Perth Voice Interactive

“FUCK OFF!” an Australian Reclaimer screams, grinning. He is sporting a leather jacket and pants, Harley-Davidson tee and a long, thick grey beard: his long hair in a ponytail. He is one of many bikers demanding an Aussier Australia at the Reclaim Australia rally at Solidarity Park, Perth last weekend.

He isn’t holding a banner. Like most of the Reclaim Australia supporters gathered up the hill, he’s simply surrounded by blue, yellow and green flags. They have set up stalls to protect themselves from the pouring rain and eagerly await the speeches.

Staring up from below them, and behind a 40-metre police line, pro-multicultural counter-protestors scream back: “Muslims are welcome here—racists are not!”

Here is where the banners are, amongst a more heterogeneous group: older folk, young people, some kids, a Godzilla holding a “I may be a monster but at least I’m not racist” banner and even Tony Abbott in budgie smugglers, swinging a small American flag.

They’re more organised than the Reclaimers, hinting at some old-hand activists: they’re handing out banners and flags and even offering free lectures on socialist alternatives. Their stall is tidy, with pamphlets on topics ranging from Marxism to marriage equality.

Like boxers, or cats, the two groups size each other quietly, but as each Reclaimer starts to address the crowd, the anti-racists chant louder. “Shame! Shame!” yells a pierced organiser wearing a tee-shirt condemning Islamophobia.

Soon the nationalists are fighting back with “Boycott Halal” banners. Many Australians have started to oppose halal certification, complaining about its increased presence in supermarkets (brands like Cadbury or Kraft have halal-certified goods), complaining the certification fees are being used to fund Islamic terrorists. The Australian authority that monitors transactions says it has no information to indicate any links with terrorist organisations.

The Australian food and grocery council says the main reason for companies getting halal certification is to access wider markets: it provides confidence to Muslims (1.6 billion worldwide) that the product abides by religious requirements, in much the same way as kosher food does for Jewish people.

The Perth demonstration reaches its peak when Reclaim Australia members in burqas and orange jumpsuits walk in chains to confront the pro-multicultural crowd. Their banners refer to acts of terror by ISIS and other practices within Islamic countries they find offensive, such as the marriage of children: “I was beheaded for being Christian”, “A child bride is not a Islamic right, it’s a crime” and “Sorry, Lindt Cafe.”

This display raised a wave of middle fingers as well as boos and chants of “fuck off, racists” and the occasional “Nazi”.

Given their broad ranks, including parents with kids, grannies in floral shirts and a cowboy, Reclaimers reacted strongly to the suggestion they should “shit your pants like your leader, Adolf Hitler”.

Notably absent from the Reclaimers’ ranks were indigenous Australians.

The rally was peaceful until the end, with only verbal clashes between the rivals. Two demonstrators from the anti-racist group were arrested during the event.

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA