Pauline Hanson, Bob Katter Back Anti-Immigrant Protests In Australia On August 31
- Staff Writer
- Aug 28
- 3 min read
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and independent MP Bob Katter - no strangers to controversies - have endorsed the March for Australia anti-immigration protests scheduled to take place in major Australian cities on August 31, 2025.
Katter vowed to march “front and centre” at the anti-immigration rally.
The unnamed organisers for the March for Australia protests released a manifesto last week targeting migrants and accused the government and big business of pushing a “mass migration” agenda.
The group’s manifesto singled out Australia’s Indian community as emblematic of “replacement”, citing the debunked White nationalist and far-right “great replacement theory” that there is a conspiracy to replace white citizens with non-whites.
Pauline Hanson Calls For Deportations
Hanson and Katter have spearheaded calls for a drastic cut to immigration levels and a tougher stance on visa breaches.
In a speech to Parliament, One Nation MP Hanson described the march as an opportunity for Australians to “have their say and wave the Australian flag,” voicing frustration over “wokeness”.
I'm ashamed of where we're headed – all this wokeness, the escalating crime, the cost of living, high electricity costs and the decline in our moral values... There's all this transgender rubbish and what's going on with women's spaces.'
Hanson claimed that “immigration has gotten so out of control that many Australians no longer recognise their own country” and warned of the “slow destruction of our nationhood”.
She accused Labor of “deliberately” bringing in 1.5 million migrants since being elected, a claim seen by some as exaggerated. “This is no accident. It’s deliberate. It’s intentional,” Hanson warned.
The One Nation MP called for immigration to be cut to 130,000 annually and demanded that asylum seekers and visa breachers be deported.
Bob Katter: Front & Centre
Katter told media person that he would be “front and centre” of the anti-immigration rally.
The Queensland MP promised to “do everything humanly possible” to ensure that new migrants “tick the boxes.”
“Do they have democracy? Do they have rule of law? Do they have Christianity or some similar belief system? Do they have egalitarian traditions? Do they have industrial awards? And if they don’t tick the boxes, they don’t come,” Katter said.
The MP also threatened to punch a reporter who asked Katter about his own Lebanese heritage.
Carlyle Assad Khittar, Katter’s grandfather, migrated from Lebanon in 1898. The family had later changed their name to Katter.
Pauline Hanson’s History of Controversial Statements
Pauline Hanson’s career has been dogged by controversy since her entry into parliament. In her infamous 1996 maiden speech, Hanson warned that Australia was at risk of being “swamped by Asians,” arguing that migrants “form ghettos and do not assimilate”.
She went on to accuse governments of creating “reverse racism” through policies supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and multicultural initiatives.
Pauline Hanson also has a long record of opposing LGBTQI rights, having voted against marriage equality, consistently fought to restrict transgender protections, and made claims linking LGBTQI inclusion to a “decline in our moral values.” In the past she has argued that legalising same-sex marriage would threaten traditional family terms like “mum and dad,” and unsuccessfully pushed parliament for anti-transgender inquiries and education bills.
Bob Katter: Never Far from Outrage
Bob Katter, too, has drawn plenty of controversy for his comments over the years, particularly regarding multiculturalism and LGBTQ+ issues.
In 2019, Katter notoriously described homosexuality as a “fashion trend,” sparking outrage among mental health experts and LGBTQI advocates.
He has claimed in the past that his Queensland electorate contains no gay people and, in a widely mocked 2017 interview, shifted abruptly from discussing same-sex marriage to grumbling about crocodile attacks, cementing his reputation as one of Parliament’s most eccentric figures.
Neo-Nazis Say They Are Marching On August 31
March for Australia organisers said anti-immigration rallies are scheduled to take place across all capital cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin and Townsville.
The organisers singled out and targeted the Indian community in Australia. The group's manifesto declared, “More Indians have arrived in 5 years than Greeks and Italians did in 100,” framing Indian migration as a threat to Australia’s cultural identity and urging a halt to new arrivals.
The group pushed the White nationalist conspiracy theory of cultural “replacement” in its manifesto. “And that’s just from one country... We know migration has a cultural impact. This isn’t a slight cultural change – it’s replacement plain and simple,” the manifesto stated.
Commentators have panned the planned rallies as "racist".
Australian neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network (NSN) founder Thomas Sewell had previously claimed responsibility for organising the march, a claim rejected by the Facebook group March For Australia.
The Facebook group posted that "every Australian who wants an immediate halt to mass immigration is welcome at the March For Australia", including right-wing groups.
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