Last week, rallies were held under the banner of “March for Australia.”

The organisers spoke of taking the country “back,” though they never said to where. They demanded “no foreign flags”, while flying one themselves. And they were embraced by neo-Nazis, who saw in these marches a chance to strut under the cover of patriotism.

Let me be clear: racism dressed in national colours is still racism. Bigotry draped in the flag is still bigotry. Those who waved our symbols while spitting on our people were not patriots. They were impostors.

True patriotism is the love of our shared home. It is pride in the oldest continuous culture on earth. It is pride in every generation who has come here since. It is a fair go – not for some, but for all.

These marchers did not march for Australia. They marched against Australians. Against the refugee child in Bankstown. Against the nurse from Manila. Against the Yolŋu elder who speaks for 65,000 years of wisdom. These Australians do not need to prove their loyalty – they live it every day.

Silence does not smother hatred; it shelters it. Leadership means calling it what it is.

And the truth is simple: racism corrodes us. It makes us smaller, meaner, weaker.

Australia is better than that. We can honour our history without denying its truths. We can take pride without cruelty. We can hold the flag high knowing it belongs to all of us – not just the loudest voices, but the millions who quietly live, work and believe in fairness.

So let me say it plainly: those who divide us by race, who sneer at our diversity, who try to steal our symbols – they do not own Australia. They will not define it. They will not prevail.

Because this country is not theirs to take back. It belongs to all of us. And that is patriotism. That is pride. That is Australia.

I wish I could say the words above were spoken. They were not. They remain the speech we are still waiting for and perhaps, still hoping for.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.