Anti-migration March for Australia protests begin across country
Demonstrators and police are preparing for possible clashes between Australian participants and counter-protesters in capital cities in March.
As crowds left Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon, protesters against the Sydney demonstration were told not to be contacted by an organizer.
People at the rally were decked out in Australian flags; most have a red flag version of the Australian flag flown by officially registered merchant ships, and some Aboriginal flags and Eureka Stockade/Southern Cross flags.
A woman interviewed by a TV crew carried a sign that read: “Skilled immigration, not quantity.”
The protest in Sydney started around 12.45pm with a song by The Angels. Will I Ever See Your Face Again?sound comes from a speaker. Sunday’s commentary included the usual crowd-phrase: “No way, fuck you, fuck you.”
Banners reading “Blame capitalism, not immigrants” and “Gay, straight, black, white, unite to stop the far right” are seen at a counter-protest meeting in Melbourne.
The second national Australia March demonstrations took place amid mass confusion and misinformation about immigration numbers.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes two different measures of net migration that show two different trends.
Monthly arrival data are based on the traveler’s self-report of length of stay rather than changes in residence status; A temporary migrant who travels overseas three times in a year will be deemed to have arrived three times.
For a person to be considered net overseas migration, they must be in Australia for 12 months within a 16-month period.
The latest official net overseas migration data for the year to March shows a three-year low of 315,000.
Annual net overseas migration over the past decade was 181,900 higher and 70,400 lower than the monthly arrival figure, according to Australian Financial Review analysis.
The first March event for Australia in August drew thousands of participants and drew widespread criticism for its far-right connections.
More to come
