On The Eve of National Wattle Day

Stop Mass Immigration

It’s no secret that Australians oppose mass immigration, but it has been decades finding a means to express it. The March For Australia is the first to give it a voice. This Sunday 31st at noon, rallies will take place at every capital city and more. The reasons for the march are stated on the organizer’s website:

For years, Australia’s unity and shared values have been eroded by policies and movements that divide us. Our streets have seen growing displays of anti-Australian hatred, foreign conflicts, and disintegrating trust, whilst mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together. This march is a stand for the people, culture and nation that built Australia – and for our right to decide its future.

No Foreign Flags

An End to Mass Migration

It is no coincidence that there is more than just a whiff of anti-multicultural sentiment here. It is naive to think that the will, courage and determination to marshal a significant movement against mass immigration could come from Australia’s multicultural community. This is the most high-profile public demonstration and as such, is historic.

How It Began

For months now, there have been pro-Palestinian marches attracting tens of thousands in the major cities, including one recently across Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sam Bamford, a former Army paratrooper suggested that maybe it was about time there was a march for Australia across Sydney Harbour Bridge. That snowballed on social media into the event planned for August 31st. It has been coordinated in a careful, if rudimentary way, with locations announced after consultations with the police. It’s clear the organizers are inexperienced, but doing their best. The release of information has not always instilled confidence.

All the predictable accusations of ‘white Australia racism’ were trotted out and the main stream media are doing their best to keep it off the airways. But on social media it’s spreading like wildfire.

While the march has generated a lot of enthusiasm and support, there are a couple of problems that will limit numbers.

For one, most people who would go don’t even know about it. That’s because a lot of older people are not on social media at all.

Secondly, the locations in central metropolitan CBDs are not where the supporters are. It’s perfect for the progressive inner city dwellers to easily gather en mass. But patriotic Aussies are on the outskirts and in the regions.

These tactical errors, originating from Sam Bamford’s statement, are an oversight based on competing with and mimicking the pro-Palestinian marches.

Don’t expect big numbers on Sunday. But expect momentum to come out it because the organizers have collected volunteers from this effort. In the weeks to follow, there will be a pause and some serious rethinking and regrouping. With hindsight, if the organizers learn from their experience, the next rally will be a better intergenerational connection with their supporters in the regions. Spreading the word will need to rely much more on email, sms and regional radio stations. To rally an army of elders, a phone tree can help:

The rallies won’t look as big in each spot, but tallied up, the numbers represent a huge regional voice.

In Queensland, think Ipswich, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns and Mt Isa. In NSW, think Woolongong, , Canberra, Newcastle, Dubbo, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. In Victoria, think Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Shepparton. In Tasmania, think Hobart, Devonport and Launceston. In SA think Adelaide, Mt Gambia and Port Lincoln. In WA, think Perth, Bunbury, Geraldton and Kalgoolie. In NT, think Darwin, the Alice and places that have called out to be included over the few last weeks.

Who Are They?

The organizers have been keeping a low profile for understandable reasons – they could lose their jobs. The anonymity of the organizers fueled criticism. Some say Hugo Lennon aka Auspilled (on Instragram) is involved. Bec Freedom has made herself known. Detractors have champed at the bit trying to find links to neo-Nazi white supremacists. Thomas Sewell, leader of the National Socialists jumped on the bandwagon and pretended it was ‘their’ march. The real organizers issued an urgent statement

‘March for Australia‘ organisers issued an “urgent press release” last week distancing themselves from the extremist groups, stating they had no affiliation with “White Australia”.

Sky News

Backers

Bob Katter has come out strongly in support of the march, as has Dr Stephen Chavura, and the British Australian Community. Matt Barrie slammed Jim Chalmers’ Productivity Roundtable for ignoring the fact that “businesses face astronomical land, labour & energy costs. Why? Albo hitting the pedal on the mother of all immigration programs in order to flip electorates.” Matt Barrie on X

The Uniparty are all calling it ‘unAustralian’ and the mainstream media are doing their best to ignore it. The young organisers are relying on social media to get the word out.

Which Flags

Online, there has been a lot of discussion about what is an Australian flag and what isn’t. One Indian couple, enthusiastic to attend, said they would stitch the Indian flag onto the Australian flag and come waving proudly. Someone asked if the Isreali flag was welcome. I wonder what part of “No Foreign Flags” they don’t understand?

There are literally dozens of Australian flags – one for every state and territory, local and island flags, branches of the military, departmental flags, Aboriginal tribes and unofficial flags like the boxing kangaroo and the Eureka flag – the list goes on. Common practice at events like these see, above all, the Blue Ensign, the Red Ensign (sometimes flown upside down), the Eureka Stockade flag and less commonly the Aboriginal flag.

The march organizers are calling for unity and they hope to see a mass of Blue Ensigns, as do I. I’ve spent a lifetime studying the Commonwealth Blue Ensign and it truly is well designed.

The Red Ensign is the maritime ensign flown by Australian registered ships. Sovereign rights activists who believe law is a concoction of commercial, or maritime law (sometimes referred to as Admiralty Law), prefer to fly it upside down to, presumably, signify their independence from it. There was confusion early last century as to which Ensign was to be flown on land and which was for maritime use. Think of the Blue Ensign as the sky, not the ocean. Flying either flag upside down is disrespectful.

National Wattle Day

The following day, September 1st is National Wattle Day which celebrates our national floral emblem, Acacia pycnantha; a species more than 30,000 years old and one of the first to recover from fires.

It is also the first day of Spring. A new season, a new way forward. A blossoming of hope and a renaissance for Australia.