The attack on Camp Sovereignty in Naarm by extreme-right demonstrators should be classified as a hate crime, Indigenous leaders say.
On Sunday, around 40 men dressed in black — some armed with flagpoles and sticks and led by known neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell — stormed the Indigenous camp following an anti-immigration rally.
Footage obtained by National Indigenous Times shows the men verbally abusing camp members and stomping on the Aboriginal flag. Some chanted, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi oi, oi," before fleeing as police arrived.
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe told National Indigenous Times the targeting of the site, which holds deep significance for Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri people, should be labelled a "hate crime".
"A bunch of Neo Nazis storming a sacred site; desecrating a sacred site, certainly fits in the category of a hate crime," she said.
Victoria Police confirmed no arrests have yet been made, while the Australian Federal Police have been contacted for comment. Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines described the attack as disgraceful, saying it was "gutless" and needed to be "called out".
"This is people intimidating and bringing violence, and we won't stand for it. We'll hold them to account," he told ABC Melbourne on Monday.
It was the third confrontation between neo-Nazis and camp members that day. One woman was struck in the head with a metal pole, and another was thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked.
"This was not random violence. These racists launched their attack at the time we regularly hold community gatherings for weekly healing ceremonies," a statement from Camp Sovereignty on Monday said.
"These ceremonies are dedicated to honouring our ancestors, promoting peace and unity, and working to heal the wounds of genocide and the deep rift imposed between First Nations peoples and settlers. To target us at this moment reveals that their true intent is to desecrate what is sacred and to violently disrupt our efforts at collective healing on behalf of racism, fascism and white supremacy."
The camp, established by, among others, Senator Thorpe's uncle, Krautungalung Elder Robbie Thorpe, is described as a place of peace where community can gather, yarn and reflect. It stands at the resting place for the repatriated remains of 38 Aboriginal Victorians.
Mr Thorpe told the ABC that two women from the camp spent the night in hospital but were released on Monday.
"One had a serious gash on the back of their head. They're OK, but it was a very traumatic experience for them," he said.
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At Tuesday's Labor party room meeting, Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, expressed her horror at the events on Sunday, labelling it "absolutely reprehensible", noting she had never seen an attack where the assailants were acting as brazenly and openly in her parliamentary career.
Senator Thorpe said the attack should be treated with the same seriousness as assaults on other places of worship.
"When other places of worship have been attacked in the past, the condemnation in the media is widespread," she said.
"Now this is our place of worship. People were assaulted. Flags were stomped on the ground. Fires were put out. Sacred fires were put out.
"Just because we don't have bricks and mortar. We have our land, and this is how we worship our land and our water and our people and our animals in the sky, and the air that we breathe. We have a spirituality that you can't always see, and that's certainly what you find at Camp Sovereignty."
The Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung Senator described the site as "our shrine," where people gather to heal, connect, and remember the frontier wars and the "warriors of resistance".
"It is special to all of us, and it should be special to this entire nation, given we are the oldest continuing living culture on the planet," she said.
On Tuesday morning, Mr Sewell, who is the leader of the National Socialist Network, disrupted a press conference by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes, yelling at the Premier before being confronted by police.
In a statement, Premier Allan said she was "unharmed and undeterred" but stressed: "This isn't about me."
"It's about all the other people in the community who Nazis target - like multicultural people, LGBTIQA+ people, First Peoples, and Jews," she said.
"They're the Victorians who are on my mind right now, and they're the Victorians who our anti-hate laws will protect when they come into force later this month."
