Nationals leader Matt Canavan has described a defiant podcast host who has called for the mass, race-based deportation of migrants as a “good Australian” after Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price made a controversial appearance on the host’s show.
Australian Army veteran and former paratrooper Sam Bamford, host of the 2 Worlds Collide podcast, lashed this masthead and the ABC for reporting on Price’s appearance on the program, in which she appeared to agree with his statement that Australia is flooded with “hundreds of thousands of Indians, Chinese, Africans, Middle Easterns, and Gazans”.
Price later distanced herself from the podcaster’s views, saying she did not intend to endorse everything said.
Bamford, in a statement on social media platform X, said he stood by “every single word I said” in the podcast, during which he also put to Price that people without Indigenous, Anglo-Celtic or European heritage could not be considered Australian.
“Australia is for Australians. If I wanted to live around Indians, Africans and Middle Easterners, I’d move to India, Africa or the Middle East,” Bamford wrote. “We need remigration. Millions Must Go.”
Canavan, who sat with Price in the chamber before she moved to the Liberal Party, backed in both the host and guest.
“I’ve been on that podcast, I don’t agree with everything Sam says, but he’s a good Australian, he’s served our country in war, he’s entitled to his views,” the Nationals leader told Sky News.
“Good on people like Sam for expressing the views that he has, and he’s got lots of followers, he’s very, very popular. So, why doesn’t the Labor Party go on Sam’s podcast and tell him where he’s all wrong? You know, I think people would watch that, so don’t be afraid, guys.”
Price’s appearance on Thursday’s podcast almost immediately courted controversy after she appeared to agree with Bamford over his concerns that Australia was facing a “flood” of migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa. In a subsequent statement, Price claimed she agreed with the end of Bamford’s lengthy question, when he stated he was providing a “lot of information”.
Price was removed from then-opposition leader Sussan Ley’s shadow cabinet last year for comments made on Indian immigration, a call that Assistant Minister for Citizenship Julian Hill echoed on Friday.
“Go back and watch the words that she actually said so she can’t spin her way out of this,” Hill told Sky News.
“Sussan Ley had the guts to sack Senator Price, and it’s a test now for [Opposition Leader] Angus Taylor. Is he going to show the same ticker and sack her, or is this kind of race-baiting now acceptable?”
Bamford is a proponent of the extremist concept of “remigration”, a process by which non-white migrants are deported to the country of their ethnic origin. The concept is closely linked to other ideological concerns, including the fear that caucasian majorities in nations such as the US, Germany, England and Australia are being replaced by ethnic minorities through intentional migration drives.
The term has gained popularity in global anti-migrant pushes across the globe. Earlier this month, an anti-government rally in London spearheaded by far-right activist Tommy Robinson featured repeated calls for “remigration”. Experts in extremism argue the concept found its roots in neo-Nazi ideology.
Speaking at a Melbourne press conference on Friday, Taylor said Price agreed with the party’s position on migration, one which discriminates based on values – not race, ethnicity or religion.
“Her position is as mine is, and I absolutely accept her explanation [for her perceived agreement with Bamford],” Taylor said.
Asked whether it was appropriate for Price to appear on the podcast, Taylor said: “It’s important that we explain that this is a government that is trashing our standard of living, that is not protecting our way of life.
“It’s taking our standard of living backwards, and we need to get out and talk to all Australians, whether they agree with our positions or not, and that’s part of all of our jobs.”
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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.