MELBOURNE, VIC. — About 200 to 250 protestors marched for Put Australia First yesterday, telling media they were marching for immigration reform that preserves Australian values, and voiced opposition to digital IDs and a net-zero emissions target.
However, it appears these rallies are more closely aligned with Donald Trump’s MAGA values than Australian values. Many protestors were draped in cheap Chinese-made Australian, ‘Boxing Kangaroo’ and Merchant Navy (red ensign) flags, who did not even know the lyrics to Advance Australia Fair, whilst claiming to be ‘fair dinkum’ and ‘true blue’ Australian ‘patriots’.
Following Pauline Hanson’s speech being interrupted, a member of the National Socialist Network and a ‘left-wing activist’ were removed from the protest by police. Both were searched using the new police ‘stop and search’ powers.
Pastor Paul Furlong claimed in a phone call this evening (2/12/2025) that: “Over 4,000 people attended the [Melbourne] rally on Sunday.” Wire services, such as the AAP, estimate about 700 people, as did The Age and Herald Sun journalists. Pastor Furlong claimed similar figures for Saturday’s Sydney Put Australia First rally, which have also since been debunked by observers and journalists from other newsrooms.
Pastor Furlong did not disagree that VicNews’ transcriptions are accurate and fair. He made no further comment on such and would not discuss the matter further. When questioned about his modus operandi, Pastor Paul just hung up, refusing to answer questions, and blocked all contact with VicNews when questioned.
The late Father Robert ‘Bob’ Maguire, OAM, AM, never did any such thing or acted in the way Pastor Paul does.
The religious tie-in of American evangelicals was very noticeable, with continuing mentions of God, Jesus, Pastors, and many gospel songs played during interludes between speeches, mostly performed by Kelly Newton-Wordsworth.
The event was organised by anti-vaccine protester Monica Smit, who was also behind a Sydney march on Saturday that attracted about 400 people. She is also the founder of Reignite Democracy Australia (RDA), which she founded during Victoria’s COVID lockdowns.
In the public interest, VicNews has manually (no AI or computer was used) transcribed their speeches in order of appearance.
MORGAN JONAS: “Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the one and only Pastor Paul Furlong. And also a big thank you to Paul and your church for bringing this tremendous stage here [a truck trailer] so we can have a platform to express our concerns today.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Morgan Jonas, and I’ll be your MC for today’s events and first and foremost, I just want to thank each and every one of you for coming out. There’s a lot of other things you could be doing with your Sunday afternoon, especially given the weather, so the fact you’ve chosen to be here, standing up for your country, standing up for fellow compatriots, says a lot about who you are and thank you from the bottom of my heart. [Clapping and chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi”].
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, before we kick off with our speakers, I just want to make one point, and that is the dilapidated, terrible state of affairs in our country as a direct result of those in office and those that we have trusted for the privilege of actually serving. It is not the fault of anyone here. In saying that, in saying that it is our responsibility to fix this country up from the grassroots.
“Do we all agree? [Crowd responds with a ‘yes’]. Do we all agree that we can’t rely on the people who are currently sitting in office to fix the situation? [Chants of ‘yes’ from the crowd]. The only way to fix this is for us, the Australian people, to take back our parliaments, to take back our institutions for people who have love in their hearts for this great nation that was built on the blood, sweat and tears of those who built it and those who went to war and sacrificed. People that should never, ever be forgotten.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to get started, but before we do, I’m going to invite the wonderful Kelly, right here, to sing our National Anthem.”
KELLY NEWTON-WORDSWORTH: “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m from Western Australia and it is a great pleasure and joy to be here and I would love it if everyone who knows the National Anthem would join me with great prayers and hope in our hearts together that this nation is going to go forward in the greatest way through Jesus. [Advance Australia Fair is performed with seldom few protestors appearing to know the lyrics].
MORGAN JONAS: “Ladies and gentlemen, please make Ellie Patterson welcome for the Lord’s Prayer.
