer is that housing was better planned under the post-war Liberal Menzies government than it was under the more recent Liberal Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments. Attempts by the current federal Labor government to address the shortages were blocked by opposition and cross-bench parties during Prime Minister Albanese's first term in government, and are only being addressed now. There are many other measures, such as tiny houses and retro-fitting abandonned buildings, that could be explored, however it will take time to turn this situation around.

One of the reasons why we have a housing shortage is that some apprentices don't finish their qualifications and thus we have a shortage of builders. Apprentices' pay is too low and they are often not well treated by employers, often being given mundane or dangerous jobs that don't teach them the skills they want to learn, and sometimes having their employment interrupted during the training process. These matters need to be addressed at the union and government level. Some measures have already been taken by Labor governments, for example free TAFE (Technical and Further Education), Victorian government subsidies on apprentices' tools, and a new $10,000 federal government bonus on completing building apprenticeships.  

Many migrants are filling vacancies in the job market, including in the building, medical and IT industries. How ironic that migrants who were blamed for "taking Australian jobs" in the 1980s are now desperately needed to fill jobs that can't be filled locally, yet at the same time are being blamed for "taking Australian houses" in the 2020s. It's important to keep up a concerted effort to educate the public.

The Australian public has been horrified by the behaviour of the leader of a local Nazi organisation, who addressed the rally in Naarm (the Indigenous name for Melbourne). This Nazi organisation is a white supremacist group which opposes non-European migration and even calls for "re-migration" ie removing non-whites from Australia.

This Nazi group leader later led an unprovoked violent attack on Indigenous Aboriginal people who had peacefully established Camp Sovereignty, a sacred space in Kings Domain near the city centre. Several white supremacists have been charged with assault and damaging property, with possible hate crime charges to follow. 

The same Nazi leader has been in court for three days on allegations of harassing law officers and violating personal safety intervention orders. He also disrupted Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen's press conference, falsely claiming that he didn't have the right to protest. “Australians are fed up with immigration,” he said. “When people like me take power, these people are going to be punished for the crimes they’ve committed against the Australian people.”

It's clear that this Nazi wants to make a name for himself with his violent, disruptive behaviour, with the aim of taking power and forming a Nazi government in Australia. I understand the motivations of some 100,000+ individuals who have signed a petition calling for his deportation to his birthplace of New Zealand, but I have decided not to sign this petition for a number of reasons.

Do not speak his name

Firstly I believe the best way to undercut the NZ born Nazi's evil plans is to consider the way former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern treated the Australian born Christchurch Mosque shooter - do not speak his name. Ardern correctly pointed out that the Christchurch Mosque shooter wanted to go down in history and she deprived him of this opportunity by not speaking his name and encouraging the media to follow suit. We should also avoid naming the NZ born Nazi leader and naming the organisation that he leads, as this will only boost its prestige with local racists. 

Proscribe Nazi organisations

Organisations which promote racist violence should be disbanded and outlawed. They should be on Australia's National Security list of terrorist organisations. Their members should be charged with offences and imprisoned if they commit or incite violent offences. Anyone who collects unemployment benefits while leading such organisations should be charged with defrauding the taxpayer and be forced to return this money to the government.

Educate the public

Our peaceful multicultural society cannot be taken for granted. We need to finish the job of addressing media monopoly which often foments ignorance and hatred. Public education about multiculturalism needs to continue. Addressing the economic conditions, which encourage people to scapegoat migrants, must be a top priority. Education and law enforcement are key to addressing violent racism.

Do not set dangerous precedents

Deporting the NZ born Nazi sets a dangerous precedent. In the future, if we have a right wing government in Australia, they could well use any deportation laws or precedents against left wing or anti-racist campaigners. Under a right wing government, progressive activists could be framed for violent offences and deported as a way of getting rid of opposition. 

Yes we want to get rid of Nazis, but not in a way that will come back to bite us on the bum. We need to get rid of their dangerous ideology and the community ignorance that they exploit.