Smithson: Hedging bets as anti-immigration placards march toward state election
Until recently, the sight of Aussie flags being waved as far as the eye could see would have warmed our hearts, writes Mike Smithson.
It was once a sure sign of national pride, usually associated with sporting events ranging from c’mon Aussie c’mon Test Cricket to Olympic glory.
With a smattering of the famous boxing kangaroo flags, we all knew the vibe was friendly and the atmosphere was safe.
But that tide has turned with an increasing trend of nationalistic gatherings, where the focus is not so much about who we are, but who we don’t want here.
In my opinion, both the Premier and police top brass are hedging their bets on where this newfound form of community energy is heading and how it should be best dealt with.
An anti-immigration rally and others through the city over the weekend drew 15,000 marchers according to official police numbers.
There’s another event to come which organisers predict up to 50,000 people will join.
That seems a stretch, but with emotions rising over current immigration numbers and what the influx is doing to house prices and real estate scarcity, it’s no wonder that generations of South Australians are concerned about when it will stop.
I have strong views about the quantity of people reaching our shores, whether some are legitimately here to make this state and country a better place, or if others genuinely embrace what we have to offer.
I also acknowledge that First Australians probably have the same thoughts dating back to colonisation.
Rallies against immigration are one thing but using them as a spin off into side hustle ideologies such as neo-Nazism and lawless sovereign citizenship are other disturbing trends.
The potential ticking timebomb was thought by many to be confined to hard line Trumpism far off in Washington DC where the closest we got to the unrest was via our television screens.
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But with heightened tensions over the Israel- Palestine conflict and a wave of supporters and detractors spreading across the globe, everyone now needs to be looking over the shoulders, to an extent.
When a protester was seen waving a placard bearing an image of alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman during the weekend’s Adelaide rally, we all realised a new line had been crossed.
It seemed unthinkable that anyone would support the now fugitive, alleged double murderer Freeman within a week of the Victorian killings.
Acting Police Commissioner Linda Williams publicly expressed outrage.
A 39-year-old Golden Grove man later presented to police and was arrested.
He’s been charged with displaying offensive material in a public place and was bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court next month.
Williams was also concerned over the fallout for the families of the dedicated police officers gunned down in cold blood by this self-proclaimed Victorian high-country sovereign citizen.
Police had originally had the opportunity to speak to the Adelaide placard waver on Sunday, but he’d vanished before officers could get to him.
That seems strange considering media outlets had ample time to approach the man at the rally for a comment, having instantly recognised his placard was highly offensive.
It led me to ask Williams and the Premier if current laws have left police confused about where they stand over such issues.
The alleged perpetrator is likely to incur a fine at best, which may hardly discourage him from doing it again, if he chooses to.
An outraged Premier came out fighting initially claiming the alleged placard man was appalling.
So, was his tone slightly more muted as the morning wore on?
“We will continue to review our options to make sure that we get the balance right between affording people the ability to celebrate and participate with freedom of speech, versus extremist behaviour that isn’t welcome,” Peter Malinauskas said.
To its credit the Labor government has cracked down on symbols such as the Nazi swastika being displayed in public and blatant acts of neo-Nazism.
The Premier’s Hungarian-born grandmother survived World War II and escaped post-war communism, so he knows a thing or two about his forebears living under harsh and brutal symbols of repression.
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But he’s treading a matrix of fine lines in dealing with the current protest environment and how it’s evolving.
If changed laws disallowed freedom of speech, it would insult free thinkers.
If protesters, such as the Freeman placard waver, are charged but walk free over a legal loophole, it will make a mockery of the law and potentially the Premier.
But if some placards are allowed and others are prohibited under a subjective judgement call, all hell will break loose.
“If people want to express concerns on housing shortages or any other issue of that nature we should absolutely engage in thoughtful policy debate regarding that,’ he said.
“But if you’re celebrating cop killers and you’ve got Nazis present, then something’s gone seriously wrong.”
My point to the Premier was that laws may need to rapidly evolve with changing times as today’s blatantly offensive behaviour wasn’t even on the radar of those peacefully taking to the streets in the past.
Young police officers present at the weekend rally may not have even recognised the placard as being an image of Dezi Freeman, and, if so, how would they manage a potentially volatile crowd situation?
But the proverbial horse had bolted in the moments that mattered, leaving police trying to clean up the public relations dilemma until the alleged perpetrator presented to Grenfell Street police.
Perhaps he’d heard the bells tolling.
“The cops are looking for you, turn yourself in,” was the Premier’s simple message to the alleged offender.
Police obtained Channel 7 news footage after the story aired, which helped identify him before an initial fruitless search.
That work all required using valuable police resources.
So where do these protests go from here?
Can we expect more Freeman posters to emerge as a new symbol of anti-establishment discontent?
It’s hard to conceive an image unknown to all but a few Australians just over a week ago is now part of an anti-immigration debate.
Police say they have a firm control over such protests and don’t require any specific law changes.
The Premier says don’t rule anything in or out.
The only certainty is that more challenging times confront all of us.
Mike Smithson is weekend presenter and political analyst for 7News.
