George Christensen Will Be The Special Guest At A Reclaim Australia Rally

    Christensen insists the group is not anti-Islam, despite them urging people to support an "Australians Against Islam" page.

    Nationals MP George Christensen has confirmed that he will speak at a Reclaim Australia rally in Mackay on the weekend.

    Confirming his appearance in a Facebook post this morning, Christensen said he chose to speak at the event because he wants to "support people who seek to defend our Australian way of life, our culture and our freedoms from the threat of radical Islam."

    Facebook: permalink.php

    At Reclaim Australia rallies in Sydney and Melbourne in April, anti-racism protesters clashed with people with swastika tattoos who appeared to be from Neo-Nazi groups.

    The local Reclaim Australia group appear to be very excited about their special guest.

    Facebook: permalink.php

    George Christensen told BuzzFeed News he decided to support the rally when he read through Reclaim Australia's mission statement and agreed with all but one of their principles.

    Christensen told BuzzFeed News he wasn't concerned about the rally being hijacked by racist groups.

    Despite Christensen's insistence that the group is not anti-Islam, yesterday the Reclaim Australia Mackay group encouraged its members to like a page called "Australians Against Islam".

    Facebook: permalink.php

    On the Australians Against Islam website, the explanation of the group's logo reads: "The Red 'I' signifies Danger, the crescent represents Islam, therefore stating the danger is Islam"

    It goes on to explain that red represents "the colour of blood and fire, rage, anger, danger, malice, wrath. Whilst there are numerous other meanings for red, these descriptions we feel best describe Islam."

    Acting shadow minister for citizenship and multiculturalism Richard Marles described Christensen's decision to appear at the "anti-Islam" event as "extraordinary."

    A Mackay local has set up a petition calling on Tony Abbott to denounce Reclaim Australia, and stop George Christensen from attending the event.

    In a video message, Reclaim Australia leader Daniel Nalliah described Islam as an "invading force."

    View this video on YouTube

    youtube.com

    "Using multiculturalism as an inroad, a gateway with the back-up of the UN General Assembly... We need to stand right now against this invading force of Islam into the west and the rest of the world," he says in the video.

    Reclaim Australia will hold sixteen rallies across the country over the weekend.