By Helen Reynolds
In Australia, the “March for Australia” rallies lit a fuse. Thousands hit the streets in Sydney, Melbourne, and beyond, demanding an end to “mass migration,” with organisers tying it to housing shortages and cultural erosion. The government’s called it out as neo-Nazi-linked hate, but figures like Pauline Hanson and Jacinta Price have nodded along, framing it as a defense of Australian identity. Hanson’s One Nation and Price’s Coalition ties amplify this, with Hanson praising the movement’s “courage” and Price arguing it reflects mainstream concerns silenced by elites.
Across the Pacific, the U.S. is seeing echoes. Post-2024 election, anti-immigration rhetoric’s ramped up, with border security dominating debates. Right-wing voices – think Trump’s lingering influence or new players like Vivek Ramaswamy – push nationalism hard, linking immigration to economic strain and cultural threats. Ramaswamy’s recent Ohio campaign talks (August 2025) focus on “reviving the American Dream” by cutting red tape and boosting local jobs, subtly nodding to immigration control without saying it outright.
Shared Tactics and Global Ties
Both scenes share a playbook. In Australia, the rallies got a boost from global far-right cheerleaders – Elon Musk’s retweets and Alex Jones’ exaggerations (claiming half a million attendees) stretched their reach. The “remigration” idea, tied to white nationalist roots, popped up on March for Australia’s site before a quick scrub.
The symbolism’s parallel too. Australia’s Eureka flag and U.S. “America First” banners both get waved as anti-immigration flags, rebranded by the right to signal exclusionary pride.
Critical Take: Cause or Coincidence?
But let’s not swallow the narrative whole. Are these movements truly grassroots, or are they astroturfed by coordinated global networks? Australia’s rally numbers (estimated 5,000-15,000) pale against the inflated claims, suggesting hype over substance. In the U.S., immigration stats show a drop in illegal crossings in 2025 (per early reports), yet the rhetoric’s louder than ever – why? Economic anxiety (housing costs up over 20% in Aussie cities, U.S. wage stagnation) might be the real driver, hijacked by nationalist spin. The establishment’s quick to label it “far-right” or “hate,” but that dodges the question: What’s driving the hate.
Also by Helen Reynolds:
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I am a 78 year old Australian born citizen. I have watched these stupid protests all my life. Every time a different race of people emigrate to Australia, the “White Australians” protest. It happened after WW2 with the Italians, Greeks, Polish, etc. I remember being belted up by other kids after Primary School for being friends with a Polish kid. It happened after the Korean War and the Vietnam war when their citizens came here. Now the “White Australians” are going on about the Indian and Sri Lankan people coming here. Every immigrant adds their culture to the Australian culture and we are better for it. Stop being so bloody childish; we are all human beings.
What Garry said.
I was the child of Polish immigrants. The xenophobia was not pleasant and hasn’t gone away; it’s just a different set of targets.
Gary Bates: …and I’m 82 years of age and have witnessed similar experiences virtually every decade of my life. Post WW2 European and Asian migrants lifted Australia from the colonial dominance that held national development in a state of economic and cultural torpor. Responsible immigration policies must however be planned according to available infrastructure, else “other-ism” and social dis-harmony will proliferate. The current protests have been highlighted in the media due to acts of racial extremism rather than objectively criticising government policy that accentuates financing submarines over solving problems with housing, health and education – all necessary for productive assimilation.
I grew up in Hawthorn and watched the neighbourhood turn Greek, this was in the late 50s and 60s. My parents felt intimidated by people who looked different. It’s hard to imagine these days, but men with black hair and moustaches looked quite strange. The men also pushed the baby’s pram – unheard of, in fact it was a head turner at the Glenferrie shops. Now no one thinks twice about a Greek surname, nor men pushing a baby carriage. It seems that we have progressed not one single iota when the same slurs such as “speak English ya wog” are still being bandied around over 60 years later.
Australia today is a nation of immigrants.
Those “white” Australians protesting immigration are immigrants and descendants of immigrants. The dichotomy is not lost on some of us.
Unless you are a full blood aboriginal, in Australia today you are a product of immigration.
Australia for all its faults, and for the disgraceful treatment in the past, and even still today, of immigrants from various countries, is a better place than it was when the White Australia Policy allowed on “white” Anglo Saxon people into the country, thanks to the diversity that has been brought to these shores through migration from all corners of the planet.
The vast majority of migrants are hard working, honest people who want the best for themselves, their children and their new country.
I, being a descendent of migrants, welcome today’s migrants and the energy that they bring with them. It is not easy to leave your country of origin and take yourself halfway across the planet to settle in a new land, to start from scratch to build a new life, people do it in the belief that they have something to contribute to their new land, and so they do.
I agree there is a problem and believe (as ever) that these nonsenses are stirred up by reactionary tabloid politicians and MSM/press working on the gullible.
That’s odd!
According to media reports the rival protests at Bondi Beach at the weekend broke out after pro-Israel groups took exception to the paddle-out organised by the group Jews Against the Occupation.
So do we now have Jews against Jews ?
Re Carol Taylor and Patricia, I was a kid when we went shopping at a greengrocer in Thornbury. The women were in head to foot black. For some reason I kept quiet and later learnt they were in mourning. Each new wave has bought ways of doing things a little different to “ours”. Bit by bit, you get to know “new” people, become mates with them at school or work and fear gradually dissolves.