Anty Horgan, frontman of Melbourne ska-punk act The Bennies, has released a statement after performing at an anti-vaccine mandate protest over the weekend.
As first reported by Blunt Magazine, Horgan attended and performed at the Millions March Against Mandatory Vaccination rally on the Gold Coast on Saturday, November 27th.
The Millions March Against Mandatory Vaccination group organized rallies in 30 cities and towns across Australia, including Sydney, where Health Minister Brad Hazzard granted exemptions to unvaccinated protestors to rally in Hyde Park. Sydney organisers claimed protesters number as many as 150,000, with police estimating numbers peaked at 9,000.
Over the weekend, The Bennies’ Anty Horgan performed ahead of One Nation senator Pauline Hanson at the Gold Coast rally over the weekend. The rally also saw speeches from One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, small business owners, and healthcare workers.
Following the Blunt report, Horgan, who is fully vaccinated, released a statement to his personal social media explaining that he attended to rally “to see what people had to say about it.” Whilst condemning racist ideology spread by Pauline Hanson and the One Nation Party.
“I’m unhappy about a lot of the laws the government is forcing upon everyone,” he wrote.
“I was trying to keep an open mind. I didn’t think me attending aligned myself with being a racist or a nazi… I’m so far from those thoughts. I hope anyone that has ever spoken to me understands this.”
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He continued, “ I guess I didn’t understand the magnitude of attending the rally. I’m really sorry if I’ve upset anyone.”
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In a follow-up statement shared to The Bennies social media accounts, Horgan wrote: “After some discourse with people yesterday and this morning it is really obvious to me that I have upset a large portion of people. In performing at the rally Pauline Hanson spoke at I have aligned myself with racism I am truly and deeply sorry for this.
The statement continued, “I’m so sorry for all the people I’ve upset and to anyone has experienced racism I am truly sorry. I understand that it is a shit thing to come from a white privileged male.”
Anty went on to vow that in the future he would use his position and privilege to “spread love to all people.”
“I have learnt that I need to do more research when making political statements. Do adequate research on topics and listen to people,” he wrote. “I hope you can believe how sincere my intentions are.”
At the statement’s close, Anty requested fans not to “take” his “stupidity” out on the other members of The Bennies. “They had no idea and it was solely my action.”
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