ELLIE PATERSON: [Reads The Lord’s Prayer].
MORGAN JONAS: “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to kick off these speeches. Please make him feel very welcome, Matt Emerson from Family First. [Clapping].
MATT EMERSON: “How we doin? [cheers]. We’re standing here today because our country, our home is being pushed to the brink. And people in charge want us to shut up. They want us to sit down. They want us to pretend everything is fine. C’mon make some noise. [crowd chants].
“Let me talk about a few things. We have a housing affordability crisis. When there aren’t enough houses to go around and our own children who’ve done all the right things are priced out of their own country. You don’t just welcome another million people in.
“But we’ve got to understand, most of the parliamentarians won’t listen, they just don’t feel the pain that we feel. That Tony Burke, the Minister for Immigration. He has six properties. And while we can barely afford the rent, federal politicians who own two point four properties on average, it’s a disgrace.
“So, we need Australians to really understand the housing affordability pain to make immigration policy for our country, c’mon. [Crowd chants of ‘yeah’]. And Tony Burke, mate, if you can’t fix immigration, you should resign. We demand immigration reform now.
“Let me tell you this. We also have a freedom of speech crisis. As Lyle Shelton said in Sydney yesterday, ‘protecting kids from harm on social media is a good idea’. A digital ID is a bad idea. Us parents, we know that kids are at risk online and many of us have already turned the wi-fi off.
“I tell you, from December 10, the government is going to require [social media] platforms to request proof of age. Some of those platforms are going to plan to ask for [a] Connect ID, an Australian private bank network. Others will fall back to MyGov ID.
“And I’m telling you, us Australians, [that] we are very concerned, we will not stand for this infrastructure ground that is being put in place as [it] may be, no, it will be weaponised, against us. Digital ID is a bad idea.
“You guys are awesome. I tell ya, I tell ya, next November, next November, here in Victoria. It’s awesome to see One Nation here, [the] Freedom Party and many others. We’re all coming together to because we’re all Australian.[cheers].
“I’m Matt Emerson, but you’ve all got to rock up next November, as we are taking our parliament back.
“One more thing. We have a crazy, mad energy affordability crisis. Despite our wealth of natural resources and energy infrastructure for [the] past few years our electricity has gone up by fifty per cent. Gas has tripled. The cost of net-zero is hurting us Australians. And what an insult that while we’re struggling to pay for our homes, the government is putting us through an energy crisis as well. Shame.
“You know, with our wealth of resources, we have time to replace [it] at a rate we can afford and to build a network that is reliable. This panicked race to solar and wind is not a race we need to run. C’mon, make some noise. I have to say that I’m a proud Australian, but even China gets it; they’re actively building new coal and gas for energy security.
“But, hear this, Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change, he won’t even understand. [c’mon, c’mon as Emerson waves his hands around, encouraging a crowd response]. He may claim to have a heart for the planet, but as [a] career politician, does he know how to make the dollars add up? It’s a joke how we’re treated.
“We need qualified energy policy makers to use their heads and not their heart. Australians demand affordable and reliable energy, and I tell mate, Chris Bowen, if you won’t fix it, if you won’t get out of this crazy solar wind race, and drop net-zero, you should resign. [C’mon, make some noise. The crowd chants].
“I’m a proud Australian, husband, father of five. I might look like I’m 21 or something like that. My friends, the time is now. We want a strong Australia. A strong Australia lifts up the most vulnerable to their feet. A strong Australia gives everyone a fair go. A strong Australia can ‘weather any storm’. [Crowd chants]
“And with Albanesey gone, we’re done being dismissed. We’re done watching our country put last. Today, here in Melbourne, we send a loud and clear message to Canberra. Put Australia first, or we’ll find leaders who will. [Cheers and clapping from crowd].”
MORGAN JONAS: “What an awesome speech. Would you guys like Matt representing you in the [Victorian] Parliament next year? [‘Yeah’ the crowd responds]. Let’s send him there. Just a little bit of housekeeping, if anyone out there is a speaker today, please make your way to the back of the stage [a truck] so we’re all ready to go.
