Protesters surround the National Press Club. Photo: Kelly Moroney.
Did COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns change the face of who we are as Australians? Have we shed forever the notion we are a carefree nation full of larrikins?
In all the talk of the long-term costs Australia is likely to pay because of COVID-19, ASIO this week added another concern for our country – the rise of radical and violent extremists spurred on by anti-vaxxers and conspiracists.
The 18 months Australia spent grappling with COVID-19 certainly exposed a nastiness among some Australians that I think shocked many. The lack of compassion shown to those in desperate situations, the willingness to dob in rule breakers, the lynch-mob mentality exposed on all sides on social media showed a distinct lack of larrikinism.
It may well have uncorked a bottle of vitriol that may never be sealed again. This is not just my concern – it’s also been voiced by ASIO.
In its annual report ASIO fingered the rise of community anger during COVID-19 as a real concern. Director-General of Security, Mick Burgess, said his organisation was watching these groups very closely.
“The threats posed by religiously motivated violent extremists and ideologically motivated violent extremists remain real,” Mr Burgess warned.
“I remain concerned by the number of young Australians who are being radicalised and recruited by both cohorts. Specific-issue motivated violent extremism grew during COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns. Angry, alienated individuals and groups were being driven by a range of grievances, including anti-vaccination agendas, conspiracy theories and anti-government sovereign citizen beliefs.
“In most cases, these grievances were expressed peacefully, but in some cases protesters advocated the use of violence, and in a smaller number of cases, they used violence — the factors that trigger ASIO’s interest.”
Will it all die down eventually? Probably not. There are too many dark forces lurking on social media who are furiously pouring petrol on the flames of hatred. Many of us never see the really whacko stuff, because it’s confined to loony chat groups where like-minded angry people feed off each other.
But you can be sure our spies are on to it. And if they are concerned about the potential for younger Australians to be radicalised, then we should be too.
In Canberra we have all become very familiar with the “Cookers”, a group of protesters who still refuse to go home and who have espoused all sorts of bizarre theories about where COVID-19 came from, who was controlling it, and how it was part of a global conspiracy by Bill Gates to control our minds.
Some of these rantings have been given far too much airtime by some in the mainstream media. There is stuff discussed openly in some media outlets today which we would not have dreamed about a decade ago, all with the aim of gaining more social media hits and TV viewers.
We have seen how that played out, and is continuing to play out, in America. ASIO believes this is where we need to be most vigilant.
“The most likely terrorist attack scenario in Australia continues to be a lone actor attack without warning and using a rudimentary and readily available weapon such as a knife or vehicle,” it said in its report, tabled in Federal Parliament this week.
I firmly believe this whole Aussie “mate” image was a myth all along. And now COVID-19 has provided us with a new moniker – the “Angry Aussie”.
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