Australians have received a rare glimpse inside the highly secretive Q Society with the far-right, anti-Islam group holding a pair of fundraising events in Sydney and Melbourne this week.
As the sun was setting on Friday evening, more than 100 anti-racism protesters tried to block those arriving at a dinner in St Kilda, where newly independent Senator Cory Bernardi was a guest of honour.
They carried signs, rocked a bus and shouted slogans including, “Racist, sexist, anti-queer Cory is not welcome here”.
Bernardi wasn’t the only high profile politician on the guest list either, conservative Nationals MP George Christensen was also billed to speak, prompting widespread criticism.
“Bigotry and racism have no place in Australia,” Greens leader Richard Di Natale said in a scathing Facebook post.
“Malcolm Turnbull has to condemn George Christensen for supporting this vile event.”
On Thursday night 160 people attended a similar event at an RSL in Sydney, where a number of attendees were outed for spouting anti-Muslim rhetoric by Fairfax reporter Jacqueline Maley who attended.
“Let’s be honest, I can’t stand Muslims,” cartoonist Larry Pickering declared, according to Maley’s piece in the Sydney Morning Herald.