“So if you are speaking today, please make your way to the back of the stage. Let’s keep this moving along, I’m going to introduce somebody who I have a tremendous amount of respect for. A man of high integrity, a man who served our nation, please make him feel welcome, the [Victorian] state leader for One Nation, Warren Pickering.”
WARREN PICKERING: “Let’s have a party. Hello everyone, thank you very much personally, Monica [Smit] and Morgan [Jonas] for putting on this event [and] inviting different political organisations to actually speak. This is what it takes to promote unity across the political sphere.
“This is what it takes, so thank you guys, so give them a round of applause. Now, I did write a speech, Look, you’ll have to bear with me as I’m going to go a bit ‘off the cuff’ here. I want to tell you a little story from earlier in the year. It could go either way, so strap in.
“Now, after the federal election, I went to south-east Asia, just for a cheeky little holiday to get away and I was sitting down, having a beer by the resort pool and I had a cheeky beer. It was a really nice gentleman, he came over and just had a chat. He said: “Mate, are you Australian?” I said “yeah, yeah, I am,” he obviously heard me speaking, probably really loudy. And he said “my favourite cricketer is Maxwell.” I said “Oh, great.”
“We got chatting, we had a couple of drinks. Now, I believe he was from Bangladesh, but that’s kinda beside the point. I have to stay very still, don’t I? OK. So he told me he’s working in Saigon as an IT consultant. Within three minutes of that conversation, he asked me if I could help him get to Australia.
“Help him get an Australian visa. Now, I don’t blame the bloke if I’m honest, we are the best damn country in the world. So, it’s not his fault at all. We are. Now, that is not his fault, we have made ourselves a soft target for economical migrants all over the planet. That is not the fault of any one individual. That is succesive governments trying to prop up our GPD off the back of immigration.
“We know this. And we know the underlying issue it’s not nessacerely the Australian goverment pusing this, because as you and I know, I’m not going to insult your intellegence, it’s not an accident that misinformation, disinformation bills, digital ID bills, under sixteen social media bills, net-zero greenwashing, immigration policies, and pandemic response initiatives are being pushed through the parliament like right now.
“We all know who it is. We know it is a concerted effort by well-funded, well-organised bunch of unelected beauracrats that seek to dictate to us our social and economic policy and we won’t allow it. [Cheers and clapping].
“There is no room within the hearts of Australians for defeat. It is not in our DNA. We come from a long line of stubborn bastards and that will never change. [Cheering and chanting]. Hang on, I’m just going to do a bit of a crowd interaction here. [Pauline Hanson arrives].
“[Inaudible]. Give those people a round of applause too. You are on the right side of history. Now, at these rallies I do tend to speak to a lot of people, but, ah, we didn’t have a candidate in my area, no one to vote for, I undertsand that, but you’re missing my point. We absolutely did, we just couldn’t be [inaudible] to support our candidates, to pay volunteers and what-not. We are a small organisation. All minor parties are.
“So, people, signing petitions is important and sharing your issues on social media, absolutley, so continue to do that. A lot of people [inaudible]. It coud be me, for One Nation or Brendan. So join a party and donate your time. Human energy is the most valuable resource for this purpose and we are falling over because we don’t have enough people to man booths across the conservative political sphere.
“At pre-polls and on election day, specifically, so throw your hand up and do that. Don;t join an organisation tomorrow. Do some research and join one today. Now, this comes with a caveat, alright. When we [inaudible] …
“We’re coming to take the country back. [Cheers and applause].”
KELLY NEWTON-WORDSWORTH: Performs her ant-vaccination ‘COVID is a false flag’ song “Hold The Line.”
MORGAN JONAS: “Ladies and gentlemen the next speaker needs no introduction she is somebody that has dedicated her entire life to serving this country and she’s been standing beside you and your families every single step of the day. She’s sacrificed. She’s been to jail. She’s paid a hugh, hugh cost for what she does. This is a woman who needs no introduction.
