Nazi salutes and an anti-trans protest: Exactly what happened outside Victoria’s parliament on Saturday.

Over the weekend, there was a protest on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne.

Protests occur at state parliament houses all the time — but there was something deeply concerning about this particular rally. 

It was branded as a "Let Women Speak" event, run by British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (also known as Posie Parker online). Keen-Minshull is a controversial figure often deemed a TERF – a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. It's believed that around 400 people were in attendance and standing beside them was another inflammatory and controversial group, the National Socialist Movement. 

From dozens of men performing Nazi salutes on the steps of Parliament, to signs inciting transphobia and violence, it was a confronting sight for many members of the public. 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has since condemned the rally and those in attendance — including Liberal MP Moira Deeming who now faces expulsion.

But as the dust settles, many are left wondering what exactly went down. Why it was allowed to happen in the first place? And what is being done to make sure it never happens again?

Watch what happened out the front of Victorian Parliament. Post continues below. 

Wait, hold up – who exactly are the National Socialist Movement group?

The National Socialist Movement are no strangers to serious controversy and concern. 

They are considered Australia's largest far-right extremist network, a group of mostly white men that are known to promote racist violence. They portray themselves as a group of "outdoorsmen reviving the imagined traditions of a white Australia".

Walkley Award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie recently led an investigative Stan documentary on the group, telling Mamamia that the National Socialist Movement has been watched closely by ASIO and counter-terror task forces.

Their self-appointed leader, Tom Sewell, is also known to police. 

Sewell avoided time behind bars earlier this year over a brutal attack on a Nine Network security guard in Melbourne. Sewell was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order with 150 hours of community service, found guilty of recklessly causing injury, and affray. He asserted the incident was not racially motivated.

On Saturday, Sewell was front and centre at the protest, performing multiple Nazi salutes. 

So, why was this group in attendance you may be asking?

Well, along with their anti-Semitic stance, the National Socialist Movement also holds far-right extremist perspectives on numerous other issues, including trans rights. 

It's been reported that at another Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull-run event earlier this year, one speaker quoted Hitler's Mein Kampf to justify transphobia.

Immigration NZ is now reviewing whether or not Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is still able to travel to New Zealand. Don’t let her come here with her hatred. @michaelwoodnz https://t.co/Z7EdYn5xYP

— Shaneel Lal 🧚🏻 (They/Them) (@shaneellall) March 20, 2023

Keen-Minshull herself has been criticised for her offensive viewpoints. She said to women who oppose her: "Each and every one of you women who stand in my way… will be annihilated." And in the same rant, she reportedly compared trans women to sexual predators and serial killers.

So far, she has not commented on the public condemnation since the protest, nor the inclusion of the National Socialist Movement protestors. 

What went down on Saturday at this protest?

Along with the approximately 400-strong crowd gathered for the anti-trans rally, about 30 people from the National Socialist Movement marched alongside, appearing to agree with the sentiment being projected at the protest.

Multiple people held signs with offensive slurs and anti-trans quotes. Many protestors also repeatedly performed the Nazi salute at the rally.

But despite all of this, there was another group that stood opposite the protest taking place on the steps, rallying in favour of transgender rights.

Pro-trans rights protesters held signs that included messages such as "Trans lives over TERF hate" and "Women aren't defined by their bodies". Hundreds of this group were in attendance and in fact, LGBTQIA+ counter-protesters apparently outnumbered the original protestors by 2:1. 

Neo-Nazi crackdown on the cards after Melbourne clash https://t.co/WI4i4QrlDf

— David Griffiths (@DavidGr07837209) March 19, 2023

The response.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said the human rights of trans people are "not negotiable" and that neo-Nazis "aren't welcome".

"I wish it didn't have to be said, but clearly it does: Nazis aren't welcome. Not on parliament's steps. Not anywhere. They were there to say the trans community don't deserve rights, safety or dignity… their evil ideology is to scapegoat minorities – and it's got no place here," he said.

As for the Liberal MP who attended the rally – Moira Deeming – she has said she was aligned with the anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull but not the National Socialist Movement.

She wrote on Twitter that she was disappointed Victoria Police had let the neo-Nazi men protest alongside the anti-trans crowd, "terrifying women who were just trying to speak about their rights".

Opposition leader John Pesutto will move to expel controversial Liberal MP Moira Deeming from the parliamentary party room after she attended a Melbourne rally that has been associated with neo-Nazis https://t.co/0HUrRVs5TY via @sumeyyailanbey

— Max Walden (@maxwalden_) March 20, 2023

In a Facebook live video with organisers after the rally, Deeming said other politicians were in the crowd.

Deeming is now set to be expelled from her parliamentary party due to her involvement in the rally. 

"This is not an issue about free speech but a member of the parliamentary party associating with people whose views are abhorrent to my values, the values of the Liberal Party and the wider community," the Victorian Opposition Leader said in a statement.

In a joint statement with LGBTQIA+, multicultural, women's and other groups, Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said neo-Nazi and anti-trans ideologies had much in common in their wishes to incite hatred and fear. 

What did police do? 

In total, three people have so far been arrested — one for allegedly putting a female officer in a headlock and taking her to the ground, another arrested for allegedly slapping a police officer on the neck and a third arrested for unlawful assault.

Officers were able to stop a brawl between the two opposing protest groups (the pro trans rights and anti-trans rights/National Socialist Movement members). 

But they have said they were powerless to stop the actions of the neo-Nazis — specifically when it came to the salutes. 

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said this is because the salute itself has not been outlawed in Victoria. In an Australian first, Victoria banned the public display of the Nazi swastika last year, but this did not include people performing the Nazi salute. 

Mr Gatt said to AAP that a ban on the salute could work, but that neo-Nazis hell-bent on causing outrage would find a replacement. It raises the question of whether the government should outlaw neo-Nazi groups altogether.

"What we've seen is far-right extremism around the world lead to a new form of terrorism," Mr Gatt said. "We've seen that in New Zealand. We've seen that in many other parts of the world. And, indeed, unchecked in Australia it will have the same effect."

What is being done to make sure this doesn't happen again?

Extra measures to crack down on neo-Nazism are now being explored by the Victorian government. 

Legislation banning the Nazi salute in Victoria will be fast-tracked in state parliament but a change could still be months away. Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes confirmed the government would expand legislation banning the Nazi swastika to include the salute.

The state's Opposition leader said the coalition worked with the government to ban the swastika and would do so again with the latest proposal.

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said to AAP: "There is no perfect cure for the disease of extremism but this law is a first good step."

But when it comes to people protesting against the trans community — there is yet to be a similar fast-tracked solution. 

There are currently no federal laws and no laws in Victoria, South Australia or Western Australia protecting LGBTQIA+ people from vilification, as per Equality Australia. Only vilification based on race (and in Victoria, also based on religion) is prohibited in these places.

In 2021, a cross-party Victorian Parliamentary committee recommended expanding Victoria's vilification laws to protect everyone from hate, including transgender people. These recommendations are yet to be implemented.

As Equality Australia's CEO said: "Clearly there is no place for Nazi salutes and signs calling for the destruction of trans people in Australian public debate."

With AAP.

Feature Image: AAP.

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