They say we don't have a problem with racism, yet a treaty brought Nazis out in plain sight. There it is—the national paradox.

We are told that racism is a phantom, a thing of the past, best forgotten. And yet, at the mere whisper of truth-telling or treaty, out they come—men in black, goose-stepping on Australian soil as if White Australia had never died, only napped.

Our governments must do better at responding swiftly to these forms of threats. You and I know that these fascists are not martyrs of free speech, nor rebels against tyranny; they are the descendants—spiritual if not literal—of those who once imagined Australia as a fortress for whiteness. Their performance is a grotesque encore of a policy long discredited, but not yet interred.

And what of us? Are we to shrug and say, "It is only theatre"?

History tells us that a flag waved in hate is the prelude to a fist. A swastika in the street is a challenge to the rule of law itself. If we do not answer it with truth and justice, then we have surrendered the stage.

Australia's redemption lies elsewhere. In the unglamorous, daily work of multicultural communities who live together, trade together, and raise their children together. In Indigenous leaders who keep speaking when shouted down. In migrants who build homes while being told to "go back". These people are not the problem—they are the solution. They are the proof that Australia is not a closed shop for whiteness, but a res publicæ of many hands.

The fascist offers nothing but rage, a drumbeat of fear. The rule of law offers fairness; truth offers light; justice offers belonging. Between the two, only one path keeps a nation alive.

So let us have done with denial. Racism is not a myth, fascism is not an import, and White Australia is not quite dead. But nor are we. The resilience of our communities is stronger than their hatred, and it is available to all Australians who choose courage over cowardice.

Jesse J. Fleay is a Noongar writer and research specialist across major policy areas. His doctoral thesis explores a model for an Australian republic, along with calls to enact a Voice to Parliament for First Nations Australians.