Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that migration has brought “a great deal of benefit” to the country, amid nationwide anti-immigration rallies over the weekend.

“There’s always been an element of people who would appeal to any immigration as a platform. But migration has, of course, brought a great deal of benefit to our nation,” Albanese told ABC News.

Referring to the protests organised by far-right groups over the weekend, he said some demonstrators were “good people” expressing legitimate concerns, while noting that “what we have here is neo-Nazis being given a platform.”

Albanese described much of the tone at the rallies as “unfortunate” and, in some extreme cases, “hateful.” “The idea that an open neo-Nazi was able to give a speech from the steps of the Victorian Parliament is something that isn’t the Australian way,” he added.

The prime minister emphasised that such protests do not reflect the views of the majority of Australians. He said the country is a modern nation that has “benefited from our multiculturalism, where overwhelmingly people live in harmony across different ethnicities, religions and backgrounds, and we are enriched by the diversity in this country.”

Earlier, far-right groups calling for a halt to immigration held rallies in several cities, including Melbourne and Sydney. Members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network spoke at some of these events, using slogans such as “Hail White Australia.”

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