How neo-Nazi support for a viral anti-immigration rally exposed fractures among ‘freedom’ groups

The ‘March for Australia‘ was gaining momentum among a pandemic-era coalition of anti-lockdown and nationalist groups. Then a neo-Nazi organisation claimed it was behind it.

Full Article Here

Fuf

AUG 17, 2025
Crikey

TOPPLED
Inside The Secretive Group Tearing Down Colonial Statues

Some argue that taking these monuments down would erase Australia’s history. Others say they’re violent reminders of colonisation and uphold a myth that there was nothing in Australia before British settlement.

MAY 18, 2025
SBS The Feed

We met the group tearing down Australia’s colonial statues. They have plans to escalate

Some say removing colonial statues would erase our heritage. Others say the statues are violent symbols that uphold a myth that there was nothing here before British colonisation. We meet the people taking things into their own hands.

MAY 18, 2025
SBS The Feed

Police shoot rubber bullets at anti-war protesters in Melbourne

Victoria Police used various controversial and potentially lethal weapons on protesters opposing a weapons expo in Melbourne, causing dozens of injuries

Full Video

SEP 12, 2024
Whatsdoin Media

Episode 067: 3000 PODCAST

Maloney sits down to chat with Scobie McKay an independant journalist who admittedly loves to document and be around chaos. Scobie is the man behind "what's doin' media" a an online platform committed to "Documenting Dystopia" in a raw, uncensored, sincere and independent manner.

Full Podcast

JUN 4, 2024
3000 PODCAST

Evangelical Christians join Zionists for a pro-Israel protest in Melbourne

A protest organised by Evangelical Christians has stirred controversy in Melbourne, as a thousand Pro-Israel protesters decend on parliament house. Counter-protesters calling for a ceaserfire in the ongoing Israeli offensive of Gaza clash with police.

MAY 20, 2024
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

Influencers are shining a light on public housing. But are they doing good or just gawking?

If Spanian and copycat content creators really want to document this community before it’s destroyed by gentrification, they should have taken the time to promote the local heroes tirelessly maintaining the building after successive governments chose to forget it, not treat it like a cautionary tale.

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APR 17, 2024
By Scobie McKay
The Age

‘It’s a no-brainer’: Inside a Victorian pilot program keeping kids out of jail

Keeping young people out of prison and reducing the crime rate are win-wins for incarcerated youth and for the community.

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JAN 31, 2024
By Scobie McKay
Crikey

01. Scobie McKay Is Documenting The Absurdity & Tragedy of Australia’s Alt-Right Fringe

“By far one of our favourites is Whats Doin Media, a video project by Melbourne-based journalist and youth worker Scobie McKay, documenting the rise and evolution of Australia’s fringe groups. You’ll be familiar with his subjects – the hard-to-define group of conspiracy theor-ish, anti-government, alt-right folks who started protesting against COVID-19 lockdowns and just… didn’t stop. It’s easy to dismiss these people as ‘just crazy’; the truth is more complicated.

Scobie’s short documentaries capture the outrageous, absurd and sometimes very funny things that happen at fringe rallies with an incredible level of insight – essential viewing for anyone who cares about democracy, social justice or the news. We asked him about the strangest thing he’s covered (a doomsday camp) and why it’s important for young progressives to understand how fringe movements will evolve in 2024.”

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NOV 23, 2023
By Crystal Andrews
Zee-Feed

02. Police Using Sniffer Dogs On Melbourne Trains Are Barking Up The Wrong Tree

“The last place you’d expect to see a sniffer dog is at the entrance to your suburban train station, but that’s exactly what greeted public transport users in Melbourne’s south-east this month as part of Victoria Police’s operation to target drug possession on the network“

Reporting featured in Victorian Parliament curtesy of MLC Rachel Payne

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OCT 03, 2023
By Scobie McKay
Crikey

03. Street Party Descends On Melbourne Following Daniel Andrews Shock Resignation

Revellers were aflush with conspiracies insinuating the former premier had been pushed from his position.

One man calls for Daniel Andrews to be hung.

One

one

OCT 01, 2023
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

04. Russia Consulate Purchases Hundreds Of Beers For Revellers Celebrating The Resignation Of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews

Purchased by Aussie Cossack on behalf of the Russian Consulate, the mid-strength beers were well received by protesters.

SEP 28, 2023
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

05. Reporting covered by ABC Radio Melbourne, drawing comment from Raf Epstein and Police Union Secretary Wayne Gatt

A video I recorded depicting a Victoria Police CIRT officer repeatedly kneeing an anti-fascist protester in the back of the head goes viral - prompting backlash on social media and mainstream media outlets.

MAR 18, 2023
By Raf Epstein
ABC Radio Melbourne

06. Neo-Nazis join anti-transgender rally in Melbourne

I asked anti-transgender protesters if they supported neo-nazis joining their platform.

“If I have to choose between paedophile groomers and some guys who are tough blokes, but perhaps a little bit misled in some of their ideology.

It’s hard man.”

Watch here

MAR 16, 2023
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

07. Australian anti-Islamic activist Shermon Burgess becomes the latest far-right figure to convert to Islam

“One of Australia’s most notorious anti-Islam activists and former head of the far-right group United Patriots Front has converted to Islam, joining a trend of prominent right-wing figures who’ve embraced the religion for its conservative stance towards masculinity, gender roles and the LGBTQIA+ community.”

