A meeting of the NSW Young Liberals was shut down in disgrace on Monday night after two men dressed in Ku Klux Klan hoods stormed the stage during a debate about immigration.
Some attendees, described to Fairfax Media as being from the hard right "Taliban" faction and wearing "Make America Great Again" caps, were heard to clap and cheer when the two men in white hoods and linen appeared.
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KKK meeting disruption
Two people dressed as Ku Klux Klan members have disrupted a young Liberals meeting in Sydney, just as the topic turned to Donald Trump's immigration ban.
Another attendee was filmed yelling "white power" into a camera while the hooded men paraded around the front of the room. The incident occurred during a motion in support of non-discriminatory immigration policy, following US President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban on several Muslim countries.
The men – whose identities were not known and who were thought not to be members of the Young Liberals – were ejected after about a minute. The meeting of the NSW Young Liberal Council, held at the City Tattersalls Club, was suspended about 9pm.
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But the proceedings have shocked the NSW Liberal Party, with state director Chris Stone promising a full investigation into the "highly offensive" incident.
"Two protesters wearing highly offensive costumes entered a Young Liberal council meeting tonight. The identities of the protesters were not known to those present at the meeting," Mr Stone said.
"The meeting was immediately adjourned and the protesters ejected. An investigation into the incident will be undertaken. The Liberal Party strongly condemns the highly offensive nature of this protest."
The youth wing of the Liberal Party has significant power in the wider organisation and contains many staffers to state and federal MPs. Currently embroiled in a factional war, attendees quickly pointed the finger at their internal enemies.
One hard-right attendee, who asked not to be named, told Fairfax Media he organised the "Make America Great Again" caps but denied any part in organising the protesters.
"The boys I brought tonight were very eager to debate all of the motions," he said. "My folk were in MAGA hats or Trump hats. I will categorically say we had absolutely nothing to do with [the protest]. We don't know who was in those hoods.
"I think someone from the left organised this to make us look bad. The left have been annoyed for us for so long because Trump won."
A senior source in the moderate faction also denied any role, but pointed the blame at "fringe" members of the conservative wing. Dee Zegarac, a leader of the hard right and staffer to newly installed NSW deputy Liberal leader Dominic Perrottet, is said to have been "disgusted" by the incident.
"It was nothing to do with the more mainstream of the far right. It was the fringe crazies," the source said.
The incident took place during the introduction of a motion by Jordan Lane, a staffer to federal MP Trent Zimmerman, in favour of a non-discriminatory immigration policy.
It is not the first time a NSW Young Liberal meeting has descended into chaos. At a similar event in 2015, the night after Malcolm Turnbull's successful coup against Tony Abbott, a debate over female quotas in the party turned violent and resulted in an attendee losing his job with federal senator Concetta Fierrevanti-Wells.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story has been amended to correctly report the location of the meeting.
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