Violent clashes, police with pepper spray and chants of “Heil Australia”. These were the scenes we saw over the weekend, as thousands of Australians marched in anti-immigration rallies, which have been endorsed by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. Why did this violence erupt now? And what does it mean that two prominent politicians attended the rallies?

Today, senior writer Michael Bachelard and Maria O’Sullivan, Associate Professor at Deakin Law School, on whether our laws are up to the challenge of protecting all Australians from vilification.