Capitalism, racism and slavery

Capitalism, racism and slavery and how they are connected

by guest blogger, Willz

In a modern society it is hard to imagine that our ancestors ever supported or tolerated slavery. Most people today find the idea of one person being legally able to own another as repugnant. Although slavery still exists today, it is nowhere near as acceptable as it was in times past.

For the rich capitalists who saw limitless wealth in being able to exploit a whole race for profit. It became a priority to be able to justify the practice to the public. This was achieved through racism. They pushed the mantra that the black person was somehow inferior to the white person and was therefore not worthy of the same rights and natural justice that a white person could expect.

Slavery has existed in many forms in most parts of the world for many thousands of years. Free labour was a good way to get rich quickly.

The United States was split in two and a vicious war fought from 1861 to 1865 over the rights of the wealthy southern cotton farmers to maintain ownership of slaves. After 600,000 deaths and the complete destruction of the southern economy, the slaves were freed. Meanwhile, disgruntled ex-confederate officers went on to form the Ku Klux Klan, whose basic tenet was white supremacy.

But that never happened in Australia, right? We wouldn't exploit people like that. We believe in a fair go for everyone, don't we? I don't remember reading anything in the history books at school about slavery or race exploitation in Australia.

But the fact remains that between 1860 and 1970, aboriginal people were forcibly removed from their homes with many sent to work for wealthy graziers and cattle stations. They were forced to work up to 16 hours per day for little or no compensation. Some of them worked the same station for 30 or 40 years; slaving for decades until they died. The irony of it all was that the state and federal governments used the excuse that this was being done to prevent aborigines from being mistreated. The term 'hypocrisy' would be a better description.

The laws during this time gave the government an extraordinary amount of control over the lives of aborigines, including determining where they could live, where they worked and whether they were paid for their labours. Every state had its own laws. For example, in Western Australia, aboriginal children from the age of 12 could be institutionalised and sent to work wherever the government desired. Boys were generally sent to work no pastural properties, while girls worked as domestic servants. They were given no protection and were often exposed to both physical and sexual abuse. Historian Rosalind Kidd states that 'floggings were common, police would find runaways and send them to Palm Island as punishment'⁽¹⁾. Palm Island was so far from most of their families that this policy ensured the family unit was torn apart.

So the question has to be asked. How slavery could be tolerated in Australia? The answer is simple. From the time of invasion, the aboriginal people were portrayed as a lesser species and inferior to the white race. They were dehumanised and regarded as sub-human. This has always been the justification for slavery by greedy capitalists. Once they succeed in dehumanising a culture, the general population turns a blind eye to human rights abuses. It has been a tactic of the wealthy classes for thousands of years.

'Under government watch, aboriginal workers on a cabbage garden at Barambah settlement, circa 1912⁽¹⁾

Many of those on the political right-wing continue to deny the evils of slavery, racism and capitalism while many of those who oppose slavery and racism are too apathetic or lazy to do anything about it.

Anyone exploited by the white capitalist system should have a right to compensation. Without it we cannot consider ourselves a fair minded people.

Aboriginal children removed from homes and sent to work on missions⁽¹⁾.

But this is all in the past, isn't it? Not at all! The Red Cross managed Support for Trafficked People Program received 235 referrals of slavery victims between 2004 and 2014⁽²⁾.  We see the racist policies of our government used to treat refugees as a sub-human species and all Muslims demonised as terrorists.

It's a sad fact that a lot of the perverted racist dialogue is coming from the pulpits of many right-wing Christian churches. If Jesus were alive today he would no doubt be ashamed and appalled.

