My acceptance of an invitation to speak at a Reclaim Australia rally in my home town of Mackay this weekend has obviously upset some of those who lean to the left.

In typical keyboard warrior fashion, a petition hit the stratosphere almost instantly urging Tony Abbott, the prime minister, to stop me from attending this rally.

My response to such a pathetic attempt at intimidation? Hell will freeze over first.

Before accepting this invitation from my constituents, I had a look at Reclaim Australia’s 24 principles. They include equality of law, equality of genders and freedom of speech, as well as supporting Australia’s right to exile or deport traitors.

There is nothing in this list of principles which supports labels such as “racists” and “bigots” – the labels which are so quickly attributed to Reclaim Australia’s supporters.

I would not attend if this group had been expressing values such as: we are against Islam; we want to deport Muslim people; we don’t want to allow Muslim immigration; or we don’t want mosques to be set up.

We have the fundamental right in this country to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. It’s a right that is enshrined in our Western values and it is one that we want to defend. It’s a right that I will champion for every member of our community.

People have the freedom to choose what to believe, to choose the religion they belong to, and to choose where and how they worship.

People forgo these freedoms however, when they seek to engage, or encourage engagement, in the types of barbaric atrocities perpetuated by Islamic extremists.

Those who will gather in a park in Mackay this weekend want to defend the values of Western civilisation, to defend our democracy and the freedoms and values that we hold true in Australia, against the real and credible threat of Islamic extremism.

This is no longer something that is “over there”. It’s not a threat that only exists on foreign shores. Unless we’re prepared to remain vigilant and to stand up and publicly advocate against those who are purveyors of that ideology, then we are acquiescing to it.

The spread of repressive ideologies under our very noses right here in our own country has already begun. I refer to the slow spread of a Sharia-style dispensation of justice which is quietly applied in Australian mosques on a daily basis.

Australian Imam Sheikh Haisam Farache has openly said he is doing just that in Sydney mosques every day. The legal aid mediator has stated his role “formally recognises what he’s been doing for years – applying Sharia to arbitrate family disputes …”

It’s a form of “justice” that perpetuates the oppression and abuse of women and yet we don’t dare speak of it because we will be instantly attacked as racists.

It’s sad to see that those who wish to take a stand against the tyranny of Islamic extremism – and its political expression, Islamism – are accused of being racist, bigoted or intolerant.

In fact these are the traits that lie at the heart of the extremists, and this is what the Reclaim people are protesting against.

Certainly though, as with any movement, there are fringe dwellers who seek to pervert the intentions of others, such as the Neo-Nazi skinheads that turned up in rallies in capital cities.

There will be no skinheads turning up at the Mackay rally, but if there were I would tell them where to go too.

Neo-Nazi skinheads are fellow-travellers of the extreme Islamic movement because they share so many of the same hate-filled values. Nazi ideology, like Islamism, offers no right to freedom of speech, no right to association, hatred of the Jewish people and a hatred of democracy in general.

The centuries-old quote of Irish orator, philosopher and politician Edmund Burke still holds true today. Burke said “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

There are some good men and women in Mackay who are seeking to do something this Sunday, and I for one, am happy to stand with them.