ONE Nation leader Pauline Hanson has declared she is not a racist during a rally against Islam in Brisbane.

Ms Hanson, who narrowly lost her fight for a seat in the 2015 Queensland election, joined hundreds of protesters in King George Square.

Many were draped in the Australian flag and carried signs denouncing sharia law and halal certification for Australian products.

media_camera Pauline Hanson at the Reclaim Australia rally in Brisbane. Picture: mark calleja

The group Reclaim Australia is holding nationwide rallies against “sharia law, halal tax and Islamisation”.

But the rally was not an exercise in racism, Ms Hanson said. “We have people here today who stand against racism. Thank you for your support,” she said.

“So do I.” Ms Hanson said she and her supporters had endured trial by media and those with hidden agendas.

“Let my fellow Australians judge me on what I say. Don’t deny me the right to have our say,” she said.

media_camera Protesters march in Brisbane. Pic: Mark Calleja

“I am not a racist. Criticism is not racism.” Ms Hanson said she was merely a proud Australian fighting for the country’s democracy, culture and way of life.

Tempers flared as a counter-rally was held opposite the event and at least 30 police officers kept the two groups separate. “Go home bigots, go home,” members of the counter-rally chanted.

But Reclaim Australia speaker David Truman said their opponents were using tired and untrue slogans.

media_camera Reclaim Australia rally in King George square. Pic Jamie Hanson

“They hate free speech. They use fascist tactics to try and shut it down,” he said.

“I’ve got news for you and for them - we are not racists or supremacists of any kind.”

EARLIER: A RALLY purportedly against extremism has created a social media sensation when its Twitter account began posting some rather strange comments.

It probably seemed like a good idea for Reclaim Australia to give access to their Twitter account to one of their activists.

In preparation for the #ReclaimAustralia protest - we've given some of our activists access to this account to live tweet. first up - Jeremy — Reclaim Australia (@ReclaimAus) April 3, 2015

But not for long.

Reclaim Australia released a statement 30 minutes before the rally was due to start in capital cities, saying statements made on its official Twitter account “are not consistent with all of our values”.

Here’s what ‘Jeremy’ tweeted.

media_camera The tweets from the official Reclaim Australia account.

media_camera More of the tweets.

The account offered several tweets by way of explanation:

ATTENTION EVERYONE - We deeply apologise for Jeremy's contributions to our account we've removed his access - we are preparing a statement. — Reclaim Australia (@ReclaimAus) April 4, 2015

And this tweet as to why you can still see the offending posts:

After long discussion with our social media manager we will not be deleting the offending tweets due to our commitment to #freespeech. — Reclaim Australia (@ReclaimAus) April 4, 2015

Reclaim Australian spokeswoman Catherine Brennan apologised for any confusion this may have caused.

“Over 20,000 Australians have been looking forward to the Reclaim Australia rally without incident and it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that as a committee we have decided to postpone the 2015 Reclaim Australian event until further notice.:

Ms Brennan said they will “regroup and redouble our efforts to stop the growing tide of Islamification of Australia”, and went on to say this would be “best achieved by having town hall meetings”.

‘Jeremy’ has already gotten his own hashtag, too.

Despite the announcement, the rally appears to be proceeding in capital cities, with one rally met with an opposing crowd of protesters in Brisbane.

The rally protesting Islam has caused a tense stand-off between opposing ideologies in Brisbane’s King George Square.

Between 200 and 300 protesters and a large turnout of police have gathered in the CBD’s centre, chanting and waving banners.

The Reclaim Australia march was scheduled to begin at 11am but was almost drowned out by a leftist protest group wearing red, Anonymous masks and in vehement opposition to the cause.

They chanted “go home racists, go home” as the Reclaim Australia protest got under way.

A core part of the group suddenly left at 11.17am.

The Reclaim Australia supporters, wearing Australian flags, blue and wielding signs like “Kill ISIL” and “No Sharia Here” cheered as speakers preached anti-Islamist views and castigated the United Nations for criticising Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers.

media_camera Hundreds of people turned out for the Reclaim Australia Rally at Bundall on the Gold Coast. Police talk to a man at the back of the crowd. Picture: Luke Marsden.

The crowd cheered wildly as the speaker criticised multiculturalism.

“It is not racist to say all cultures are not equal,” the speaker said.

Pauline Hanson took the microphone to wild applause.

media_camera The Reclaim Australia rally in Brisbane. Picture: Mark Calleja

Bris Reclaim Australia Rally has been met with an opposing crowd of protesters calling them racists @7NewsBrisbane pic.twitter.com/bymyTS12Xj — Amber Austin-Wright (@AmberAW) April 4, 2015

Well duh! It's her base. Where's Abbott? RT @jamie86: Pauline Hanson is in the #ReclaimAustralia Brisbane crowd. pic.twitter.com/VEUX1BORIX — Good Sir Knight (@BrigadierSlog) April 4, 2015

Twitter has caught the national rallies from all angles - including the unintentionally funny.

Why can't these people ever spell? "No Hala"? So he doesn't want us to say "hi" in arabic? #ReclaimAustralia pic.twitter.com/qqGQFHTGzD — Ms Veruca Salt (@MsVeruca) April 4, 2015

Brisbane Counter-Protest to the neonazi-led "Reclaim Australia" Tomorrow April 4 10AM King George Square #antifa pic.twitter.com/G7agLttXfp — Insurrection News (@InsurrectNews) April 3, 2015

The group’s Facebook page says the rally is for “people’s of all walks of life, colour and ethnic background to stand as one against extremism” being faced in Australia.