In closing, I will leave you with the words of a great aboriginal Australian singer/songwriter, Kev Carmody⁽³⁾:

Comrade Jesus Christ

He was born in Asia Minor 
A colonized Jewish man 
His father the village carpenter 
Worked wood in his occupied land
He was apprenticed to his father’s trade
His country paid it’s dues 
To the colonial Roman conquerors
He was a working-class Jew

Though conceived three months out of wedlock 
the stigma never stuck
He began a three year public life
but he never made a buck
Because he spoke out against injustice 
Saw that capitalism bled the poor
He attacked self-righteous hypocrites 
And he condemned the lawyers’ law

But they’ve commercialized his birthday now 
the very people he defied
and they’ve sanctified their system
and claim he’s on their side!
But if he appeared tomorrow
He’d still pay the highest cost
being a ‘radical agitator’ 
they’d still nail him to a cross

You see
He’d stand with the down trodden masses
Identify with the weak and oppressed
He’d condemn the hypocrites in church pews
And the affluent, arrogant West
He’d oppose Stalinist totalitarianism
The exploitation of millions by one
And ‘peace’ through mutual terror
And diplomacy from the barrel of a gun

He’d fight with Joe Hill and Walesa
Mandela and Frere
Try to free the third world’s millions
From hunger and despair
He’d stand with the peasants 
At the pock-marked walls 
They’d haul him in on bail
He’d condemn all forms of apartheid
And he’d rot in their stinking jails.

He’d denounce all dictatorships 
And Mammon’s greed 
And the exploitation of others for gain
He’d oppose the nuclear madness 
And the waging of wars in his name 
He’d mix with prostitutes and sinners
Challenge all to cast the first stone 
A compassionate agitator
One of the greatest the world has known

He’d condemn all corrupt law and order 
Tear man made hierarchies down 
He’d see status and titles as dominance
And the politics of greed he’d hound
He’d fight against 
The leagues of the Ku Klux Klan
And the radical, racist right
One of the greatest humanitarian socialists
Was comrade, 
Jesus Christ.

References

1. Cameron Wilson, ABC Radio National, 'Did legalised slavery exist in Australia', 10 July 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/did-legalised-slavery-exist-in-australia/5580456. Accessed 7 January 2016

2. Alecia Simmonds, Daily Life, 'Australia needs to own up to its slave history', 28 April 2015, http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/australia-needs-to-own-up-to-its-slave-history-20150427-1muhg3.html. Accessed 7 January 2016.

3. Kev Carmody official website, http://www.kevcarmody.com.au

Further information can be found at the Anti-slavery Australia website: http://www.antislavery.org.au/home/face-of-slavery-in-australia.html

Flags - hijacked by hate

by guest blogger, Willz


What is it with all the flag waving going on at the moment? Right-wing racist groups treat flags like their something sacred that every patriot should bow down and worship. Anyone who doesn't is called an unpatriotic leftist, a traitor.

But what does the Australian flag represent? In one corner we have the Union Jack; a flag that brought terror to the traditional owners of Australia and a sign of imperialist aggression in every country conquered by Britain. Underneath that, we have the Commonwealth star; another symbol of our ties with colonialism and imperialist aggression. On the right, the Southern Cross is the only part of the flag that makes any sense in a modern Australia. It was first flown at the Eureka Stockade and has remained a symbol of resistance against oppressive federal and state governments ever since.

And here we have racists from the UPF using our flag for well let’s see … racist purposes. Do they even know what it represents? They claim to be patriots, yet we all know patriotism is just a cover word for racism and bigotry.


The First Nation people’s flag is black, yellow and red. Black represents the Aboriginal people of Australia. The yellow circle represents the sun, the giver of life and protector. Red represents the red earth, the red ochre used in ceremonies and Aboriginal peoples' spiritual relation to the land. If we are serious about making amends for our brutal treatment of aboriginal people in the past these elements need to be incorporated into a new flag.

First nation people marching for their rights with their adopted flag

In the below photo, racists from the Ku Klux Klan fly their confederate and Nazi flags outside the Mississippi state legislature, protesting against the anti-racist 'Black lives matter' protest…except it’s not a confederate flag at all it’s the battle flag from The Army of Northern Virginia a flag only to be used in battle by said army during the civil war from 1861—65. So these 'patriots' are in effect disrespecting the southern veterans they claim to be … er … respecting.

These are the real confederate flags:

Another favourite of racists in both in the US and Australia, is the Nazi battle flag that represented our common enemy in which the Anzacs and other Allied forces lost so many lives fighting against … and these racists claim to be patriots?

