The chants of anti-racist protesters rang through the streets of Sydney on 18 July, as activists gathered to protest Pauline Hanson, who was appearing on the ABC’s Q&A. The action was called in response to the network’s decision to invite her onto prime time television to spread her bigoted opinions across the country.

Around 200 activists braved the cold winter night, hearing from a range of Arab, Muslim, Asian and Indigenous speakers before marching to Central Station. Unity and solidarity were the theme of the evening, as calls for militant mass action to challenge Hanson and her supporters were echoed by a broad range of speakers.

During the show, Hanson proved her extremist views by showing solidarity with Sonia Kruger’s call to ban all Muslim immigration, refusing to partake in a meal with a Muslim family and being visibly shaken by the fact she was sitting next to Sam Dastiyari, a man of Muslim background.

Predictably, the other guests failed to call her out on any of this, and instead focused most of their attention on the supposed need to “deradicalise” Muslim youths. This shamefully included Greens senator Larissa Waters.

After the show, Tony Jones uploaded a selfie taken with Pauline Hanson, further highlighting his indifference to the real and violent effects of Hanson’s vile Islamophobia.

As an organiser of the event, I received multiple abusive messages from Hanson supporters in the build-up to the event, calling me a “nazi lowlife” and warning: “You even approach One Nation, you will see a burning Qaran [sic] and the death of your family”.

Another Muslim woman declined to be part of the audience after receiving the message: “We will be waiting for you! Filthy muslim scum! Our weapons are aimed at your neaderthall scull [sic]”.

Hanson’s success attracts and emboldens these racists, which is why Nick Folke’s fascist Party for Freedom mobilised 20 thugs to support Hanson on the night.

It is obvious from all this that anti-racist activists cannot rely on the media, the political establishment, or any other respected talking heads to fight Hanson and her racist supporters. This action was an important start to building the kind of movement needed.