The white supremacists marched through Ballarat on Eureka Day. Source: Maksym Kozlenko, Wikimedia Commons
Police are investigating an unplanned white supremacist rally of around 30 people who marched through Ballarat on Eureka Day on Sunday.
Social media photos and videos show the group covering their faces and marching through the street carrying signs and shouting white supremacist slogans.
Police said they are also investigating reports of the banned Nazi salute being made alongside the demonstration.
A 15-year-old boy, not attached to the group, is assisting police with enquiries.
Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson said: “To have people who were cowardly in their approach, to not show their faces and displaying symbols and slogans about white supremacy … really has no place in Ballarat.”
Hudson said Ballarat is a proud refugee-welcome community.
Eureka Day, when the march occurred, is a day that marks the anniversary of the 1854 attack by colonial military forces on miners protesting at the Eureka Stockade uprising. The protesting miners came from all backgrounds and races.
Brett Edington, Head of Trades Hall, spoke to the ABC and said that the demonstration was “disgusting and disturbing.”
“[It’s] the complete antithesis of the story of Eureka,” Mr Edington said.
“As we know, it was an international event, a multicultural event. There were people of all races and creeds present here in 1854 …”
“The [rally] made a point to do what they thought were the Eureka points: so, Sovereign Hill, Eureka Gardens, where the Eureka Centre was holding a family concert.”
Edington also said that he believed the white supremacist protesters were not from the local community.
“This group, whether they have targeted Ballarat because of Spilt Milk [festival held over the weekend] or the 169th anniversary of Eureka … I doubt these people live in our community,” he said.
“I had an email from a concerned member from our African community [who] said, ‘How do I know? It could be my bank teller, it could be the person I buy coffee from …’
“I would suggest Ballarat has had a visit from these people, and now they will target other areas.”
A police spokesperson said that while there were no “major issues” during the demonstration, an incident like this could leave those in the community feeling “targeted, threatened and vulnerable.”