The Hammerskins are another neo-nazi racist group on the rise. Originally started in the US, they're now recruiting in Australia. Obviously not the sharpest tools in the shed, they are nonetheless dangerous white supremacists who've embraced the extremist ideology of Hitler, the West's enemy number one during World War II. Their  logo depicting two claw hammers crossed to resemble goose-stepping legs, is based on a fictitious neo-Nazi organization featured in the 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall. The portrayal of the fictional group in the film was intended to show the lunacy of Nazism and Fascism, not to be an instruction manual. The movie highlighted the damage caused and the lives lost in the fight against such intolerance and hate, yet neo-nazi organisations persist in furthering their extremist views through nationalism and a warped idea of patriotism.

So what does a flag truly represent? In modern society it should be used to represent a country, a state, an institution or a decoration for public festivities and celebrations. When a flag is used to intimidate and denigrate a particular group of people based on race, religion or other factors, under the guise of 'patriotism', it becomes a symbol of oppression and bigotry which cheapens the flag's true purpose. Something that a true patriot wouldn't do.

Those who wrap a flag around their ideology of hate have become known as 'hatriots' rather than patriots. They are the true traitors to the ideals of freedom, inclusion and the rights of all to live in peace which most western nations are founded on.

Australia: A history of racism & bigotry

Australia: A history of racism & bigotry

- by guest blogger, Willz

Well, they were standing on the shore one day

Saw white sails in the sun

Wasn't long before they felt the sting

White man, white law, white gun.

(Excerpt from the song, 'Solid Rock' by Goanna)

This song describes how the first Australians saw the arrival of the white man and how soon they felt the sting of the white man's legal system and guns. With complete disregard for the first nation people's ownership of the land, the white invaders declared the whole of Australia to be terra nullius; a Latin term meaning 'owned by no-one'. Not long after, the original inhabitants found themselves forcibly removed from their land at gunpoint, with any attempt at resistance met with a volley of musket fire.

This sparked what is now known as the Frontier Wars, which spanned 146 years, finally dying out in 1934. Accounts vary, but it is estimated that at least 20,000 aborigines were killed, while 2,000 Europeans were killed⁽¹⁾. It was hardly a fair fight, with sticks and spears against rifled muskets. It was nothing more than a series of one-sided massacres. The indigenous people paid a huge price simply for defending their land.

There were many massacres of whole tribes perpetrated by landholders and wealthy graziers that went unrecorded and unpunished. Queensland in particular, has the worst record of all with 'nigger hunts' regularly taking place right up to the 1930s. Mobs of white men armed with Lee Enfied .303 rifles shooting aborigines wholesale out of the backs of trucks. By 1930, over 250,000 aboriginal people had been massacred, some were poisoned when their water supply was deliberately contaminated.

There were incidents of whole tribes being rounded up and the men made to watch while their women were raped and killed. There was one particularly sickening account of aboriginal babies being buried neck deep in the ground while the white men took turns at seeing how far they could could a baby's head⁽²⁾.

Don't remember reading this in the history books? Neither do I. The history of the barbaric treatment of the first nation people has been hidden and manipulated to make it seem like white man was doing them a favour.

Mounted police killing indigenous Australians during the Slaughterhouse Creek Massacre of 1838. 

Far more devastating in their impact on the aboriginal population, however, were the effects of disease, infertility, loss of hunting grounds, starvation and general despair, loss of pride, and the impact of the alcohol 'remedy' for this devastation. Smallpox alone is estimated to have wiped out over 50% of the Australian aboriginal population. Diseases that aborigines had never seen, were introduced by Europeans and had a devastating effect on their bodies that had no defence against them.⁽³⁾

The Stolen Generation

Still from the movie, 'The Rabbit Proof Fence', 2002.

When we hear about the stolen generation, we think it happened between 1910 and 1970. In reality it started as early as 1814. In New South Wales, the policy of forcibly removing aboriginal children from their parents has left the indigenous population with a legacy of trauma and loss that continues to affect the community to this day. Sadly, it was all part of the ideology of assimilation which assumed that aborigines were inferior to white people and to make the aboriginal race either die out, be bred out or be assimilated into white society.

Children taken from their parents were forced to turn their backs on their heritage and culture. Their names were changed and they were forbidden from speaking their traditional languages. Some were adopted by white families, while others were placed in institutions where they were subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse and discrimination.^{(4) (5) (6)}

There are few, if any, aboriginal families who have not suffered the loss of a child through this barbaric policy. Stories abound of children being torn from their mother's arms at gunpoint, never to see them again.

