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Tasmanian independent MP Craig Garland spoke at an event on the weekend that featured multiple 'sovereign citizens' — one of whom plans to create a parallel society — but says he had "no idea" who most of them were.
Mr Garland said he will accept speaking invitations "anywhere, anytime", and that the event was attended by many of his supporters.
The event, in the north-west Tasmanian town of Ulverstone, was called 'Unity in Community', almost identical to the main slogan of the group 'My Place Australia', which aims to set up a "self-governing" association outside of Australian law.
My Place's facilitator, Darren Bergwerf, was listed as a speaker at the weekend event.
Other speakers included a man who failed to have his Devonport council rates dismissed in court on constitutional grounds, and a speaker who argues the Australian Constitution is invalid and citizens have given "no implied consent".
Sovereign citizens believe Australian laws and institutions are not valid, and subscribe to the conspiracy that a global "cabal" is plotting to remove ordinary citizen's freedoms.
Their rhetoric has been routinely rejected by Australian courts and described by judges as "gibberish", "incomprehensible" and vexatious, and cases have resulted in financial penalties and potential loss of assets.
Mr Garland said he attended the event on Saturday afternoon, briefly listened to a speech, then gave his own talk on his "political journey" to about 100 attendees.
"I can't comment on who the other speakers were, I just looked around the room and there were quite a few people there who voted for me," he said.
"There were a lot of familiar faces, and there wasn't any radical element there that I could see that much.
"I'll attend anywhere, anytime I'm asked to talk."
Mr Garland said that 'sovereign citizen' concepts weren't raised with him, but there were discussions about "food security".
He said he did not share sovereign citizen views.
"I'm not a subscriber to any alternative reality," Mr Garland said.
When asked if his attendance could give the other speakers an increased audience, and help to legitimise their views, Mr Garland said "we live in a democracy with freedom of speech".
Mr Garland was first elected to the House of Assembly earlier this year on the back of strong preference flows in the north-west seat of Braddon, where he lives as a fisherman campaigning against fish farms and the Robbins Island wind farm.
He previously shared his "concerns" about COVID vaccinations on blog site, The Battler, run by his former campaign director.
Mr Garland said he still holds those concerns.
Former Latrobe councillor Shayne 'Cush' Allison invited Mr Garland to speak at the event. Mr Allison did not respond to a request for comment.
Groups trying to grow presence in Tasmania
My Place has been growing its social media follower numbers in the past 18 months.
A document on its website — titled 'National Action' — touches on a number of other conspiracy topics, including 'chemtrails' and child abduction, as well as anti-vaccination rhetoric.
"There is a Spiritual War people between GOD and Satan and we will WIN but we must do this to prove we deserve and Love our country," it reads.
Mr Bergwerf spoke at a My Place event at North Motton, near Ulverstone, on May 24, a recording of which was provided to the ABC.
He told the group that "there is no constitution", and that they can get rid of their tax file numbers and renounce their citizenship, and that My Place plans to create a parallel society as a private members' association with its own "law enforcement".
He went on to detail that he is being pursued in court by several authorities in Victoria, and listed how he owes more than $200,000 to the state government, council and a water authority for unpaid taxes and rates, in addition to Fines Victoria matters.
Mr Bergwerf's talk at the Unity in Community event in Ulverstone at the weekend was described as "leaving the matrix behind and creating our own reality under self-governance and Natural Lore".
My Place's Launceston group — which has more than 200 members — described the Ulverstone meeting as "a gathering of pivotal people" with an "open meeting and training on important topics".
My Place uses 'breadcrumbing' techniques, extremism expert says
The flyer advertising the Ulverstone event stated that it is "open to community valued people interested in knowledge sharing in local government", and its purpose is to "unify the nation".
My Place uses socially inclusive language, and built support in Frankston through a local market it organises.
Deakin University extremism expert Dr Josh Roose describes My Place's method as "breadcrumbing", where the material is initially moderate and inclusive — such as discussions about food security and sense of community — but then builds over time.
He said My Place had generated most of its support in outer suburban, rural and regional areas where there was greater marginalisation and more anxiety about the future.
"On initial appearances, it could appear to be benign," Dr Roose said.
"However, once you dig beneath the surface of the movement, read the literature, it's not only clearly a sovereign citizen movement, but it is inherently an anti-government extremist movement."
He said elected members should be aware of the full background of a movement before agreeing to speak at their events.
Mr Bergwerf did not respond to a request for comment.
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