8m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:18amProtesters clash at Canberra’s Commonwealth Bridge
More than 400 people have joined the March for Australia rally in Canberra, marching from the Captain James Cook Memorial across Commonwealth Bridge towards Parliament House.
(ABC News: Peter Lusted)
The group clashed with anti-racism protesters at the base of the bridge, with police keeping between the two groups.
Protesters from both sides could be heard yelling at each other.
(ABC News: Peter Lusted)
At least two people have been seen being detained by police.
(ABC News: Peter Lusted)
11m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:15am
‘This is an anti-racist town’, counter protester says
(ABC News)
Tim, who joined Melbourne’s counter protests as part of a contingent of university students and staff, said he attended to send a message to the anti-immigration protesters.
“Unfortunately, not for the first time, we’ve seen racist, far-right agitators marching through our streets here in the heart of Melbourne,” he said.
“We want to go and confront them, to outnumber them, to show them that this is an anti-racist town, that they’re not welcome here, that migrants and refugees are welcome here.”
He said the police had “shamefully” blocked the group from being able to do so.
12m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:15am
Sydney protester wants to put ‘Australia first’
Craig Drew is at Sydney’s March for Australia rally because he wants to put “Australia first” ahead of globalist movements, and wants to see a “sensible immigration” policy.
“We got 1 million people in the last three years but we’re still talking about a skills shortage,” he said.
“How do you import a million people and still have a skills shortage?”
(ABC News)
He says he also has other concerns besides immigration.
“Housing, it’s just so congested in the cities these days.
“The net zero is not going to achieve anything on the climate but it’s going to cost us trillion of dollars, it’s not going to meet our energy needs into the future.”
14m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:12am
Protesters gather outside Flinders St Station in Melbourne
Saoirse attended the counter-protest, wearing a dressed made up of many different flags.
She said the anti-immigration protest being held across the city was spreading “dangerous rhetoric”.
“I’m here because I believe the March for Australia is racist and an early sign of fascism,” she said.
“It’s really just to use, in this case, immigrants as the scapegoat for certain issues.”
(ABC News)
She accused the March for Australia protesters of using lies to further their agenda.
“It’s either to perpetuate racism or misogyny, but I’ve seen this pattern many times and I just believe it’s very problematic and not based on truth,” she said.
16m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:11amStart time confusion at Darwin’s March for Australia
The beginning of the March for Australia rally in Darwin has been marked with confusion about the event’s start time.
Around 30 people gathered in Civic Park at 10:30am ACST local time adorned in Australian and Eureka flags.
Following a brief discussion, the crowd decided to regather at 12pm ACST, with some attendees noting they had seen different start times advertised on various platforms.
A small group of March for Australia protestors gathered in Darwin. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
23m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:04am
WATCH: March for Australia protesters gather in Sydney
24m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 2:02am
Sydney counter protest on the move
The Unite Against Racism rally has begun its march through the streets of Sydney.
The crowd is chanting:
“March for Australia, you can’t hide.
“You’ve got Nazis on your side.”
(ABC News: Nick Dole)
(ABC News: Nick Dole)
The group has made its way to the southern edge of Hyde Park before turning back towards Belmore Park.
March for Australia demonstrators are gathering on the northern end of Hyde Park, but there is a heavy police presence to ensure the two protest groups don’t meet each other.
(ABC News: Nick Dole)
28m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:58am
‘We have our own problems’, March for Australia protester says
Sean Plesa was one of the protesters who turned up early at Melbourne’s March for Australia rally, carrying an Australian flag and an Eureka Stockade flag.
“I’m here to stand for my country and just show my support for what I stand for, which is Australia first,” Mr Plesa said.
“We have our own problems here and I think we should solve our own problems first.”
(ABC News)
Mr Plesa said the protest was not against immigration, but against mass immigration.
“There are more immigrants coming into the country than there are homes being built,” he said.
31m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:56am
About 100 March for Australia protesters in Hobart
Julia Pycroft and her granddaughter are among roughly 100 people taking part in the March for Australia demonstration on the Salamanca Lawns in Hobart.
Ms Pycroft has told reporter Jessica Moran she feels mass immigration “is just not on anymore”.
“We’ve got nothing for our own children,” she said.
“They can’t buy homes, they can’t get jobs.
“I’ve just become a great-grandmother, and I know she hasn’t got a future.
“There’s nothing here for Australian children.
“They’re all leaving Tasmania and going to the mainland because there’s nothing here.”
Julia Pycroft and her granddaugther (ABC News: Jessica Moran)
March for Australia demonstrators in Hobart (ABC News: Jessica Moran)
33m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:54am
March for Australia attendees told not to be disappointed in Melbourne turnout
(ABC News: Ben Knight)
Matt Trihey, who spoke at the March for Australia event in Melbourne, has told rally attendees not to be disappointed by the turnout.
Mr Trihey is from the National Workers Alliance, a self-described movement “dedicated to the preservation of Western Culture and Identity”.
He has previously claimed people with “European blood” face an “existential threat” from immigration.
Responding to questions from the ABC ahead of the rally, Mr Trihey said he had never been a member of a neo-Nazi organisation.
“The National Worker’s Alliance is a nationalist organisation,” Mr Trihey said at the Melbourne event.
“We currently advocate for the people of European descent in the same way every other ethnic group racial group should and does advocate for themselves.”