An older aborigine told me a story that made me ashamed to be a white Australian. A truck and a police car turned up at their camp and two mothers and their children were forced into the back of the truck. The truck drove off and stopped about 10 miles down the road, where the mothers were kicked out without their children. It drove off with the children screaming for their mothers while the women wept uncontrollably. They never saw each other again.

A deep sense of sadness and loss haunts aboriginal people from that generation to this day. Unfortunately, many have resorted to the white man's drink to try to numb their minds from that dreadful past, often resulting in alcoholism and a shorter lifespan. This about this before you go pointing the finger at the people in public parks.

If you want to see a good movie about the realities of this abhorrent policy, I suggest 'Rabbit Proof Fence', a movie about three aboriginal girls stolen from their mother. The girls escape their captors and follow the rabbit proof fence back to their mother. It's a heart-breaking, but thought provoking movie.

Deaths in custody

Roebourne Prison inmates - sentenced for crimes such as 'absconding' from 'blackbirding' (slavery). Those who resisted were sent to Wadjemump (Rottnest Island). Most never survived, either killed by hanging or starved to death in overcrowded cells. 

A royal commission in 1987, investigated aboriginal deaths in custody over a 10 year period, giving over 300 recommendations which are still valid today, although very few have been implemented. Every year, aboriginal people continue to die in custody, many of them with physical and mental disabilities.⁽⁷⁾

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) conducted a major review of deaths in custody and found a substantial increase in the number of aboriginal people dying in custody over the past five years. The study found that the overall rate of deaths in State and Territory prisons has remained relatively steady over the past 20 years but there has been a spike in the number of indigenous deaths in custody, in line with almost doubling the number of indigenous Australians being locked up.

Around 30,000 people are behind bars and indigenous inmates account for a quarter of the prison population, while aborigines comprise only 2% of the general population. It hasn't been getting better. It is getting worse.

In addition, Australia imprisons thousands of indigenous people with mental and cognitive disabilities every year. A widespread lack of understanding and action underpins this shameful breach of human rights. Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities are being 'managed' by police, courts and prisons due to a dire lack of appropriate community-based services and support.⁽⁸⁾

The politics of racism

In a modern wealthy nation like Australia, one would think that the ills of the past would be a distant memory, but sadly this is not the case. The average life expectancy for an adult aborigine is 45 years. Infant mortality is still alarmingly high, aboriginal people living in remote remote locations do not even have access to the most basic health services, such as running water, electricity or safe housing. Third world diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and trachoma have been eradicated virtually everywhere in the world, except in remote aboriginal communities. People in these communities live in abject poverty. While politicians publicly sympathise with their plight, while little is done to help.

Why is this so?

The answer lies with the voting public. There are few votes in helping the first nation's people. Politicians who stand up for them are invariably voted out of office. Sadly this is because there are still a lot of racist white Australians who refuse to acknowledge their ancestors' misdeeds and racist policy enjoys popular support.

It's a sad indictment on a country that likes to see itself as a 'tolerant country'.

References:

1. John Harris, 'Hiding the bodies: The myth of the humane colonisation of Aboriginal Australia', http://press.anu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ch0550.pdf.

2. John Pilger, 'Utopia', 2013.

3. N.G. Butlin, 'Our Original Aggression: Aboriginal Populations of Southeastern Australia, 1788-1850', Allen & Unwin, June 1984

4. Australians Together, 'The Stolen Generation', http://www.australianstogether.org.au/stories/detail/the-stolen-generations

5. Stolen Generations Testimonies, http://www.stolengenerationstestimonies.com

6. Creative Spirits, 'A guide to Australia's Stolen Generations', http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/a-guide-to-australias-stolen-generation

7. Creative Spirits, 'Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody '. http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/royal-commission-into-aboriginal-deaths-in-custody

8. ABC News, Martin Cuddihy, 'Aboriginal deaths in custody numbers rise sharply over past five years', 24 May 2013, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-24/sharp-rise-in-number-of-aboriginal-deaths-in-custody/4711764

