Neo-Nazis ‘tapping into local anxieties’ to radicalise

Anti-racism training for young children is among a series of policy responses being recommended to combat festering right-wing extremism.

Anti-racism training for seven-year-olds and a greater emphasis on extremism resilience have been flagged as ways to counter the emboldened far-right.

Experts and religious minorities on Wednesday sounded the alarm on the profound risk of extremism as far-right groups tap into economic anxieties to radicalise a wider cohort of Australians.

Academics and politicians had tended to view extremism through the prism of terrorism but a broader view was needed, violent extremism expert Professor Julian Droogan said.

“(These groups) form part of this broader spectrum of anti-government, right-wing extremism and conspiratorial thinking that spreads far beyond organised groups into online social movements and broader movements in Australia that are international,” Prof Droogan told a NSW parliamentary inquiry.

“The risk landscape is profound, it’s complex, and it really demands a nuanced series of policy responses.”

The inquiry on measures to combat right-wing extremism was established in the fortnight after 60 neo-Nazis rallied outside the state parliament and as they developed plans to register a political party.

In the months since, NSW has had a mass shooting allegedly inspired by Islamist ideology and a city-centre nationalist rally featuring an anti-Semitic tirade from a neo-Nazi.

“(Groups) over the last couple of years, particularly in protest movements, (are) really tapping into localised anxieties,” racism expert Rachel Sharples said.

“When we look at some of these, like rallies and protests, there’s a diversity there that perhaps hasn’t been there in the past, across generations, but also across groups (and) gender.”

She suggested better support for anti-racism training, be it for seven-year-olds or adults in workplaces, as well as improving literacy about misinformation.

“Better support for those kinds of trainings are really important, and they can be developed across a whole subset of society,” Dr Sharples said.

Prof Droogan, who co-convenes a Melbourne-based violent extremism research network, highlighted a decade-old program called Compact that links different marginalised groups to build community resilience

“How do we create a resilient, networked community of empowered young people and others who can respond to these crises when they appear in a way that knits communities together?”

Jewish leaders told the inquiry their community in Sydney, which includes the largest contingent of Holocaust survivors outside Israel, was being targeted with hatred from both left and right extremists.

“Antisemitism is being normalised in ways not seen in generations,” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Michele Goldman said.

Erica Hendrawan said many Buddhists were ethnically distinct and easily identifiable when walking the streets, making them “easy targets” for racists.

“I don’t feel safe for my grandmother to walk in Maroubra just because three or four people – probably kids – can just run her over and do all these things and nobody can help,” the Buddhist Council of NSW chair told the inquiry.

She suggested politicians consider better monitoring of social media algorithms.

By: Luke Costin/AAP