A government that calls its own people racist or un-Australian doesn’t deserve to govern. That’s not a radical thought; it’s a fundamental principle of a functioning democracy. Yet, here we are. Tomorrow, thousands of Australians will march, and the government has already decided who they are. They are “far-right activists.” They are people who “seek to divide and undermine our social cohesion.” They are, in the words of a minister, “not modern Australia.”
Let’s break this down.
The government’s argument is that simply raising concerns about the rate of immigration is an act of racism. But here’s what’s really happening: they are conflating a policy debate with a moral failing. They’re using a rhetorical sledgehammer to shut down a conversation the majority of Australians want to have. They don’t want to talk about the fact that over half the country, according to polls, thinks our immigration numbers are too high. They don’t want to talk about why our infrastructure can’t keep up. It’s easier to just call everyone a bigot and move on.
The real hypocrisy is that they claim to represent all of Australia, yet they’ve demonized a significant portion of it. They celebrate protests for other causes as courageous and democratic, but a rally with Australian flags—for a cause they disagree with—is suddenly “un-Australian.” This isn’t leadership. They’re not governing; they’re virtue-signaling.
The March for Australia will be a success not because it forces the government to change its mind—it won’t—but because it proves that you’re not alone. The power of a peaceful protest isn’t in what it does to the politicians, but what it does for the people. It’s a statement that says, “You can call us whatever you want, but you can’t silence us.” And in a country where the government has made it clear that some of its people are more “Australian” than others, that message is more important than ever.