marieclaire.com.au 31T
he anti-Islam movement is
being led by the women of
Australia,” says Reclaim
Australia organiser Monika
Evers. “The men are there protecting
the women, but women are leading.
They can see what damage is being
caused to our culture and our society.”
According to Evers, the electoral
success of Pauline Hanson has embold-
ened many women in patriot groups.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party
snared four senate seats in the 2016
federal election, its support strongest in
disadvantaged areas with a higher pro-
portion of voters born in Australia.
The movement was also buoyed by
a national poll published in September
showing almost half of all Australians
want a ban on Muslim immigration.
The most common reasons given were
fears over terrorism and a belief Mus-
lim migrants neither integrate into
society, nor share Australian values.
“I am a peace-loving mung bean;
I want the best for everyone, but I
think Islam is unsuitable for integra-
tion with the West,” says Evers, who
joined Reclaim in 2014. “I am not abigot – I have done the research, I am
actually very well-educated. It’s not like
I hate Muslims, but I stand for truth.
I am a watcher on the wall.”
Kirralie Smith, founder of the web-
site Halal Choices, says she started
studying Islam after attending a meet-
ing about the religion near her home in
Taree, NSW, in 2010.
Smith, 45, a mother
of three, believes Halal
certification fees help
fund terrorism, despite
a 2015 senate inquiry
finding no direct link
between the two. But
facts don’t seem to shake
anyone’s resolve. Smith stood for the
senate in 2016 for the anti-Islam party
Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA)
and claims broad support for her
views, despite winning just over
3000 first preference votes.
“We’re that silent majority who
have been neglected and ignored for
too long,” she says. “It has got to the
point where too many things are being
compromised. People are saying,
‘That’s enough, no more.’”Interview enough women from
Australia’s far-right and you discover
they cover all ages, education levels and
occupations. Their common cause is
seeking a ban on Muslim immigration,
burqas, mosques, or the Koran. They
genuinely fear that Australia will be
overrun by Islam – despite the fact
that Muslims account
for barely two per cent
of the population.
Dr Susan Carland,
a former Australian
Muslim of the Year,
who lives in Melbourne
with her husband, TV
host Waleed Aly,
and their two children, says these opin-
ions are sincere but harmful.
“They probably genuinely believe
Muslims are trying to change the Aus-
tralian way of life and if they don’t stand
up for that, everything is going to go
down the S-bend,” she says.
The rise of right wing politicians
such as Hanson and Trump have helped
legitimise such fears, adds Dr Carland,
who teaches gender studies, politics
and sociology at Monash University.The Eltham rally
drew a crowd
of people with the
shared vision
of keeping refugees
out of Australia.WAYNE TAYLOR; GETTY IMAGES; DAVID ISRAEL
“Our history,
our culture, our
Aussie pride is
being stolen”- Anonymous protester
Special report