He identified the Alliance as the organisers of today’s rally.
(ABC News: Ben Knight)
33m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:53am
Protest groups meet in Melbourne
Counter-protesters have arrived at parliament in Melbourne’s CBD, where an anti-immigration rally is being held.
Hundreds of police officers, including mounted police and those in riot gear, are separating the two groups.
(ABC News: Natasha Schapova)
(ABC News: Natasha Schapova)
36m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:50am
March for Australia protesters gather in Sydney
March for Australia protesters are gathering in Sydney’s Hyde Park.
Tony is among them.
He was also part of the estimated 15,000 people at the August rally, and says he has also been to Canberra and “all over”, describing himself as someone who “turns up”.
(ABC News)
He wants to see an end to immigration, but it’s just one of the issues he’s protesting about today.
“Mass immigration is beyond the pale, it’s causing too many problems for the country.
“Freedom of speech.
I’m not a fan of digital ID. I think cash is king.
“I think we should keep our independence and not be trod over by the government.”
49m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:37amWATCH: Police deploy capsicum spray against protesters59m agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:27amViolence erupts between police and protesters in Melbourne
Tensions are flaring in Melbourne’s CBD, where protesters attending an anti-racism rally have clashed with police.
(ABC News: Natasha Schapova)
After a tense standoff where insults were hurled at police officers, at least one protester was detained by police.
Protesters continued to surround a group of police, with officers shouting at the demonstrators to get back.
(ABC News: Natasha Schapova)
OC spray was then deployed, with several protesters being affected. Others used umbrellas to block the spray, screaming “shame” at the officers.
(ABC News: Natasha Schapova)
1h agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:24am
Blame government housing policies, protester says
Let’s head back to the Sydney anti-racism protest.
Protester John Woods said he believed migrants were being unfairly scapegoated for Australia’s housing affordability problems.
“It’s wrong to point the finger at migrants. It’s got nothing to do with migrants,” he said.
“It’s a problem with government policies on housing.”
Another protester, Sabina Groeneveld said migrants contributed positively to Australian society.
“Most migrants are studying, working and also paying tax,” she said.
“So Australia would be not in such a good place if not so many migrants come every year.”
(ABC News)
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi told the crowd that their “anti-racist” message would win out.
“We are loud, we are loving … and we are unstoppable.”
(ABC News)
1h agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:24am
Demonstrator says it’s important to ‘support love’
More than 100 people are at the anti-racism rally on Hobart’s Parliament Lawns, with many carrying signs with messages of support for migrants.
Angus Dore told reporter Jessica Moran that he attended because he feels it’s important to “support love and oppose hate”.
“There’s a lot of divisive politics going on at the moment that are trying to divide the working class against each other instead of uniting to stop the rich,” he says.
Rosie Brennan says she’s baffled by the prevalence of fascism in Australia.
“It feels really weird in this current moment where we’re seeing a real resurgence in fascist policies and politics at a national and international level through to grassroots levels,” she says.
Ms Brennan described the March for Australia rally taking place across the road as “a bit of a miserable affair”.
Angus Dore (ABC News: Jessica Moran)
Rosie Brennan (ABC News: Jessica Moran)
1h agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:18am
Police searches underway in Melbourne
Ahead of the rally in Melbourne, the CBD and botanical gardens have been declared a search area by police.
Officers are searching some rally attendees’ bags and using detector wands.
(ABC News: Ben Knight)
1h agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:15am
Organiser says ‘racism is not welcome’
A counter-protest to the March for Australia rally has begun in Sydney.
Under the banner of “Unite against racism,” it has been organised by the Refugee Action Coalition.
(ABC News)
Organiser Ian Rintoul said his group couldn’t allow the March for Australia rally to go unanswered.
He said the presence of Neo-Nazis at earlier March for Australia rallies should serve as a warning to anyone considering attending.
“We want to send a very, very strong message that racism is not welcome on the streets of Sydney or anywhere else in Australia.
“I don’t think there’s any excuse for anyone at March for Australia thinking that they’re marching with anything other than the organised far right.”
1h agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:15am
Low turnout at Sydney’s anti-racism rally
Sydney’s counter-protest to today’s March for Australia rally attracted a small crowd of about 200 people at Belmore Park.
NSW Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, Shovan Bhattarai from Students for Palestine and Indigenous activist Paul Silva are among the speakers addressing the crowd.
(ABC News: Nick Dole)
Protester Sabina told the ABC that as a migrant, it was important for her to be there.
“I believe we should have an open mind about migrants,” she says.
“They’re certainly not the enemy, and it makes me very sad to see anti-migrant movements here in Australia and the rest of the world.”
Sabina at Sydney’s anti-racism rally. (ABC News)
1h agoSun 19 Oct 2025 at 1:15am
Counter protest underway in Hobart
An anti-racism rally is underway in Hobart. Two of the organisers, Matt Hauvrick and Angela Finch told reporter Jessica Moran they hope the demonstration will send a message of hope and togetherness.
“The housing crisis in Australia has many causes but they are not to do with immigration,” Mr Hauvrick says.
“They are to do with millionaire landlords … and big corporations who are making it harder than ever to build a home, to buy a home.
“We need to stand together to change that system to make sure that housing is a human right for all.”
(ABC News: Jessica Moran)
(ABC News: Jessica Moran)