Australian federal election outlook_ Is 'white extinction anxiety' on the rise_

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"There’s nothing new about debates around immigration in an Australian election campaign and it’s sensible that they happen.  "There’s also nothing new about politicians weaponising debate around immigration levels, which Australia has seen in the lead-up to the federal election.  "But 2025 is different in many ways.  "The emphasis has shifted, reflecting broader disenchantment with both politics and policies in Australia and internationally that aids those who would blame social and economic challenges on migrants.  "It’s created an environment ripe for right-wing extremists — albeit a noisy minority — to sell anti-immigration messages fuelled by misinformation, racist views, conspiracy theories and a desire to build their imagined ‘white Australia’."  Associate Professor Josh Roose from the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation examines the rise of 'white extinction anxiety' in Australia, and the impacts it is having on the 2025 federal election.  Warning: This story contains distressing themes and images.

Transcript

00:00Beautiful Kondoran country.

00:02I can do it. Why can they politicise and make it about white guilt and aboriginals over and over again?

00:09White extinction anxiety is a phenomenon found on the extreme right of politics.

00:14We're talking here, your Nazis, your other far-right characters,

00:18and it's effectively an idea or a belief that the white race is being bred out of existence

00:23by other cultures, other religions, non-whites,

00:26and that eventually whites are becoming an endangered species.

00:30It ties into a very small but very outspoken subsection of populist politicians

00:36who then push this and put it on the agenda.

00:39These are very small but very loud and very active groups.

00:43We're talking here probably in the dozens if not at most the hundreds,

00:48but they are very active. They've got a lot of time on their hands

00:52and they're prepared to spend that time working online amongst each other,

00:56building global networks but also locally, attempting to disrupt events,

01:01doing pop-up protests and attempting to place this on the political radar,

01:05particularly with the election coming up.

01:06Immigration is not an issue.

01:08Australia is still a relatively very small country.

01:11Most people who are coming here are highly skilled

01:13and just want a better life for their families. They're humans.

01:16I think the general framing, particularly from the extremists,

01:19is that these are people who aren't interested in filling and fitting in

01:22and contributing, and that's ridiculous.

01:24We've seen that Australia has benefited enormously from migration.

01:28We are a multicultural immigrant society that's built off 50 or 60 years

01:33of progress in this space.

01:35The bigger and deeper issues here are economic, socioeconomic,

01:39and they're affecting all of us, and this isn't migrants causing the problem.

01:42This is a much deeper set of problem about who controls our natural resources,

01:46who pays tax, and the bigger issues around what we're asking of people

01:51who are benefiting and profiting from our society and giving back to Australia.

01:55And that is a much bigger question that the politicians aren't so keen to take on.

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