Daniel Andrews the premier of Victoria has declared that while he supports the right to protest, the rallies against the Bendigo Mosque were “unacceptable” and displayed “bigotry and ignorance”. Andrews stated that: “People have a right to protest peacefully, but there are limits. Bigotry is not an acceptable form of protest.”

Daniel Andrews
Daniel Andrews celebrates the beginning of construction for the Bendigo Mosque.

Andrews made the comment after personally turning the first shovel on the contentious West Bendigo site that will be the first Islamic house of worship in the regional Victorian city. He was joined in his celebration by Islamic community leaders, local MPs and the Mayor (all protected by a very visible police presence).

Daniel Andrews
Very few of Bendigo’s alleged half a thousand strong Islamic community showed up to celebrate with Premier Andrews. Plenty of journalists and politicians however.

The biggest protests of those referred to by Mr Andrews were two loud and sometimes violent rallies in 2015. The first in August shut down the city centre as mosque opponents and bussed in extreme left activists confronted one another. Fireworks ensuing when the the leftists publicly burned an Australian flag and large numbers of police required to keep the two sides apart.

Daniel Andrews
Left Wing extremists attack a mosque opponent at the first rally in 2015.

Left Wing extremist climbs a lamp post to set fire to an Australian flag in sight of anti mosque protesters.

Anti mosque protesters storm police lines in an attempt to stop the flag burning.

Two months later a large crowd of over a thousand mosque opponents waving a sea of Australian flags marched to the rotunda at Rosalind Park while 400 police watched on. The extreme left on that occasion were massively outnumbered and had to be protected from the people they had travelled up from Melbourne to attack. Unreported as usual by the media was the fact that Red flags of Marxism dominated this counter protest along with their usual accompaniment of Socialist Alternative branded banners.

Daniel Andrews
Most of the counter demonstrators were affiliated with left wing extremist groups. In this case Socialist Alternative.

Despite Daniel Andrews dismissing the Mosque opponents as out of towners who “couldn’t even spell Bendigo”, the anti-mosque campaign was clearly a grassroots effort. More than 400 objections were lodged by locals against the mosque’s planning application and at one council meeting, 200 very loud locals packed the gallery and demanded the mayor’s resignation as terrified councillors were escorted away by police. The conflict even led to some of the first convictions under Victoria’s infamous “blasphemy laws” forbidding religious vilification with right wing activists Blair Cottrell and Neil Erikson brought before the court for a mock beheading held outside the Bendigo council offices.

Daniel Andrews
Police hold back left wing extremists after they attacked a mosque opponent.

Local police in Bendigo in the wake of the ground-breaking ceremony have made an announcement that they will “step up patrols and be on the lookout for prejudice motivated crime”. Considering the Premier’s clearly prejudiced attitude towards people simply trying to protest an unpopular development in their own town an investigation could do worse than start with him.

Author Details
Lucas Rosas
Lucas Rosas has spent years monitoring far left extremists so you don’t have to. He lives in a secure location with multiple large and hungry guard dogs.
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Lucas Rosas
Lucas Rosas has spent years monitoring far left extremists so you don’t have to. He lives in a secure location with multiple large and hungry guard dogs.
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