We either learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it

We either learn from history or we are doomed to repeat it 

 - by Guest blogger, Willz

Its 1919. Germany is in chaos after four years of war that ended in a humiliating defeat and surrender. The German economy crippled by a heavy handed armistice requiring punishing reparation payments to the allies. The German soldiers were dumbfounded how they were defeated when they weren’t even fighting on German soil . Feeling angry and betrayed the returning soldiers were looking for someone to blame. Amongst them a young Adolf Hitler, bitter about the armistice and Germany's humiliating surrender … then a stranger hands him a leaflet blaming the Jews. The hatred is given direction and a man grows into a monster…in the name of patriotic nationalism the Nazi party is born. In 1933, Hitler arranged for the Reichstag building to be burned in a false flag attack so that blame could be laid against the enemies of the Reich: the Jews and Communists. He called an emergency meeting of Reichstag and the term 'your either with us or against us' was first coined, bullying his way into power with a lie.

The persecution of the Jewish people begins in 1933 with attacks on Jewish shops. Jews are forced out of jobs in newspapers and the civil service. Germans are actively encouraged to boycott Jewish businesses.

1934 - Jews are banned from having health insurance while propaganda claims that Jews murder Christian children.

1935 - the Nuremburg laws are passed. Jews are stripped of German citizenship and are not allowed to marry non-Jews or have sexual relations with non-Jews.

1936 - Jews are banned from all professional jobs.

1937 - Jews are excluded from politics and government positions.

1938 - 'Night of the broken glass'. 100 Jews murdered. 20,000 Jews sent to concentration camps. Synagogues and Jewish homes burnt. Jewish shops trashed and Jews are forced to pay for the damage. Jews banned from schools cinemas and public places Jewish businesses forced to close.

1939 - Germany occupies Czechoslovakia and invades Poland. All Jews forced to wear a yellow star.

1940 - Germany invades Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Norway. Persecution in these countries begins. Auschwitz opens. Warsaw ghetto sealed off 400,000 Jews inside.

Starving children sitting on the pavement in the Warsaw ghetto. 

Yard Vashem Photo archives

1941 - Germany invades the USSR. Killing squads organized to kill Jews wherever they find them in Russia. Gassing of Jews at Chelmno starts.

1942 - gassing of Jews expanded into Balzac, Sobibor, Treblinka and Auschwitz. Mass deportation of Jews to Auschwitz begins.

1943 - as the war starts turning against them, the Nazis attempt to conceal the death camps.

1944 - Hungarian Jews forced on a death march to Auschwitz.

1945 - Russian troops liberate Auschwitz. British and American troops liberate camps in western Germany.

When General Eisenhower first saw the death camps he ordered every soldier to look and ordered a camera crew to film the camp inmates. At the time he stated 'in time to come people will try to deny this ever happened but we will have proof'. He also ordered every citizen of Gotha Germany to tour the nearby concentration camp. After seeing the camp, the Gotha mayor hanged himself.

The Nuremberg trials ran from late 1945 till 1949 to prosecute Nazis for war crimes. Three of the top Nazis, Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels escaped trial by committing suicide. 21 senior Nazis were hanged for crimes against humanity and many others received various years in jail depending on the severity of their crimes.

During the trial Goering was asked how they coerced the German people into another war. He stated 'The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country'.

In closing arguments the lead prosecutor said that we must be ever vigilant that we never let this happen again. A psychiatrist was heard to comment, 'evil is the complete lack of empathy'. The second war to end all wars was finally wrapped up.

But what has all this talk of fascism got to do with Australia?

We’ve never had fascism in Australia, right?

Wrong!

Fascism has been part of the political landscape in Australia since the great depression of 1929 to 1933. You see, fascism is a direct result of the failure of capitalism. When capitalism fails, as it did during the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression, it results in fascism. From 1931 to 1932, 130,000 (out of a population of 6 million) were members of far right wing paramilitary groups, such as the New Guard, composed primarily of people who had the most to lose when the capitalist system collapsed, such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, wealthy graziers, factory owners and businessmen.

The New Guard formed in 1931 with 36,000 members. It was a fascist organisation that physically attacked union, ALP, unemployed and communist meetings. Its leader, Eric Campbell, visited Italy and Germany and established close relations with fascists there.

