What Happened on 31 August
On 31 August 2025, far-right groups organised anti-immigration rallies across Australia. Neo-Nazis, conspiracy networks, and some politicians joined, while counter-protesters turned out in large numbers.
For many, this was a shocking reminder that organised racism is not only alive but increasingly public. This realization did not seem to take affect on these Coast Environmental Alliance members, and followers of Jake Cassar.
Cassar’s Response
Local activist Jake Cassar posted a statement after the rallies across multiple Facebook accounts. Instead of clearly condemning the Nazi presence, he talked about “division,” “extremes on both sides,” and the need for “love not hate.”
https://www.facebook.com/jake.cassar.2025/
https://www.facebook.com/jakecassarbushcraft/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/centralcoastbushtucker/
https://www.facebook.com/106368698944821
On the surface, this sounds peaceful. But the effect of his words is very different.
False Balance
By comparing the Nazi marches to pro-Palestinian rallies, Cassar treated two very different movements as if they were the same. One side was openly racist, calling for exclusion of migrants. The other side was standing against human rights abuses. By putting them in the same basket, Cassar made fascism look like just another opinion in a debate, rather than the threat it really is.
Turning Away From the Issue
Instead of naming the danger of neo-Nazis, Cassar shifted the topic to homelessness, poverty, and saving koalas. These are real issues, but raising them in this context moves attention away from confronting racism. He even used Aboriginal homelessness as a talking point to suggest Australians should be looked after “before” migrants, a tactic often used by nationalist groups. This uses Aboriginal suffering without addressing sovereignty or structural injustice.
Nature and “Love Not Hate”
Cassar leaned heavily on ecological imagery and the language of love. He urged people to act with love for “all inhabitants” of the land and not with anger. Again, this seems harmless, but it erases the legitimacy of being angry at fascism. Anger at injustice is not the same as hate.
His “love not hate” line fits with a pattern seen in New Age and conspiracy circles where political conflict is reframed as a spiritual problem. This makes organised racism look like just another symptom of “division,” and not a force that must be confronted.
The GuriNgai
Cassar’s appeals to “real leaders caring for Country” are tied to the long-running GuriNgai identity fraud. Research has shown that the “GuriNgai” label in Northern Sydney and the Central Coast is a settler fabrication, rejected by recognised Aboriginal People, Community and Organisations including Aboriginal Affairs NSW in 2023. By aligning with this false identity, Cassar helps to simulate Aboriginal authority while pushing aside actual custodians. His words about caring for Country are therefore part of a pattern of appropriation, not respect.
Branding and Self-Promotion
Cassar ended his statement by promoting his personal event, “Jakestock.” This blending of activism with self-advertising is not accidental. It shows how he uses crises to build his personal brand, attract supporters, and make money. This is what some scholars call entrepreneurial populism: turning activism into a business model.
Why This Matters
Cassar’s response is not just clumsy wording. It shows how fascism can be softened and normalised. By presenting Nazis as just another “extreme,” by shifting outrage to safer topics like koalas, by insisting on “love not hate,” and by linking himself to false claims of Aboriginal custodianship, Cassar helps to launder extremist politics into mainstream discourse. His approach doesn’t confront fascism, it neutralises it.
The Takeaway
If we want to stop organised racism from growing, we need clarity. That means naming neo-Nazis for what they are, recognising the harm of false equivalence, and supporting genuine Aboriginal people, community and organisations instead of fabricated identities. It also means being wary when activism doubles as self-promotion. Peace, love, and nature matter, but they cannot come at the cost of ignoring fascism.
Final Critique: Simulation as Fascism’s Enabler
The ultimate consequence of Cassar’s rhetoric is that it functions as an enabler of fascism. By depoliticising Nazi mobilisation and redirecting outrage into ecological populism and settler spirituality, Cassar helps to launder white supremacist extremism into mainstream discourse. His simulation of custodianship displaces Aboriginal sovereignty, his pacification rhetoric suppresses anti-fascist resistance, and his entrepreneurial self-promotion converts crisis into personal capital.
In this sense, settler simulation is not merely a fraudulent performance of Indigeneity; it is also a technology of fascism’s neutralisation. It ensures that fascism can advance without direct confrontation, cloaked in the rhetoric of unity, peace, and love. Cassar’s statement is therefore not only inadequate as a response to Nazism; it is complicit in its cultural laundering.
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