Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More than 100,000 Australians have viewed a video online supposedly showing AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw plotting a coup against the Australian government. It's a fake—Commissioner Kershaw is not talking in the video and of course there is no effort by the AFP to overthrow the government. But what isn't fake is the threat posed by the creators of this video. This group had commissioned the creation of hundreds of fake AFP badges and planned to recruit individuals to arrest the Governor-General of Australia and replace him with a far-right extremist. The police have arrested an individual involved, and their investigations are ongoing, but the concern is that some of those 100,000 Australians who saw the fake footage may have been taken in by it. It's further evidence of the disturbing rise of disinformation and the radical far-right extremism in our community.

Fascism thrives on the fringes. The antivaccine movement, the antilockdown movement, the Sovereign Citizens Movement—these ideologies are vehicles for the type of disinformation and conspiracy that fuel antigovernment, antidemocratic and far-right extremist sentiments. The end goal of right-wing extremists is to spur the downfall of democracy. They benefit from chaos and distrust, and, if people think this sounds far-fetched, remember the thousands that gathered to assault the seat of a American democracy because they believed an election had been stolen and remember the thousands that gathered across this country just weeks ago united in their belief that the pandemic has killed millions is just fake news.

It is of great concern there are members of the current Morrison government who wink and nudge at these elements in an attempt to curry their favour. Those who play to this audience threaten to legitimise them. In doing so they undermine our democracy and threaten our way of life. Countering this must be a bipartisan effort. (Time expired)