Nazis in the Wheatbelt, hidden nests of white supremacists, who would have known that our sleepy regional country towns are nests of Neo-Nazi racism?

It seems our WA farmer Labor member for the Agricultural Region, Darren West MLC, has his finger on the pulse of what is happening behind the doors of our rural community, at least more so than rest of us.

The other week he made The West Australian, by claiming opponents of the Voice were “voting with” Nazis and white supremacists, both during debate on the proposed Indigenous advisory body in Parliament and in an online Facebook post.

For those who missed the furore, Mr West first went on the attack when responding to a Facebook post in which former Esperance Shire president, Victoria Brown questioned the prevalence of Acknowledgement of Country rituals and expressed her view the referendum was dividing Australians.

He said, “not everyone who votes no is a white supremacist. Not everyone who votes no is a Nazi”.

“You are right, but you are voting with them.

“That is who you are voting with.

“This is important.”

This was yet another own goal of the Yes Campaign in WA and it follows the efforts of Tony Buti with his ill-timed progressive heritage legislation and prominent Voice architect Marcia Langton who was engulfed in a storm of criticism after accusing the No camp of racism and stupidity during an event in Bunbury.

Now it’s a brave call by Darren West to go out on a limb and link a majority of his electorate, who are, according to the polls, on track to vote No, to suffer guilt by association with Neo-Nazis.

One might say it is nasty and base politics that does not fit well with his position in the community.

What would inspire someone to pull the racist card when attempting to bully people across to your side of the argument?

Now, I’ve never met a Neo-Nazi, but I’m assuming Darren West must have, as he seems to know how they will vote.

Maybe he also knows where they are hiding in our community, if so, I’ve no doubt the ABC Investigation team would love to put a camera in front of them and highlight how right wing the west has become.

Is Narrogin or Narembeen the hotbed of Nazism in Western Australia, or is Wagin or Wickepin the home of white supremacists? Do we have chapters of the Ku Klux Klan wandering around Kulin or Kellerberrin or versions of the SS in Southern Cross or Shackleton?

If anyone knows where the Nazis are hiding in the Wheatbelt, it should be the local member of parliament, who works the community and prides himself on being a strong advocate for fairness and equity.

Even if he did support the government’s move to disenfranchise the voice of Indigenous people in regional and remote WA when his party abolished the weighted regional voting system for the upper house which directly impacted the State’s most vulnerable Indigenous communities.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, it’s just too easy for elites to shout racism, but when challenged to produce evidence of this extensive sub culture lurking in our community, they fail to turn up any evidence.

I set myself this task, but the best I could come up with of real life Australian Neo Nazis was a few Facebook photos of a few thugs in Melbourne looking like Neo-Nazis during the Covid lockdowns in 2020, which is a long way from the Wheatbelt of 2023.

A few idiots throwing a Nazi salute does not qualify Australia as embracing National Socialism, just as the remnants of the Australian Communist Party floating around university campuses does not mark Australia as being on the verge of joining North Korea.

Premier Roger Cook summed it up when he said the remards by Darren West were “not good language to use” and demonstrated a lack of respect.

Let’s hope all our elites and members of parliament will refrain from pulling the racist taunt when pushing their political barrows.