Australian MP George Christensen tells protesters – 'we are at war with radical Islam'

Christensen warns it is 'foolishly naive' to tallow a culture of appeasement to fester

A 'Reclaim Australia' rally in Brisbane (Jason Reed/Reuters)

A controversial Australian MP has defended his decision to address an anti-Islamic rally in his constituency.

George Christensen, a Liberal MP for Darwin in the north of the country, spoke at a “Reclaim Australia” on Saturday despite a petition against his presence being signed by over 1,800 people.

In his speech, in his hometown of Mackay, he said he would not stand back and allow a “culture of appeasement” to “fester” in Australian society.

He said: “A petition urged the Prime Minister to prevent me from even attending today. The apologists of the left, the do-gooders, and the politically correct crowd said I should not address you because you were a crowd of: racists, bigots, Islamophobes, extremists, white supremacists, skinheads, and Nazis.

“But I look out at the crowd and that’s not what I see. I see Mums and Dads who love their country – the Australian culture and the Australian lifestyle. I see everyday hard-working families who want their kids to enjoy the same freedoms that were enjoyed by the generations that came before them.”

He said it was “foolishly naive” to think “that we are not at war [with radical Islam]”.

He added: “The spread of repressive ideologies under our very noses right here in our own country has already begun. I refer to the slow spread of a Sharia-style dispensation of justice which is quietly executed in Australian mosques on a daily basis.

“It’s sad to see that those who wish to take a stand against the tyranny of Islamic extremism, the ideals of Islamism, are accused of being racist, bigoted or intolerant.”

The MP has urged people to reject a "culture of appeasement" to Islam (Facebook)

The Reclaim Australia group has come under fire over its commitment to protecting its “Judeo-Christian foundations” and “white heritage” which it believes is being rewritten by “cultural Marxists trying to belittle our nation’s beginnings”.

It comes just months after Australians took to Twitter to express solidarity with Muslims using the hashtag #illridewithyou in the wake of the Sydney cafe siege last year.