4th Feb 2021, 12:08 PM – Senate Motions - National Security - Far-right and far-left extremism

The majority voted in favour of a motion amended by South Australian Senator Simon Birmingham (Liberal), which means it passed. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own, but they are politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world;

(ii) far-right and far-left extremism is often cultivated through its overlap with various conspiracy theories, which have become a common tool to radicalise individuals, especially through misinformation on social media, and

(iii) extremism in all its forms tears apart the social fabric of Australia, in particular across our multicultural communities;

(b) condemns:

(i) the promotion of a range of conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns by far-right and far-left extremists,

(ii) the National Socialist Network, an Australian neo-Nazi organisation which caused fear amongst communities in the Grampians on both Australia Day and International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and

(iii) all other extremist groups which seek to promote fascism, communism, anarchism, violence and bigotry in our community;

(c) expresses its support for all Australians—particularly multicultural, ethnic, religious and First Nations Australians—who are vilified by extremists; and

(d) re-affirms that there is no place in the Australian community for any individual or group who seeks to promote disharmony.