White supremacists clad in black have angered locals in a small NSW border town by travelling there to stage a rally.

Members of the National Socialist Network stood in the centre of Corowa on Saturday and held a large banner that read “white men fight back”.

About 50 people wore black from head to toe and masked their faces as they stood in rows near the town’s war memorial.

They received a hostile reception from many locals who told them they were not wanted in the town of 5600 people.

A man, identified in media as prominent nationalist activist Thomas Sewell, addressed the public to explain what they were doing there.

He said the group had travelled from Victoria to raise awareness in the town about local people being “eradicated” and replaced with foreign workers.

Corowa is home to the largest piggery in the southern hemisphere. It was taken over by the world’s largest meat processor, Brazilian-based JBS.

The group claimed it had become aware of a plan to “buy up the motels and to buy up some of the estates around here”.

“They’ve already begun firing locals from this town. They’re firing locals from their jobs and they’re importing cheap labour from the third world to replace them,” Sewell shouted, in video posted online.

He “apologised” for the group wearing masks and said it was because they had suffered in their war over the “spirit of this nation”.

“You might think of us as quite ludicrous or ridiculous at this stage,” he said.

“We are only a few men…but we will not stop raising awareness that white people in this town, in this country and around the world are slowly being replaced and eradicated.”

Mayor Patrick Bourke told The Sydney Morning Herald the rally was “absolutely disgusting”.

“I think it’s a cowardly act to carry on like that in a public arena with children and family around is just not on,” he said.

“It’s pretty unbelievable really to think it would happen in a community like Corowa, it’s definitely not welcome here.”

Corowa resident Kendra Smith said the group received a “hostile” reception from locals who said they did not want racists in the town.

“It was horrible because we do have a lot of people of colour here, it is just disgusting,” she told the ABC.

“We did hear one of them say to a young local boy … I am not sure of his ethnicity … ‘piss off you stink’ — he would only be about 14 years old.”

One resident wrote on Facebook: “Who are these strange people?”

“Time for the town to openly celebrate its diversity with all their beautiful faces and contributions on show.

“No gutless hoods needed.”