Last week, a so-called “kids’ rally against Pauline Hanson was being promoted by extremists, including Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.

So we decided to go along and find out whether this really was a campaign led by kids or, as I suspected, an organised political campaign using kids to promote an extremist agenda. 

But this time, we decided to do things a little differently. Before going, our legal team contacted Victoria Police to make sure they understood our right to be there and do our job. And to make sure police couldn’t use the predictable attacks from activists as an excuse to move us on “for our own safety”, we brought a team of private security with us.

Both steps worked. But it came at a heavy price. So if you think it’s worth us going into these protests and showing you what’s really happening, please chip in at ProtectAvi.com.

What we found was a protest that looked very different from the spontaneous youth uprising it was presented as. Children were placed front and centre, carrying signs, chanting slogans and participating in displays attacking Pauline Hanson and One Nation.

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But behind the scenes were familiar political and activist networks. Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi had promoted the rally, while the National Union of Students was also involved in organising and promoting the event.

The result was a highly political demonstration presented through the image of children leading the charge. There is a big difference between children independently expressing their political views and adults and political organisations organising a campaign, putting children at the centre of it and presenting the result as an organic youth movement.

The footage shows you exactly what was happening on the ground. Police did not interfere with our reporting, and the activists who have previously tried to shut down our coverage were unable to stop us.

So rather than relying on the polished version of events presented by activist groups, you can watch our reporting and decide for yourself who was really driving this protest.

This is why we keep showing up. Because if political extremists are going to put children at the centre of their campaigns, Australians deserve to see exactly what is happening behind the scenes.