CESSNOCK Labor councillor Morgan Campbell has labelled Reclaim Australia as ‘‘bigoted’’, and urged residents to attend a counter-rally organised on the same day as a protest against a proposed mosque in Buchanan.
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Cr Campbell is listed as a speaker at the counter-rally, and said he wanted to show Reclaim Australia, the far-right anti-Islam group ‘‘don’t represent Cessnock’’.
‘‘Reclaim Australia are a bigoted group trying to use fear and half-baked myths about Islam to divide Australia,’’ he said.
While Cr Campbell said he could not comment specifically on the mosque development since no plans had been lodged, he said the rally was about showing Reclaim Australia was not welcome in Cessnock.
What we really need to reclaim is a bit of common sense and decency.
- Cessnock City Councillor Morgan Campbell
‘‘I’m going to stand up and say that they don’t represent Cessnock,’’ he said.
‘‘That’s what the counter-rally is about, and I hope like-minded people turn up to get that message across.’’
In October the Newcastle Herald reported the Newcastle Muslim Association planned to submit a development application for a mosque in Buchanan.
A formal development application has not yet been formally lodged, but Reclaim Australia have organised a rally for this Sunday.
Now a counter anti-racism rally has been organised by former Lake Macquarie Councillor and Greens candidate Phillipa Parsons.
‘‘What we really need to reclaim is a bit of common sense and decency,’’ Cr Campbell said.
