Reclaim Australia

Goals

The organisation's objectives include the reclaiming of freedom, the belief in the equality of gender and law and opposition to Halal certification.

Rallies

In April and July 2015 Reclaim Australia organised rallies in several Australian cities. Speakers at these rallies included Danny Nalliah, Pauline Hanson, and George Christensen. Reclaim Australia has said that the rallies are a "public response to Islamic extremism and a protest against minority groups who want to change the Australian cultural identity." Many police were deployed and used capsicum spray to control violence. A number of arrests occurred for violent behavior.

In February 2016, a rally in Canberra was held on the same day that Pegida and other far-right groups demonstrated in other countries. There were 250 attendees who drowned out the 40 counter-protesters and chanted, "Everybody’s welcome, Sharia is not." According to a police spokesman, "there were no arrests or issues with the protest."

In January 2017, a rally in Sydney was attended by only dozens of the approximately 400 people who had registered to attend.

Reclaim Australia has played a number of popular Australian songs at its rallies. Some songwriters have requested that their songs not be played at these rallies, including: Jimmy Barnes ("Khe Sanh"), John Farnham ("You're the Voice"), John Schumann ("I Was Only 19"), John Williamson ("True Blue"), Shane Howard ("Solid Rock"), and Midnight Oil ("Short Memory"). Lee Kernaghan said his song "Spirit of the Anzacs" should be played at public events only if these were respectful to the memory of fallen servicemen and women.

Street rallies held by Reclaim Australia have faced counter-protests from human rights activists, anti-racism activists, anarchists, trade unionists, and members of the Socialist Alliance.

The Australian domestic security agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, says the group is of interest and staff have been assigned to monitor it because of the potential for further violence.

Structure and leadership

According to political history lecturer Troy Whitford, Reclaim Australia is unlike previous short-lived radical nationalist groups. The movement has avoided becoming a structured organisation, draws a broader support base, and lacks high-profile leaders who become a focus for opponents.

The founders of the group are Wanda Marsh, John Oliver and Catherine Brennan. Brennan has said that she had never been politically active, but that the 2014 siege at the Lindt Café was a turning point for her.

The far-right hate group United Patriots Front is a splinter group from Reclaim Australia. Its members have taken part in Reclaim Australia rallies, and in July 2015 police confiscated a registered firearm from a licensed gun-owner before he travelled on a bus with UPF members to a rally in Melbourne.

Also in July 2015, organisers of a Brisbane rally told the crowd they had split from Reclaim Australia to join a group that was more explicitly anti-Islamic.

In the Australian Capital Territory general election of 2016, a Canberra organiser with Reclaim Australia, Daniel Evans, ran as an independent candidate in the electorate of Yerrabi. He won 0.5 per cent of the vote.