Cultural gatekeepers write off 'Take Back Australia' marchers worried about the cost of living as racist xenophobes

Sky News AU

18 hours ago

Australians are not racist - we are simply fed up.
Do you want lower immigration and to protect our culture, heritage and way of life?
Congratulations.
You have committed a thought crime.
The reality is mainstream Australians deserve the right to be heard without being branded as bigots.
And now on August 31, those same people are being urged to take to the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and other city locations 'to be confirmed' to Take Our Country Back.
The goal is for this rally, we're told, is to represent the ordinary citizen - the single mum skipping meals so her children can eat, the young tradie still living in his parents' spare room because rent chews up his pay and the cafe owner poleaxed by power bills and supplier costs.
Marching for jobs, affordable homes and fair immigration, not for hate.
To be clear, no one wants these marches hijacked by the National Socialist Network, their flags or their warped ideology.
If the NSN turns up, they don't speak for the ordinary Australian.
They speak only for themselves as a tiny, toxic fringe.
The marches were announced this week amid Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state.
It took less than 48 hours for Hamas to celebrate this conditional support, after PM Anthony Albanese swore it was the last thing they would welcome.
Anyone with a basic grasp of Middle East politics saw this coming a mile off, especially when Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef then rejected calls for the terror group to put down its arms.
What a tangled mess we find ourselves in, one that bolsters the perception that Canberra's priorities are anywhere but at home.
For some, "culture" is a code word for exclusion.
Many others see it as the stuff that matters such as the rule of law, free speech, women's equality, mateship and the right to live here without fear of sectarian violence.
Essentially, what binds us together rather than what divides us.
The August 31 events are billed as grassroots, peaceful protests not intended to 'incite hate or violence'.
We've had that type of protest quite recently you'll recall - on Sydney's Harbour Bridge and along Melbourne's King Street in support of Palestine.
No allegations of racism then.
There were over 90,000 people expressing disgust at civilian slaughter in Gaza, starvation and Israel, arguing that none of it was mutually exclusive.
But before anyone has marched for Australia, the verdict is already in from the cultural gatekeepers.
Take Our Country Back, if it proceeds, will be xenophobic and dangerous.
This snap judgement says a lot about where this country's conversation on immigration has gone and how little room there is for nuance.
Also, what a truly awful way to denigrate Australians who simply want to express their concerns about a nation they adore but no longer recognise, especially when it comes to the priorities of our federal government.
The feelings have been bubbling for a while, however.
A 2025 Lowy Institute poll found less than half of those surveyed (45 per cent) believe immigration is either "about right" (38 per cent) or "too low" (seven per cent).
Earlier, a 2023 Resolve Strategic survey said 59 per cent of Australians believed the current level of migrant intake is 'too high'.
Deakin University's Samantha Schneider also made a poignant observation earlier this year in a piece she wrote for news.com.au.
'Many ordinary Australians are able simultaneously to feel positive about multiculturalism and migrant communities while expressing fears around the perceived impact of population growth resources, for example, in relation to housing, health care and urban amenity,' she wrote.
Critics like Abbie Chatfield, who posted a furious expletive-laden attack on the marches, dismiss everyone who disagrees as a 'loser' or 'freak' instead of engaging with their legitimate concerns.
Housing, cost of living and public services are reduced to a blame immigrants versus blame corporations-style fight.
And in eye-watering echo-chamber thinking, Ms Chatfield and her cheerleaders assume anyone attending the rally is ignorant, privileged or a neo-Nazi.
This, I would argue, is an ignorant way to view a complex national debate on where Australia is heading.
In the inner suburbs, the immigration discussion is often abstract such as a dinner-party chat about 'enriching diversity'.
Then there's the progressive enclave that is state-sponsored media, with a SBS article on Thursday citing experts who warn the protests "stem from misinformation and fear".
But in regional towns, the issue is immediate and it is not that regional Australians are less tolerant.
They simply see the impacts first-hand without the safety net of big-city infrastructure.
None of this excuses genuine racism, violence or threats.
That is the line and it must be policed.
But it is just as wrong to treat every concern about immigration levels as a dog whistle.
If people are told their legitimate worries are forbidden topics, they do not become more tolerant.
They become more resentful.
People will not be turning up on August 31 because they hate diversity.
It will be because they feel invisible.
Louise Roberts is a journalist and editor who has worked as a TV and radio commentator in Australia, the UK and the US. Louise is a winner of the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist in the NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism and has been shortlisted in other awards for her opinion work