“Australia’s daughter, make her feel welcome, Senator Pauline Hanson.
PAULINE HANSON: “You have no idea how proud you make me feel. To see the Australian flags flying with pride. To see the people out there of different cultural backgrounds, I can see just by looking at you, but at the end of the day, we are all Australians together. [Cheers and clapping].
“I welcome those people that have come here to find an new life for themselves and their families and future generations that worked hard to be part of this great nation and it breaks my heart to see the division that is happening. The division that is happening especially in this state and it should not be happening.
“My father said to me, when I was thrown out of the Liberal Party in 1996, 14 days before the election because I was this independent woman they never thought could win the seat. The seat of Oxley the safest Labor seat in the state and I actually stood my ground and I was not going to back away so the [Liberal Party] disendorsed me.
“Well, I went on to win that seat with the biggest swing in the nation because I could. I was not going to be shut down by politicians, John Howard or the Liberal Party or anyone because I called for equality for all Australians and that has always been my message. I went to see my father and he said to me “Why did you open your mouth?” “You will never, ever change anything.” And I said, Dad, “it’s because of people like you and your attitude that’s why nothing will ever change.”
“I don’t know if I will or I won’t, but I won’t know unless I have a go. [Crowd chants ‘yeah’ and claps]. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I came from a hardworking background I never envisaged myself to be a member of parliament and I certainly never saw my life as being in front of people like you and express my views and opinions about how I see my country.
“But I am privledged and honoured to be a member of parliament voted in by the people [cheers and clapping]. I’ve always tried to be upfront and honest and respectful of my nation and people who belong here. But I will not have politicians or those with self-interest or those actvisits who want to shut us down, who we are. I respect the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for us, for our democracy and our way of life.
“For too long, since I’ve been elected to parliament in 1996, I have seen the plan to divide us with multiculturalism, globalisation, to take away who we are with dignity, to stand proud and this is what they’ve done around the world. Divide us, say we don’t belong. We do belong, never forget that. We do have a culture and we should be proud of it.
“We acknowledge other cultures around the world and we must embrace and love ours. But those activists would think that I’m divisive. I’m not divisive, all I’ve wanted was to pull people together to be proud of who we are and live in peace and harmony. [A ‘heckler’ in the crowd yells “Go home Pauline” and is escorted away from the crowd].
“You are nothing but a hypocrite to be at this protest [referring to the counter-protestor]. They may think they can challenge with a seven-day sitting ban. No, they don’t. The people will judge me and they will judge me at the election when I stand. They keep saying how much longer are you going to be in Parliament? Well, you know what, I’m going to be there at least another 12 to 18 years.
“They think they wanted to get rid of me? No way in the wide world as long as as the people want me, I will be there with the passion and dedication to work hard for this nation. The biggest issue that is facing this nation at the moment is immigration. Under the [inaudilbe] over one and a half million people enter this country. That’s why your housing has increased, that’s why your health services are slackened, that’s why you have the problems getting jobs and the problems we have in Australia.
“A lot of it comes from high immigration which I’ve always said. Governments are increasing immigration because they are spending too much money, wasting the taxpayer’s dollars that they have to bring in migrants to actually pay more taxes and get into the system. This is nothing but a ponzi scheme which we’re going to have more and more problems going down the track. Reduce immigration until we clean up our own backyard.
“I am not doing my job as a member of parliament if I see people living in tents, under bridges, in parks, and families in tents and cars as well. That is not the country that I want. That is not my job to let more migrants in when I see my fellow Australians living in these conditions.
“Yesterday I stopped on a road ouside of Townsville and I said “James, I want some mangoes. I grow my own but they’re not ready yet.” So, I saw this farm, plentyof magoes. I pulled up and this woman apparently living on hard times in a caravan on this farm. And I said “I’ve come to have some mangoes.” And she said “Help yourself.” I said “I’m happy to pay for them.” She said “Just pick whatever you want.”
