Controversy around Voice No campaign sponsors
Crowd-funding site Give, Send, Go, listed as the Gold Sponsor of CPAC Australia, has hosted fundraising appeals by neo-Nazis and other extremist groups.
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) has called on the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to reject the sponsorship arrangement it has with the controversial fundraising outfit Give, Send, Go, which has reportedly hosted fundraising efforts by neo-Nazis and other extremist groups.
The crowdfunding website sponsored a major No campaign event against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament on the weekend, prompting Jewish organisations to warn it could be hijacked by far-right opportunists. CPAC Australia listed Give, Send, Go as its Gold Sponsor.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, the platform has previously been condemned for allowing fundraising from far-right extremists, including known neo-Nazis, criminals and anti-vaxxers.
Earlier this year the website was used to fundraise for Melbourne neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell after he was convicted of assaulting a security guard.
The Christian website has stated its purpose is to provide “freedom” in a politically divisive world, adding “even if we do not agree with you, we will defend your right to fundraise for the causes and people you love”.
A report from NGO Anti-Defamation League’s Centre for Extremism revealed that extremists raised $5.4 million using the website.
AIJAC national chairman Mark Leibler said it was highly concerning that CPAC was allowing Give, Send, Go to be a major sponsor.
“No fundraising platform or other reputable online service provider should allow itself to be used to facilitate the funding or promotion of violent or racist extremists, thus helping them spread hatred and division in our harmonious multicultural community,” he said.
“As well as the obvious problems with helping such extremist groups raise money, there is the very real danger that doing so also helps legitimise them, as well as assisting them to infiltrate more legitimate causes that use the same platform.
“As long as Give, Send, Go insists on hosting the activities of such rogue groups, no mainstream, respectable organisation should have anything to do with it.”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies acting chief executive Michael Gencher said, “Anybody that gives platforms to extremist groups is worthy of keeping an eye on. There may be a degree of a lack of awareness of who they are.
“The community expectation would be that the Yes side and the No side would be vetting partners and donors. It’s terrible to see any side of a cause hoodwinked or hijacked by others’ agenda. When you align with far right groups you could draw that conclusion.”
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