“I don’t care for these new Nazis. And you may quote me on that.” – John Mulaney

The genius of this line, from John Mulaney’s best comedy special, lies in the faux bravery of its delivery; this sense that he thinks he’s out on a limb, being political, taking a stand. Condemning Nazis is easy as long as their numbers and influence remain a rounding error on the sum of political life. Perhaps that’s one reason politicians love to do it.

A protester attending the March for Australia rally in Melbourne on August 31. Credit: Michael Bachelard

We’ve seen lots of this in the aftermath of last weekend’s anti-immigration protests from politicians across the spectrum. The neo-Nazi presence was alarming, especially in Melbourne, where a leader of the movement – since arrested over a violent attack on an Indigenous protest camp – was given the stage. But then come the difficulties. Once you’re done condemning Nazis, how far and how hard do you want to go?

That largely depends on how far you want the taint of neo-Nazi involvement to fall on the protesters as a whole. And it’s on this question that the Labor Party now finds itself at odds.

The prime minister chose to distinguish the far right from the mass when – in condemning the protests – he told the ABC he was sure there “would have been good people who went along”. Labor MP Ed Husic, freed from cabinet solidarity, and reflecting the views of several colleagues, took issue, responding: “I’m not in the business of doing the ‘good people on both sides’ argument … I haven’t seen a good fascist yet”.

I well understand Husic’s objection. These were ugly scenes, especially in Melbourne where there were moments of........

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