“In a conversation I had with this woman she told me that she had health issues, that she had cancer before and has found another lump in her breast. But she said “Pauline, I can’t get in to get a mammogram or an x-ray ’till September next year.” “I don’t have the money. I don’t have the $420 to pay it.” I gave her the money out of my own purse [cheers and clapping] to have that operation.
“Please do not think that ah, this is because of, ah, you know, I’m giving her the money. I just saw a fellow Australian who’s in pain and can’t get the help and assistance that she needs. It’s our sytem that is letting us down and that’s what we have to change. That woman, may, ya know, have a chance to get her health looked after to give her a long life with her grandchildren as she said to me “I’m not ready to leave my grandchildren.”
“But it breaks my heart to see this happening. I hear it all the time from people. I try to do what I can as a member of parliament to help people who are living in poverty and can’t afford decent healthcare. Like I said, we can change it at the next election I swear to you I will be standing candidates in Victoria [cheering and clapping] under the banner of One Nation that we will fight for you to give you representation on the floor of parliament, what is right for your state and here.
“I’m not from Victoria and to tell you truth I don’t want to move to Victoria [someone yells ‘Queenslander’]. To be honest with you, I’ll stick to Queensland thank you very much. We got our own issues up there but I telll you what you can keep the Labor Party, what they’ve done to this state and I don’t think the Liberals would be much better either they have not fought. I see it all the time the escalating crime, the machetes, ya know, the police, the police, the work they are trying to do keeping the streets safe.
“Then you have the farming sector, then you have the transmission lines destroying everything here in this state that was precious, a prosperous state. Now, you’re going under by the heavy weight of the debt that is owed and the hospitals, the ramping and the police, the fire services. The list goes on and on and on.
“It will not just change overnight. It’ll have to take a lot of work. You’ll have to pull back on government spending, the economy has to be better managed, but we can do it. All I ask is you, get behind One Nation, get behind us [cheers] and if you think you’ll be the right candidate for the next election in November, then please come and talk to us. Come and put up your hand. Don’t think it’s going to job, kick back, collect ya pay and do nothing, because I’ll kick you out myself.
“And I’ve done it and believe me, I will. I’m passionate about making change for this country but it starts with you, the people, the powers with you. You decide if you want to use that power, because I tell you what the politicians are frightened. They’re frightened of change. They protect their own jobs.
“They haven’t got the guts to stand up and say what is wrong with the country because their afraid of losing their jobs or endorsements from their political party. We can take it back the right way, not through violence, you do it at the ballot box and you vote for the right people to represent you and that’s where we’ll take back our country.
“To each and everyone of you please pass the message. Talk to the younger generations, they’ve been brainwashed in the educational system to this way of thinking. I am not anti-migrant, I’m not against anyone who wants to come here and give this country their undivided loyalty. As I said at many migration or citizenship ceremonies I went to years ago in 1998, and I used to say to them “I welcome you to this country as long as you give this country your undivided loyalty. If you don’t, I’ll be the first one to take you the airport, put you on a plane and wave you goodbye.”
“I don’t remember burning flags. That is a big issue, but just to, um, everyone here, please, um, keep safe, have a fantastic Christmas. It is a time of the year to spend with family and friends enjoy[ing] the festive season. Be safe and thank you for your support. I’m always here for you and I’ll keep fighting for you as long as I can and for Australian values. Thank you.” [Hanson’s address concludes as she leaves the stage as an alleged NSN member in a blue HH jacket is escorted from the rally by police].
MORGAN JONAS: “
-With Kerry-Ann Willcocks, ABC News, Alan Moir, Matt Bissett-Johnson and AAP.
-VicNews’ editorial policy does not allow the use of AI technology in any way in our newsroom, including images and transcriptions.
VicNews is working to transcribe the full speeches from every speaker at Sunday’s ‘Put Australia First’ protest in Melbourne.
