One Nation's Words: Australia's Hard Right Said the Quiet Part
Malcolm Roberts, a senator for One Nation, used the word "remigrate" in a resurfaced interview to describe plans to deport approximately 200,000 people he described as illegal visa holders from Australia.
One Nation's Words: Australia's Hard Right Said the Quiet Part
A sitting Australian senator has used a term borrowed from white supremacist ideology to describe his party's immigration policy, and the recording existed long enough for the rest of the country to hear it clearly.
Malcolm Roberts, a senator for One Nation, used the word "remigrate" in a resurfaced interview to describe plans to deport approximately 200,000 people he described as illegal visa holders from Australia. The Guardian, which obtained the interview exclusively, reports that Roberts framed the policy as getting rid of them — language that strips any procedural veneer from what is otherwise presented as a border enforcement platform.
"Remigration" is a concept with a specific genealogy. It did not emerge from mainstream conservative politics. It was coined and circulated by European far-right movements, most prominently in Germany, where its public use by political figures has already triggered criminal investigations. Its appearance in an Australian Senate context is not accidental vocabulary — it is a signal sent to a particular audience.
One Nation has not distanced itself from the remarks. Roberts has not retracted them.
The timing matters. Australia's political conversation around immigration has hardened considerably, and the far right globally has grown comfortable testing language that was previously confined to forums the mainstream refused to name. When a senator uses that language on record and the party holds its position, the language stops being a test and becomes the policy. The recording did not create the problem. It simply made it audible.
*By Isla Camilleri, Global Affairs & Lifestyle Editor*
