Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, and fellow Labor Senator Jana Stewart have visited Camp Sovereignty, a week after it was attacked following an anti-immigration rally.
Her visit came as the family of one of the neo-Nazis charged in relation to the attack said they had disowned him for the "decision he made" to join the National Socialist Network (NSN).
Camp Sovereignty, established in 2006 by Krautungalung Elder Robbie Thorpe, is described as a place of peace where the community can gather, yarn and reflect. It is also the resting place for the repatriated remains of 38 Aboriginal Victorians.
Last week, around 40 men dressed in black — some armed with flagpoles and sticks — stormed the Indigenous camp after the rally. Footage showed them verbally abusing camp members and stomping on the Aboriginal flag. Some chanted "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi oi oi" before fleeing as police arrived.
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A post shared by Senator Malarndirri McCarthy (@malarndirri)
Visiting the site on Sunday, Senator McCarthy said on social media it was "really important" to meet families impacted by the attack.
"It was good to be there today as part of a healing ceremony where people have the opportunity to talk about how they felt," she said.
"The fact that they wanted to talk about love and peace and healing... that's what First Nations people are on about in this country... we do want to bring people together, and we do want to talk with our sense of spiritual strength."
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Senator McCarthy said Indigenous people "want to see goodness and love and kindness flourish in the spirits right across Australia".
"Today's ceremony on Camp Sovereignty was about reinforcing that... about inviting that goodness back; not to see the darkness and the horrific events that we saw last Sunday, but to actually bring back peace and love again to this place," she said.
The attack drew condemnation across politics. However, some argued neo-Nazis were only a fringe element of the broader rallies, rejecting claims those actions were about racism, despite racist slogans and imagery being present, while the attack on Camp Sovereignty occurred away from rally sites.
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Responding to a One Nation motion linking immigration to wages and housing on Monday, Senator Stewart said the protests were never about migration.
"If this was really about migration, then you wouldn't have seen people from the rallies yesterday attack First Nations people at Camp Sovereignty. We're not migrants to this country, last time I checked," she told the Senate.
"We're First Nations people. We've been here for 65,000 years. Those protesters somehow found their way to Camp Sovereignty. It's an absolute disgrace. So don't pretend that this motion is about migration. It's about racism—absolutely."
A 16-minute Facebook Live video, posted shortly after 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 31, captured camp members pleading with the men to leave.
"Stop stop, no stop," one person can be heard yelling. "Please leave."
NSN leader Thomas Sewell was denied bail on Friday and faces 25 charges, including violent disorder, affray, assault by kicking and discharge of a missile in relation to the attack.
We are posting this statement on behalf of Nathan Bull's family, who reached out to us after receiving abuse and harassment. pic.twitter.com/elysTpTe2x
— White Rose Society (Australia) (@WhiteRoseSocAU) September 5, 2025
Six other men have also been charged, including 23-year-old Nathan Bull. His family issued a statement via the anti-fascist group White Rose Society, publicly disowning him.
"From the very beginning, we made it clear that if he chose this path, we could no longer be an active part of his life. Sadly, that is the decision he made," his family wrote.
"We are embarrassed to see Nathan continually featured in the media and saddened by the possibility he may never leave this group. His choices are his alone."
Speaking in the Senate last week, Senator McCarthy labelled the perpetrators "thugs" who "set out to attack migrants and First Nations people on the same day".
"They attacked newest Australians, and our oldest," she said.
"These kinds of attacks — be they on religious institutions or be they on these culturally significant Aboriginal sites — use hate and violence to divide us. But we will not let them divide us."
