‘NZ shooter: the myth of Australian values‘, Eureka Street, 19 March 2019
The painful truth is that Anning and Tarrant are representative of an aspect of Australian national identity. For decades, they were entirely representative. Their increasing loss of relevance, their speeches laced with resentment, anxiety and betrayal, hold up the forts of an imperilled White nationalism. Islamic fundamentalism provides the reactionary counter. Ironically both rely on the wonders of the very current and modern internet to disseminate their views.
In 2015, we noticed that supporters of Reclaim Australia, a white supremacist or extreme right group, made use of Anzac motifs as part of their nationalist kit.