New Guard leader Eric Campbell at a meeting in Sydney 1932

Menzies, Australia’s longest serving prime minister was glowing in his praise of Nazi Germany. In 1938, when federal Attorney-General, he visited the country and enthused about the 'really spiritual quality in the willingness of Germans to devote themselves to the service and well being of the state'.

1937. William Mackay, the NSW police commissioner, established the first Police Boys Clubs. They were modeled on the Nazi labor youth battalions, which he admired because they 'subordinate the individual to the welfare of the nation'.

Fast forward to 1975 when the Racial Discrimination Act was passed in federal parliament overriding inconsistent state legislation under the 'external Powers' section of the Australian Constitution. This Act was left largely intact and unchallenged until 2013, when the most right-wing fascist government to ever govern Australia was elected. Suddenly the fascists were calling for the Act to be watered down. They wanted the freedom to make racial slurs and get away with it.

Proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act

Repealing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act was an election promise borne out of the case of columnist and Abbott confidante Andrew Bolt, who was found guilty of breaching it in two articles he wrote about light-skinned Aboriginal people in 2009.

The changes the fascists wanted would leave Australians with no protection against racial vilification. The comments by the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis, that 'people have the right to be bigots' shows how racist this government has become.

Tony Abbott's pledge to 'stop the boats' was central to his election campaign, and immediately after the election he and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison appointed then Deputy Chief of Army Angus Campbell to take charge. The policy involved secrecy about what was happening on the high seas, a continuation of offshore detention, and reviving the practice of turning refugee boats back.

But this policy has come at a price: riots have broken out at an offshore detention center on PNG's Manus Island, resulting in the death of an asylum seeker, and the Government was forced to bring a group of asylum seekers to Australia after a High Court ruling. Reports also continue to emerge of mental illness and brutality in detention centers. Rape and pedophilia are rampant.

There is no need for Abbott to subdue the mainstream press in Australia as they are already on his side. Dissenters such as the ABC are ridiculed and have their funds cut.

It is now an offense to report anything going on at offshore detention centers, with penalties of up to two years jail for anyone convicted under this law.

The new national security laws make it an offense to travel to a designated area of 'terrorist activity' without a valid reason. Anyone traveling to these area can have their citizenship cancelled on the say so of the Immigration minister without having the opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law.

There are also plans for legislation to compel phone and internet companies to retain customers' metadata.

Muslims in Australia make up only two per cent of the population but are copping a huge amount of racial discrimination, yet the government is silent about it, indicating that they either support the racism or don’t care; this government is killing multiculturalism in this country.

The rise of right-wing fascist groups in Australia should be alarming everyone. Frighteningly, there no objection from the federal government as these hate groups multiply and grow like a virus. Groups such as Boycott Halal in Australia, Restore Australia, United Patriots Front, are made up of white supremacists calling for discrimination against Muslims. Some threaten violence against Muslims based on religion.

Sydney Morning Herald

Sydney Morning Herald

The Reclaim Australia movement held rallies around Australia recently to try and spread their vicious lies and bigotry. Although they were outnumbered by anti-racist protesters everywhere they went, the racists were well protected by the police and allowed to spew their vile racism. Some of the openly Nazi-inspired bigots openly displayed Nazi symbols and tattoos which shows what they really are: 'White Supremacist Nazis'.

Sydney Morning Herald

Meanwhile in Canberra our government keeps talking up Islamic terrorism, further isolating the Muslim community and inspiring the white supremacists to be bigger, bolder and more violent. The term 'Team Australia' is the same flawed 'us and them' rhetoric used as an excuse to drag Australia into an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, Iraq, based on lies which left it in a mess, ripe for the rise of terrorist groups like Isis.

In closing, I would like to say that I am confident Australia will not slide into the abyss of gassing those deemed undesirable like Germany did in the Thirties. However, I am becoming more and more concerned with the increasing violence against Muslims while the Government remains silent on the issue and continues fear campaigns. Australia of 2015 is starting to look eerily familiar to Germany in the 1930s.

It’s up to the decent people of Australia to stand up and say enough is enough, that we don’t tolerate hate, fear and discrimination here.

We must turn back the tide of fascism before its too late.