Led by former Christian pastor Daniel Nalliah, and in the presence of former Thatcher government advisor Lord Christopher Monckton, Rise Up Australia officially launched its Victorian state election campaign last week.
The party is running for the Senate with an inherently nationalistic election campaign line, with its political slogan ‘Keeping Australia Australian’ at the forefront of its policies.
The party’s line is exemplified by its anti-multicultural stance, preferring to take a ‘multi-ethnic’ political standpoint – the difference being (accordingly) that the latter embraces one Australian culture.
Mr Nalliah, who heralds from Sri Lanka, launched the party’s campaign making multiple references to God, following a collective prayer among party supporters, and a rendition of the Australian national anthem under a sea of Australian flags, which were raised throughout the address.
In his address, Mr Nalliah made multiple references to Islam, opening his own address with a reference to Islamic State.
He endorsed Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s reference to Islamic State as a death cult, and went one step further – “I call Islam the death cult”.
The party does not shy away from its contentious Islamic viewpoints, particularly in reference to Sharia law. Peter Vassiliou, a Greek and Cypriot
Australian Senate nominee for the party, reiterated his leader’s anti-multicultural perspective, to Neos Kosmos.
“Our goal is to keep Australia Australian. We oppose multiculturalism, but support a multi-ethnic Australia, where there are many races but one culture.
“We rejoice that Australia is multi-ethnic and that people have come here and free to celebrate their own diverse backgrounds, while respecting Australian culture and Australian laws.”
He said that ‘multiculturalism’ is multifaceted, which threatens Australia’s cultural and legal landscape.
“One of the problems is under the clause of multiculturalism, which is culture, religion and law. You’re branded as an intolerant racist if you refuse Muslims the right to their religion, mainly on the aspect of Sharia law, which basically halves the rights of women, encourages jihad and encourages ethnic enclaves where vast groups of people push out ‘infidels’ and create an atmosphere which is hostile to anyone that is not Muslim. We aim to create a society with peace and freedom.
“What we are saying is everyone can come in, just abide by Australian laws, which are basically the Magna Carta, bill of rights and the Ten Commandments.”
Australia, of course, does not have a legislated bill of rights.
When asked about whether his party is anti-multicultural or anti-Islamic, Mr Vassiliou referred to his understanding of the Koran in an attempt to distinguish the two.
Mr Vassiliou said he is trying to work closely with the Greek community to address issues that he says are plaguing elderly Greek Australians.
“A lot of the elderly Greek community expressed their concerns [to me] with gas bills, electricity bills, the cost of living and that their pension was not sufficient enough to cope with those pressures. So I definitely want to honour the elderly Greek community.”
“Rise Up Australia Party is committed to seeing all excessive taxes, duties and levies removed. We want to remove taxes and levies which are unnecessary and which are heavily pressuring and causing a lot of grief on Australian families and especially the Greek community.”
Mr Vassiliou said that his party is targeting grave social issues, including alcoholism, narcotic abuse, depression and suicide, and would work with current balance-of-power Victorian MP Geoff Shaw on contentious abortion issues.
Fairfax Media reported Mr Shaw was present at a subsequent Rise Up Australia gathering in his local seat of Frankston, where he opened the event and discussed his battles with the Napthine government.