Kate Howard & Simon Butler, Newcastle
After a week of intense campaigning and local media interest, anti-racists in Newcastle organised two major events in opposition to the activities of the small fascist group the Patriotic Youth League.
A leaflet attacking the local Sudanese refugee community as "gangbangers" and "rioters" had been letterboxed in the suburbs of Islington, Hamilton and Wickham. The leaflet advertised a public demonstration on January 22 in Islington Park featuring the notorious fascist James Saleam and was distributed in the name of the Concerned Citizens Collective, a front for the far-right Patriotic Youth League.
Within 72 hours more than 40 anti-racist activists outraged at the advent of organised racism in Newcastle met to organise a counter-mobilisation at the Beaumont Street Clocktower in Hamilton to show the community's support for the Sudanese refugees. The meeting also endorsed an indoor meeting after the demonstration called with the backing of the Newcastle City Council.
The Hamilton anti-racist protest attracted more than 300 people. Speakers included Newcastle ALP councillor Marilyn Eade, Ben Reid from the Socialist Alliance, Suzanne Riley from the Ethnic Communities Council and Steve Murphy from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. The arrival of a contingent from the Sudanese community was welcomed with sustained applause.
Five-hundred people also attended the indoor meeting, which was addressed by Newcastle Lord Mayor John Tate and ALP member for Newcastle Sharon Grierson, along with representatives of the Sudanese community.
Meanwhile, at Islington Park, all twelve of the Concerned Citizens Collective arrived 20 minutes late for their own demonstration. Saleam began a bombastic diatribe against trade unions, immigrants and communists. He described the Socialist Alliance as "feral rabble" who were "half-permitted to rampage in Newcastle a few years back against Pauline Hanson".
Within half an hour, around 50 anti-racist protesters arrived, who chanted and asked difficult questions until the CCC, lacking any public support, were compelled to run away.
From Green Left Weekly, January 26, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.