The organiser of a new Australian version of a major US conservative conference to be held in Sydney this weekend has rejected claims that it will advance racist views or an agenda out of step with local values.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the United States is the largest annual gathering of conservative activists and supporters and is known for the platform it gives to hard-right positions. CPAC will gather in Sydney this weekend, its first Australian tie-in event.

Guest speakers: Peta Credlin and former PM Tony Abbott.

Australian speakers at the event at World Square in Sydney include former PM Tony Abbott, his ex chief-of-staff Peta Credlin, and One Nation NSW MP Mark Latham.

Foreign guests include Jeanine Pirro, a prominent Fox News supporter of both Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association; the Brexit champion Nigel Farage and his former chief adviser, Raheem Kassam, who is known for extreme views against Islam, immigration and feminism. He has attracted criticism for calling the Koran “fundamentally evil” and Islam as a “fascistic ideology”.