Far-right extremism, neo-Nazis and racist hatred have become a growing concern as the Indigenous voice referendum looms.
Australians will take to the ballot box in just over a week and vote on whether an Indigenous advisory body should be enshrined in the constitution.
As the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns have ramped up, misinformation has swirled and extremist groups have come out of the woodwork.
Asked whether she was concerned about a rise in neo-Nazi groups and hatred in the lead-up to the referendum, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said she was “really worried”.
“We’re seeing over time in Australia different types of groups who pop up, selecting different ideologies … being radicalised and joining these communities online, working together and getting more violent in their radical activities,” she told Nine’s Today Show on Thursday.
Neo-Nazis gatecrashed the end of a Melbourne anti-voice rally in September where they performed salutes and revealed a banner that said “Voice = anti white”.
Anti-vaccine and pro-Vladimir Putin commentator Simeon Boikov attended a similar rally in Sydney that month.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess previously said the intelligence agency was keeping a close eye on the referendum amid concerns far-right groups could use the discussion to drive recruitment and spread their ideology.
However, the official ‘no’ campaign led by Fair Australia has tried to distance itself from extremists.
Indigenous senator and face of the progressive ‘no’ movement Lidia Thorpe was reportedly sent a video of a neo-Nazi making racist remarks, performing the Nazi salute and burning the Aboriginal flag earlier this week.
But it is unclear whether this is directly related to the referendum.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Tony Abbott has maintained his opposition to the voice saying it was “wrong in principle and it will be bad in practice”.
“It will further entrench this separatism, which has bedevilled Aboriginal policy since the days of Gough Whitlam,” he told ABC Radio National on Thursday.
“Aboriginal people are fine Australians and they should be encouraged to integrate into the mainstream of our society.”
The idea that First Nations Australians do not have a voice was untrue, Mr Abbott said, pointing to Indigenous leaders like Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton who he claimed “have been running Aboriginal policy for the last 30 years”.
He also claimed the voice would not solve the problems Indigenous Australians lived with.
“The idea that 24 people in Canberra is going to radically change all of that… is frankly fanciful.”
Attending a multi-faith ‘yes’ campaign lunch on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the voice would ensure better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
“If you are having a decision made that will impact them, you are better off listening to them about what that impact will be, because you get better outcomes when you listen to people,” he said.
By Kat Wong in Canberra
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