In late 2005 amid years of growing anti-Islamic sentiment, 5000 mostly if not all white Australians staged a riot in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla to reclaim their patch of land from "outsiders".
Inflamed by sections of the media while word of the riots and misinformation was spread via text in a pre-social media world, people of Middle Eastern appearance were attacked whilst violence and vandalism raged.
The chants from the racist, hate-filled mob were loud, but the actions and images from across the three days of riots were louder. If you're different, be scared, we're coming for you.
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On Saturday, Melbourne had its Cronulla riots moment when a group of neo-Nazis descended on the steps of Victoria's Parliament to deliver the same message to the transgender community: If you're different, be scared, we're coming for you.
The crowd was smaller, the overt violence less, however this is where the differences cease. With one exception.
Whilst the chants and violence of the Cronulla riots were seen and heard loudly around the world, the subsequent condemnation from around Australia was louder.
Since Saturday, the relative silence from across the country has been deafening.
To provide context, Saturday saw neo-Nazis take over the steps of Melbourne's parliament wishing death to transgender people, who they label as "paedo freaks", while making Nazi salutes and physically attacking those advocating for trans people; some of the most vulnerable people within our society.
Of course these actions were widely reported, seen by close to all by now for sure, but the overall apathy from Australia as a whole highlights a huge and rapidly growing problem.
The hatred of transgender people is widely accepted and by default, encouraged.
Encouraged because it sells papers and gets clicks, views and talkback callers. Encouraged because it is easier to punch down on a vulnerable community many don't have a personal connection to.
Encouraged, because the majority of Australia still sees trans people as freaks and weirdos - trans women labelled shemales, trannies and chicks with dicks while trans men are told they aren't real men, that they could never be tough enough or blokey enough.
If reading those terms shock you they should, but that exact underlying message and sentiment has been delivered day-in, day-out throughout Australia's media for years.
Let's be clear, trans men are men and trans women are women.
If you cannot accept those basic facts, there is simply not room for you to pass comment at all.
The steps of Victoria's Parliament should not have been an unexpected place for neo-Nazis to feel safe in launching such an attack.
The same messages, vitriol and hate were present throughout the 2022 federal election campaign; a weapon used by a government who decided that transgender people were unimportant enough to use as a punching bag to try and win conservative votes.
Whilst Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been an unapologetic ally for the transgender community, he is one of very few Australian leaders - elected or otherwise - to take a stand for the transgender community.
Too often, sitting on the fence is seen as the preferred position in all conversation around transgender people. To sit on the fence is to endorse and encourage the hate we saw on Saturday.
To be clear, this is not a sporting issue, but the link between the conversation around transgender people in sport and the increasing level of hate towards us is impossible to deny.
A conversation dominated by those with no knowledge of transgender people, and where transgender people and those with expert knowledge on the effects of hormone treatment on athleticism are often excluded from the dialogue.
A recent example of this is that of Andrew Bogut, who last week was incredibly vocal in his opposition to a trans woman being able to play in a second tier Victorian basketball competition.
Andrew knows basketball, but his expertise in the field of transgender medicine and the effects of hormone treatment certainly deserves more scrutiny than whether someone is allowed to play.
The same increased and sustained level of scrutiny needs to be applied to all who have made comment on trans people such as Rita Panahi, Ben Fordham, Scott Morrison, Katherine Deves, Mark Latham, Lyle Shelton and Claire Chandler to name a few. At the moment, it is not severely lacking, it is non-existent.
Until transgender people are given a voice in the conversation and protected by those who have the platform to do so, from the Prime Minister down, groups like those we saw on the weekend will only be more emboldened to continue their attacks against a group of people who already face huge levels of discrimination.
Australia can do better and has to, lest this become our next national shame.
- Hannah Mouncey is an Australian national handball player. She is also a transgender woman.
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