2022-02-12
The Age has revealed that a man in a propaganda video depicting three masked Neo-Nazi’s is a former Young Liberals Office Holder. In the video: the men burn an Aboriginal flag, perform sieg heil salutes and recite a white supremacist manifesto in front of a sign naming and threatening Senator Lidia Thorpe.
The Greens are calling for the Prime Scott Morrison to compel the Liberal Party to investigate the alleged Neo-Nazi’s links to the Liberal Party, whether they have any continuing role within the Party, and identify any associates of his within the Party that may share his views.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt says this is a test for Scott Morrison’s integrity - with far right nationalism on the rise, a failure to act is unacceptable.
The following lines are attributable to Senator Lidia Thorpe: a proud DjabWurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman and the Greens Senator for Victoria:
“I notified the Australian Federal Police (AFP) about the video on the 19th of January and I have no protection, to date. I still have no answers or safety, as a First Nations woman or as a politician.
“The Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised for how unsafe our workplace is for women this week, yet when a First Nations woman is threatened he has nothing to say. This is a clear indication that Blak lives actually do not matter to this government.”
“This situation is extremely distressing for me and my children, I do not trust the authorities to look after us.”
“Speaking to other MPs who have received other kinds of threats, that weren’t as serious as this, the authorities took immediate action. Unfortunately, I’m used to receiving threats from individuals, but this is a terrorist organisation that is threatening me. How is it that the authorities are just letting this go?”
The following lines are attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt MP:
“It is incredibly disturbing to hear that an apparent neo-Nazi was formerly an office-holder within the Young Liberal Party,” Mr Bandt said.
“This is dangerous. This is a danger to any woman of colour, to anyone who speaks up against vile racism, and any public figure who doesn’t share neo-Nazis’ disgusting views.
“With their Nazi salutes and white supremacy these thugs call up the terrifying deaths of six million Jews and millions of others, but our political leaders remain silent.
“Yet again, we’re seeing that the far right has connections to established political parties. When confronted with the same issue, the NSW Nationals undertook a root and branch investigation of their party to identify whether the party had been compromised by aspiring fascists.
“Scott Morrison and I will never see eye to eye on most things, but as a minimum he should agree that fascism and white supremacy have no place in our political discourse.
“As a matter of urgency, he must compel the Liberal Party to investigate and confirm that the neo-Nazi and his associates are no longer involved with the party.”
EDITORS NOTE: To avoid spreading the group’s message of hate or inadvertently aiding their recruitment efforts, and in line with best-practice reporting on extremist threats, we request that you do not name the white supremacist group in question, spread specifics about their message, or reshare the video.