(Image: Supplied)

On Saturday, large crowds attended a “rally for health and freedom” that was led by organisers from an anonymous Telegram account, a largely unmoderated social media platform embraced by fringe groups. 

At the Melbourne rally involving mainstream politicians, the threat of political violence loomed large. Protestors carried prop gallows. A speaker chanted “Hang Dan Andrews”. Known members of violent, extremist groups like the Proud Boys were active participants in the event. 

Ostensibly the protest was about a new pandemic law and vaccine mandates, but the protesters’ grievances went beyond that. Signs, shirts and other paraphernalia showed that participants also held other conspiratorial or fringe beliefs including being part of anti-vaccine and QAnon movements. 

Like the July Melbourne protests before them, it’s clear that not all protesters were conspiracy theorists or extremists. A portion of residents of a city that had been locked down more than anywhere else in the world have grown frustrated with restrictive and sometimes confusing COVID-19 restrictions. These protests — often marketed as “freedom” rallies — are a potpourri of people with different beliefs united by an anti-government streak. But we also know that some participants who hold extreme beliefs hope to use movements like the “Kill the Bill” protests to bring others into the fold. 

What made Saturday different was the increasingly close bonds between the political establishment and those holding extreme ideologies. 

Researchers from anti-fascist group White Rose Society noted that federal United Australia Party MP Craig Kelly was photographed with Stuart von Moger, an Australian neo-Nazi who was part of the now-defunct Lads Society. Kelly confirmed that he had security on the day but said he couldn’t recall the names of the personnel.

Liberal state MP Bernie Finn, who spoke at the protest, authorised a print advertisement for the rally in the Herald-Sun on Saturday. The advertisement linked directly to the Telegram channel for the organisers, who have repeatedly featured speakers with extreme beliefs in their events. Finn’s office did not return a call for comment.  

Liberal Democrat state MP, David Limbrick, shared a picture of himself at the rally saying that the government is smearing protestors as “extremists”. (In the background, a “NO VAX” sign can be seen between other signs.)

Victoria University political extremism researcher Dr Debra Smith said politicians engaging with these crowds can push fringe ideas into the mainstream and provide them with a sense of legitimacy. What unites the disparate ideologies at these events, she said, is a sense of anti-democratic punishment. 

“It’s not that people are buying into specific ideas, but they’re buying into the idea of a ‘day of reckoning’ to come,” Smith said.

The intensity of opposition to the Victorian government and those seen to help them has continued to ratchet up. Security incidents at electoral offices spiked by 50% last year. Crossbenchers have been bombarded with death threats. A man was arrested last week allegedly armed with a crossbow outside Victorian Parliament.  

Smith warns that political movements seeking to harness this opposition for electoral purposes are playing with fire.  

“They’re very transactional,” she said. “They’re not actually supporting these politicians. They’re against the system, they’re anti-democratic.”