MELBOURNE / ZAGREB — The Croatian community in Australia has once again found itself targeted by a coordinated political and media smear campaign. Ahead of the Victorian state election scheduled for November 28, 2026, the Serbian Council of Australia issued a media release attacking the construction union CFMEU and the wider Croatian diaspora, attempting to falsely label legitimate Croatian national and Homeland War symbols as “Ustaše” and “fascist.”
By publishing photographs of the Croatian tricolour flag featuring the historical coat of arms with the first white square flying atop a construction crane in Melbourne, alongside a worker’s hard hat bearing the emblem of the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS), the Serbian Council of Australia is deliberately conflating historical periods in an effort to brand hardworking Croatian-Australian builders and migrants as extremists.
Croatian Workers Built Australia — They Will Not Be Silenced by Smears
The Croatian community in Australia is one of the most industrious, loyal, and respected migrant communities in the country. For decades, Croatian workers, engineers, and builders helped construct Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and cities across Australia, while simultaneously standing as a vital pillar in the defence and international recognition of the Republic of Croatia in 1991.
Today, their contribution and love for their homeland are being repaid with a dirty campaign that attempts to criminalize every expression of Croatian heritage:
- The First Official Flag of Modern Croatia: The flag featuring the historical Croatian coat of arms beginning with a white square proudly flying in the photos from Melbourne was the first official state flag of the democratic Republic of Croatia, hoisted on May 30, 1990, at Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb and officially flown on all state institutions from July 25 to December 21, 1990. It is a centuries-old historical Croatian coat of arms the very same emblem adorning the roof of St. Mark’s Church in Zagreb and the Croatian diaspora has every moral, historical, and legal right to display it with pride.
HOS Is a Legal Military Unit from the Homeland War: The sticker on the construction hard hat displays the official emblem of the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) – a legal and officially recognized military unit of the Croatian Armed Forces whose members gave their lives defending Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from Greater Serbian aggression in the 1990s. HOS is neither banned in the Republic of Croatia nor anywhere else in the world, and equating Homeland War defenders with World War II regimes is a blatant historical fabrication.
Cheap Pre-Election Manipulation at the Expense of Croatians
It is particularly hypocritical that the Serbian Council of Australia claims in its statement to remain “strictly politically neutral” ahead of the November 28 Victorian election, while simultaneously deploying 1990s-style divisive rhetoric to pressure Australian institutions, unions, and politicians.
Instead of respecting Australian laws and the immense contribution of Croatian workers, certain lobby groups continually attempt to import Balkan divisions into Australian society and create a climate of intimidation in which Croatians are expected to feel ashamed of their flag, their heritage, and their defenders.
The message from the homeland to our Croatian brothers and sisters in Australia is clear and unequivocal: Do not bow your heads to lies and fabrications! History is on our side, the truth is on our side, and Croatia will never forget everything its Australian diaspora did for the freedom of our nation.
