The past few years have seen a boom in Australian independent journalism, with many interesting new publications born around the same time as Zee Feed. 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.
Zee Feed: How did you come to start documenting ‘dystopian Australia’?
Scobie McKay: It was the outcome of reporting during a period of genuine crisis, where extremism, disinformation and conflict thrive. The first rally I filmed was in response to the Victorian lockdown of 2020, it was organic, unruly, and illegal. The crowd was largely comprised of people who had never been to a protest before, and lacked an understanding of police tactics. After seamlessly kettling a few hundred protesters outside Parliament House, Victoria Police spent several hours indiscriminately spraying the group with capsicum foam.
This was nothing new to existing activist groups from the left, but for the uninitiated freedom protesters it was the genesis of a years long vindictive and violent relationship with police that perhaps exposed them to a side of Australia they were blissfully unaware existed.
Since then, my reporting has focused on various groups from the political fringe, as well as police accountability, youth justice and youth subcultures.
I’ve been fumbling over the right term to describe your subjects – conspiracy theorists, alt-right, sovereign citizens, freedom movement.. How would you define the group of people you are covering?
The most consistent factor that characterises members of the freedom movement is that they’re burdened by a severe case of main character syndrome. Their activism isn’t rooted in solidarity, but rather radical individualism that posits themselves as the caretaker of a sacred, even spiritual knowledge – usually grounded in some far-right conspiracy theory they read on the internet.
The movement was popular, and diverse, it was organised by emerging and established figures from the far-right and the religious right. It attracted grifters, hippies, wellness ‘gurus’, grey nomads, racist nans, culturally and linguistically diverse kids from the area, and neo-Nazis – which makes them hard to define.
What’s the strangest experience you’ve had so far?
Muckudda Camp is the closest I’ve come to witnessing a living, breathing, cult. It was a conspiratorial doomsday camp that set-up next door, and in opposition to, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.
It was comprised of a mix of First Nations people and non-Indigenous ‘sovereign citizens’. The camp fused Indigenous Lore and Sovereignty with the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon. They regularly held classes on the pseudo-legal sovereign citizen concept, which is rooted in white supremacy. The Indigenous members ‘initiated’ the white people in traditional ceremonies – much to the despair of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. I recorded footage of several white men covered in paint, calling to Bora spirits, while performing traditional dances and clapping sticks. After setting fire to the front of Old Parliament House, and several hostile encounters with the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, ACT Police forcibly removed the camp.
This strange alliance between white supremacists – of which several were avowed One Nation supporters – and First Nations leaders, was truly strange, and I’m not sure I’ve fully wrapped my head around it.
Most of our audience would say they just don’t understand how anyone could actually believe what these folks do, as most of the ideas are very easily debunked. How do you think people come to these beliefs?
Initially I assumed most of the people I interviewed in the freedom movement were being purposefully disingenuous, that they didn’t actually believe what they were saying but were in fact obnoxiously contrarian. I quickly discovered that many of the people I interviewed were battling significant mental health conditions exacerbated by crisis, and largely unaddressed due to inaccessibility to treatment or entrenched stigma.
Unlike your audience, they struggle to maintain a healthy distrust of the establishment, instead succumbing to intense paranoia that makes them dismissive of any and all information solicited from mainstream sources. Ultimately, they become stuck in echo chambers inundated with disinformation purposefully designed to elicit highly emotional reactions. I think everyone has this experience online to an extent, but because the information they spread is genuinely false, rather than just conjecture, they’re often banned from mainstream sites and pushed into more extreme, highly uncritical, and easily exploitable spaces.
And that leads to them looking for likeminded community?
I met people in the freedom movement that had sold everything, bought a van, and travelled across the country to camp out with fellow protesters. Many told me they had cut ties with family and friends because of their beliefs, while others described feeling part of a community for the first time in their lives. Unfortunately, this meant a lot of them were vulnerable to grifters, manipulators and abusers – and there were several reported cases of financial, sexual, and physical abuse perpetrated within the community.
Is this ‘scene’ in Australia different to what we in the news from the U.S., Canada and U.K?
While the conspiracies are more or less the same, I actually think the Australian scene is a lot less unhinged than their North American counterparts. Despite the content I’ve produced, there is endless b-roll footage of the most boring conversations you’ve ever heard. Lifeless, monotone ramblings of an ageing mind, barely stitching together an argument – usually about some personal slight that has a vague but undetermined connection to the wider issue.
How do you see the line between ‘platforming’ and documenting the beliefs of the people you film? It’s a delicate balance to strike…
Mainstream media uncritically platform harmful beliefs to stir controversy and increase interactions, which in turn normalises the ideas within the public discourse. My platform is way more niche.
I think most of my followers understand the tone of my content, and that even though I often present views that are harmful, it’s usually rooted in satire and absurdism. For a lot of people, my videos are the first time they are exposed to the inane conspiracies that proliferate online, and people appreciate that rawness. In saying that, it’s all perspective – a lot of the subjects of my content genuinely believe I support their viewpoint, because I largely present it without comment. They’re oblivious to the absurdity of it all.
The fringe movements have already evolved a lot post-pandemic. What shifts should we be paying attention to in 2024?
These groups will continue to latch onto any culture war flash points that emerge. They pledged their support for Russia in its war against Ukraine, they spread harmful disinformation about the ‘Yes’ campaign during The Voice referendum, and have frequently called for violent agitations against the LGBTQIA+ community.
The first issue to truly split the movement has been Israel-Palestine. A few prominent members of the freedom movement have been sharing pro-Palestine content and attending marches. Their support is likely informed by antisemitism, rather than a genuine solidarity with oppressed peoples. Similarly, many freedom protesters have pledged their support for Israel, because of entrenched Islamophobia in Australia’s far-right.
I think it’s so important for young progressive to watch your videos – what message do you want them to take away from it?
If their politics is rooted in empathy, then hopefully my content emphasises the fact that many of the people I interview are themselves victims of multinational disinformation schemes designed to sow political polarisation and instability. I have genuinely felt sorry for a lot of the protesters I’ve interviewed over the years, especially those who have lost their families or suffered financially. I think there’s space for content that’s both critical and empathetic that provides a space for reflection and growth.
Watch Scobie’s work for Whats Doin Media on YouTube and Instagram.
Smart people read more:
How to Stop Your Grandparents Getting Sucked In By Political Disinformation, According To An Expert
People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features – Scientific American
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