Controversial right-wing activist Lauren Southern was protected by more than 40 police even though no protesters turned up.
Riot police on horses and more than a dozen police four-wheel drives were stationed at Darling Harbour in Sydney on Saturday night.
More than a week after a woman stormed the stage during the Melbourne leg of her Australian tour, the Canadian YouTube activist’s organisers left nothing to chance.
Lauren Southern began her one-hour presentation by having a go at New South Wales police for interrogating her on Friday as she approached the Lakemba mosque in south-west Sydney
Riot police on horses and more than a dozen police four-wheel drives were stationed at Darling Harbour in Sydney on Saturday night
Controversial right-wing YouTube activist Lauren Southern was protected by more than 40 police even though no protesters turned up
In downtown Sydney, however, protesters were absent outside the International Convention Centre at Cockle Bay as more than 750 ticket holders filed in shortly after 7pm
In downtown Sydney, however, extreme-left protesters were absent outside the International Convention Centre as more than 750 ticket holders filed in shortly after 7pm.
In Victoria, Southern’s entourage were billed $68,000 by the state police and the tab for her New South Wales leg could be just as high.
The 23-year-old critic of multiculturalism, who describes herself as a nationalist, began her one-hour presentation by having a go at NSW Police for interrogating her on Friday as she approached the Lakemba Mosque in south-west Sydney.
Southern, who was banned from Britain in March for handing out flyers which said ‘Allah is gay’, was told by Inspector Rick Agius to refrain from visiting the Muslim place of worship on Haldon Street.
She accused the state police of tipping the media off about her visit to Lakemba during the start of her presentation in the Pyrmont Theatre of the Convention Centre.
More than a week after a woman stormed the stage during the Melbourne leg of her Australia tour, the Canadian YouTube activist’s organisers left nothing to chance
The 23-year-old Canadian YouTube activist accused New South Wales Police of tipping the media off about her visit to the Lakemba mosque
‘Within 20 minutes, maybe 15, I had not just the media following me around but the police,’ she said.
‘And they crossed the street, came to speak with me and told me, “Lauren, if you speak to anyone in this neighbourhood, you may be violating the law”.
‘”If you criticise Islam in this neighbourhood, you will be violating the law.”‘
Southern, who posted a YouTube video titled ‘Thrown Out Of Sydney No Go Zone’, claimed that Inspector Agius had even told her she would be held responsible for inciting violence.
‘I argued with him. I asked him to explain more and basically I was told, “If you continue your walk through Lakemba to try and understand and discover the culture here, you may offend these people so much that they will get violent, they will attack you and you will cause an issue here” and I will be responsible for it,’ she said.
‘I will be the one responsible for it if other people incite violence against me for my opinions.’
Southern, who posted a YouTube video titled ‘Thrown Out Of Sydney No Go Zone’, claimed that Inspector Agius had even told her she would be held responsible for inciting violence
Southern also likened multiculturalism to a religion which didn’t allow criticism.
‘Multiculturalism and free speech cannot co-exist,’ she said.
‘The first rule of multiculturalism is you cannot talk about multiculturalism.’
She also compared the multicultural immigration to a poly-amorous marriage.
‘Love that belongs to everyone belongs to no one,’ she said.
Fellow Canadian podcaster Stefan Molyneux was even more provocative on stage, claiming 30 to 50 per cent of Aboriginal babies in Australia were killed before the arrival of Europeans.
The 51-year Irish-born, right-wing commentator made the extraordinary claim that Aboriginal babies had sand poured down their throats as part of these barbaric acts of infanticide.
Southern also likened multiculturalism to a religion which didn’t allow criticism
Fellow Canadian podcaster Stefan Molyneux was even more provocative on stage, claiming 30 to 50 per cent of Aboriginal babies in Australia were killed before the arrival of Europeans
He also asserted that indigenous culture sanctioned the gang rape of women and female genital mutilation with a stone knife.
But asked about the sources of his claims during the question and answer session, he declined to go into detail.
‘This came from a whole essay that I’m going to publish. It will include all of the sources for all of the research,’ he said.
‘We’re going to publish that over the next couple of weeks.’
Molyneux also asserted that sub-Saharan African had below-average IQs of 70.
Asked by a Brazilian man why people couldn’t be judged as individuals, Molyneux said the offspring of people from other cultures would likely be stupid even if their parents were intelligent.
‘No, no, no, no, you can’t treat people as individuals,’ he said.
‘Of course not, because we all have countries of origin.
‘And there is also regression to the mean.
‘So if you take a really tall Chinese guy, his kids aren’t going to be as tall.
‘If you take high IQ people from low IQ countries, their kids on the whole are going to be less smart and you can see this.
‘Very smart Muslims who wanted to be free of theocracy came to, say, England and their children are more radicalised because of regression to the mean.’