MPs to appear and speak at event organised by fugitive in Sydney
Known conspiracy theorists will be speaking alongside current members of federal and state government at an anti-Voice to Parliament Rally on Saturday, which is being organised by a fugitive currently hiding from police in the Russian embassy.
The event, being held at Hyde Park in Sydney, was originally advertised as rallying against a host of conspiracy theories, including 5G, smart cities and cashless societies, as well as the Voice to Parliament.
First reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Simeon Boikov, a Russian-Australian wanted by police and currently taking refuge in Sydney’s Russian embassy after he was involved in the assault of a 74-year-old man, has helped organise the events.
Speakers at the event include John Ruddick, NSW Liberal Democrats leader and current member of NSW parliament, Tania Mihailuk, a One Nation NSW member of Parliament, and former federal member for Hughes Craig Kelly, who has repeatedly spread misinformation and conspiracy theories around COVID-19.
Also advertised to speak at the Sydney event are anti-vaccine advocate and Ngunnawel elder Glenda Merritt and Budjiti elder Bruce Shillingsworth Senior, who is linked to the sovereign citizen movement.
Boikov, known as Aussie Cossack to his followers on Telegram, has been holed up in the Russian embassy after a Sydney court issued an arrest warrant in December 2022 after he allegedly assaulted a pro-Ukrainian protester.
Freedom movement
Australia’s ‘freedom movement’ is a loose collective of conspiracy theorists, that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic to protest lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
The movement peaked when thousands of supporters took over the lawn of Parliament House in protest in 2021, in an event described as ‘Woodstock for Q-cooked middle-aged saddos.’
The event at Hyde Park coincides with several other events around the country, but United Australia Party MP Ralph Babet and Kelly have been promoting the event in Sydney on their social media accounts.
Babet has previously said Australians “already have a voice, it’s called an election and it happens every three years.”
“I don’t think we should be giving extra privileges or rights or representations to parliament based on somebody’s ethnicity, I think that’s wrong, we fought very hard against racism for a very long time,” he said.
“You don’t do it by enshrining what I think is racism into our Constitution, so that some woke, leftie, soy-latte-drinking activist in Melbourne or Sydney, riding their crappy little pushbikes to work with their soy latte’s in their hands, feel better about themselves.”
Babet has also promoted an anti-abortion event at the same location, directly after the ‘No to the Voice’ rally.
He and Mihailuk were contacted for comment.
Earlier this week, the NSW Liberal Democrats, who Ruddick leads, deleted a tweet stating the party would work with members of the National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group, or the Proud Boys, a far-right organisation, if they had a clear and shared goal.
“3 per cent of libertarians isn’t enough,” the account said.
“We need to work with people we disagree with.”
Reactions
The official No campaign for the Voice referendum has no ties to the rally, and Fair Australia told the Sydney Morning Herald the event was not supported, endorsed or funded by the organisation in any way.
Patrick Gorman, a Labor MP from Perth, said Australians should know that the rallies are being organised “by a bloke hiding in the Russian consulate in Sydney.”
“On the previous weekend we saw thousands of people in Perth join hundreds of thousands of Australians across the country to march for Yes,” he said.
“I encourage all members of parliament to support a respectful debate.”
Boikov has helped organise rallies across the country, including in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Casino and Yeppoon.
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