“In the eyes of a new generation of conservatives, changing societal expectations around gender norms, masculinity and LGBTQIA+ rights have superseded asylum seekers, Islamic terrorism and sharia law as the single greatest threat to Western values.

The intersection of homophobia, transphobia and misogyny between former adversaries has led to an unlikely allyship between the far-right and conservative Muslims, particularly with young men.”

Read more

MAR 3, 2023
By Scobie McKay
Crikey

08. A Facebook page spotlit Alice Springs’ crime crisis. It’s also fuelling calls for vigilante justice

“Matt, a manager at Alice Spring Cinema, took a break from fixing the door to his business after a break-in to speak to Crikey. He said residents feel Action for Alice 2020 brought the attention of the NT government and the federal government to the town’s crisis, but acknowledged there are some concerns about it spreading fear in the community.“

“Alice Springs councillor and Yipirinya school principal Gavin Morris, is concerned about how social media audiences see Alice Springs when viewed through the page’s lens.”

“They do the crime, the anti-social stuff, so they get infamy on the Action for Alice page,” he said. “It gets 5000 likes, it goes around the nation.”

Morris said his students also told him that racist comments on posts were inspiring them to take revenge: “They go through and read the comments, they read the racist comments. That angers them and they want to go out and commit more crime. Retribution.”

Read more

FEB 10, 2023
By Scobie McKay & Cam Wilson
Crikey

09. The Man That Dresses Up As Donald Trump Everyday

A perplexing insight into the day to day life of a ‘freedom protester’ so enamoured with Donald Trump that he dresses up as a crude caricature of him, every single day.

JAN 19, 2023
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

10. Putin’s Army in Australia

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a group of pro-Russian protesters amassed in Sydney, calling for Australia to maintain neutrality.

NOV 16, 2022
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

11. Discussing Sex With Ant-Abortion Activists

Conservative Christians flood Melbourne for their annual march against abortion rights. I discovered many of them suffer from lasting trauma that’s heavily informs their political beliefs.

OCT 28, 2022
By Scobie McKay Whatsdoin Media

12. The Freedom Movement Is Convoying Through Melbourne. Why Are They Still Protesting?

“Over the weekend, hundreds of cars full of protesters travelled from across Australia to revolt against Dan Andrews, believing he's ushering in a new world order.”

Read more

OCT 12, 2022
By Scobie McKay
Crikey

13. Inside The Doomsday Cult Where White People Pretend To Be Indigenous

The only journalist allowed inside Muckudda Camp, this aberration of the freedom movement was completely unpredictable. It catapulted to the national stage after setting fire to the Old Parliament House, the camp attracted Indigenous and non-Indigenous protesters duped by the “Original Sovereigns' narrative. I set about getting to know the protesters, and over two days befriended many of the members of the paranoid and tight-knit camp.

MAY 30, 2022
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

14. Convoy To Canberra

The first journalist to cover the months long Convoy to Canberra protest, a reactionary, conspiracy laced movement to occupy Australia’s capital following the easing of pandemic restrictions.

My on-the-ground reporting, convoying alongside the protesters, was widely distributed by mainstream media outlets.

MAY 30, 2022
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

15. On The Streets With The Melbourne "Freedom” Movement

We returned to the Melbourne "Freedom" Movement, where disparate groups have united to oppose a piece of pandemic specific legislation. In this episode we explore the increased presence of evangelical Christians within the movement.

DEC 17, 20221
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

16. First Hand Experience Of An Exorcism

We caught up with Dani Stani on the steps of Victoria's Parliament House, where she retold her iconic deliverance ceremony. Various religious groups have begun to grow in numbers at the Melbourne protests, which have erupted in response to the ongoing pandemic.

DEC 14, 20221
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

17. A Collection Of Videos Summarising Melbourne’s Most Turbulent Week Ever

In September of 2021, thousands of angry anti-lockdown protesters converged on the city in spite of pandemic restrictions.

For several days, protesters skirmished with police, who used rubber bullets, tear gas and military style vehicles to suppress the uprising.

Ami

SEP 26, 2021
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

18. SCOBIE From WHATSDOIN MEDIA

Scobie is a reporter and content creator for Whats Doin Media - an online channel exploring Australia's cultural and political fringe. We discuss the recent anti-lockdown "freedom" rally in Melbourne this past weekend (Sep 18) which Scobie attended and documented for WDM.

SEP 19, 20221
By Scobie McKay & Jack Rowland
In Too Deep Podcast

19. Highlights From A Livestream Of Anti-Lockdown Protesters Violently Skirmishing With Victoria Police

Far-right protesters motivated by pandemic-era conspiracies defy restrictions banning Victorians from travelling further than 5km from their house, converging in Richmond for a protest.

SEP 18, 20221
By Scobie McKay & Jack Rowland
In Too Deep Podcast

20. Melbourne’s Anti-Lockdown Protests

A disparate group of conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, anti-lockdown protesters and other victims of disinformation converge on Melbourne during the Covid-19 pandemic.

MAR 26, 20221
By Scobie McKay
Whatsdoin Media

21. PLAGUED BY CHAOS: AN INSIDE VIEW ON THE ANTI-LOCKDOWN PROTESTS

“Alright, who here has been sending death threats to the premier?’ asked Cushla in an encrypted chat set up by anti-lockdown protesters to avoid police surveillance. ‘We should take hanging nooses to the next protest like they did in Lebanon’, said Jane, as the protesters discussed tactics on how best to dismantle the lockdown policy in place across Victoria.”

Read more

OCT 22, 2020
By Scobie McKay
Arena Publishing