Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

We always seek to strike the right balance in this place between standing up against hate and giving more oxygen to hateful acts. But I also want to rise to join in the condemnation of marches that took place across the country, including in Townsville. Townsville is home to 5,500 defence personnel and over 8,000 veterans and 15,000 defence families. That's why, throughout the year, there are many occasions when the community commemorates the fallen who have died standing up for Australian values and standing up against the kinds of ideologies upheld by Neo-Nazis. It's probably why we've seen such a damning condemnation of the politicians who stood next to Neo-Nazis on the weekend.

The Townsville Bulletin, not exactly a left-leaning, progressive publication, made a very important contribution today. I want to read some of their editorial. The Townsville Bulletin writes: 'For any politician, being within spitting distance of such abhorrent ideologies is not just unfortunate; it is a serious failure of judgement. While legitimate concerns about immigration policy can be debated, allowing such discussions to be associated with groups advocating for racial purity is a catastrophic misstep.' Admitting you are wrong is a strong show of character, but political leadership also requires foresight and a refusal to legitimise, even by proximity, those who practice this kind of dangerous extremism. Australian values are important. Australian values include standing up against disharmony, disunity and division. Mateship means standing next to each other, not standing next to neo-Nazis. That used to be a bipartisan position. I hope that will continue, but, unfortunately, that's not what we saw in this place yesterday.