United Patriots Front supporters outnumber anti-racism protesters at Bendigo rallies
Updated
United Patriots Front (UPF) supporters have outnumbered rival protesters in Bendigo on Saturday, but overall numbers were well down on previous rallies.
About 350 UPF supporters gathered in Rosalind Park in the city's centre in a bid to bolster support.
The group has been vocal about its opposition to Bendigo's first mosque.
UPF leader Blair Cottrell told crowds: "You're Australian first before you're anything else."
Meanwhile, about 50 anti-racism protesters from the Bendigo Action Collective staged a counter protest and marched down View Street in support of multiculturalism.
The rival groups were separated by hundreds of police.
The rallies were mostly peaceful, however a splinter group of UPF supporters were forcibly pushed back by police when they broke away from their main group.
No arrests have been made.
Eric, who declined to reveal his surname, said the Bendigo Action Collective was not interested in confronting the UPF.
Another spokesperson for the collective told the group the UPF was a fascist organisation.
It is the third time the two groups have faced off.
In October, rival rallies were held in Bendigo by the groups for and against the construction of a local mosque.
Topics: activism-and-lobbying, community-and-society, race-relations, bendigo-3550
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