As controversy over Australia’s new hate laws continues, last weekend’s so-called March for Australia rallies were the latest in a string of events that have raised the temperature of public debate.
It’s hard to generalise about the motivations of those involved. Politicians representing Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party attended. So did members of the wider community who oppose immigration policies and a smaller number of more extreme agitators.
Some people crossed a line into criminal behaviour. One man was charged with inciting racial hatred against Jewish people. Police are investigating another man for throwing a bomb into the crowd at an Invasion Day rally in Perth.
