Reclaim Australia is a far-right Australian nationalist protest group which is associated withnationalist andneo-Nazihate groups.[1][2] The group was formed in 2015, holding street rallies in cities across Australia to protest againstIslam. It has protested inSydney,Melbourne,Brisbane,Adelaide,Newcastle andCanberra. Reclaim Australia has also been described as a loose collective of groups.
Reclaim Australia primarily opposes the practice ofIslam in Australia and is consideredIslamophobic.[3][4][5][6] Proponents of the Reclaim Australia movement called for the persecution of Muslims.[7] The group has attracted the involvement of neo-Nazis in promoting and attending Reclaim Australia rallies.[3][6] Speakers at Reclaim Australia rallies have been known to express extremist views, with one speaker in South Australia warning of the risks of "Islamic barbarity" and encouraging those in attendance to "insult and vilify Islam five times a day if you want to".[5]
In April and July 2015 Reclaim Australia organised rallies in several Australian cities.[8][9][10] Speakers at these rallies includedDanny Nalliah,Pauline Hanson, andGeorge Christensen.[8][9][11] Reclaim Australia has said that the rallies are a "public response toIslamic extremism and a protest against minority groups who want to change theAustralian cultural identity."[8] A number of protesters from both sides of the rally were arrested for violent behaviour.[12]
In February 2016, Reclaim Australia held nationwide rallies that overwhelmed counter protestors.[13]
In January 2017, a rally in Sydney was attended by only dozens of the approximately 400 people who had registered to attend.[14]
Street rallies held by Reclaim Australia have faced counter-protests from human rights and anti-racism activists, anarchists, trade unionists,[19] and members of theSocialist Alliance.[20]
The Australian domestic security agency, theAustralian Security Intelligence Organisation, says the group is of interest and staff have been assigned to monitor it because of the potential for further violence.[21]
According to political history lecturer Troy Whitford, Reclaim Australia is unlike previous short-lived radical nationalist groups. The movement has avoided becoming a structured organisation, draws a broader support base, and lacks high-profile leaders who become a focus for opponents.[22]
The founders of the group are Wanda Marsh, John Oliver and Liz Shepherd. Shepherd has said that she had never been politically active, but the2014 siege at the Lindt Café was a turning point for her.[23]
After observing many Reclaim Australia rallies and interviewing participants, authorJohn Safran described it as a loose collective of different groups such as theUnited Patriots Front and Danny Nalliah's Catch the Fire Ministries.[24] The UPF has also been described as a splinter group from Reclaim Australia.[25][20][26][27][28] Its members have taken part in Reclaim Australia rallies,[29] and in July 2015 police confiscated a registered firearm from a licensed gun-owner before he travelled on a bus with UPF members to a rally in Melbourne.[30] The same month, organisers of a Brisbane rally told the crowd that they had split from Reclaim Australia to join a group that was more explicitly anti-Islamic.[31]
