Far-right terrorism in Australia
Far-right terrorism in Australia refers to far-right-ideologically influenced terrorism on Australian soil. Far-right extremist groups have existed in Australia since the early 20th century, however the intensity of terrorist activities have oscillated until the present time. A surge of neo-Nazism based terrorism occurred in Australia during the 1960s and the 1970s, carried out primarily by members of the Ustaše organisation. However in the 21st century, a rise in jihadism, the White genocide conspiracy theory, and after effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have fuelled far-right terrorism in Australia. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police and state police departments are responsible for responding to far-right terrorist threats in Australia.
Definitions
Terrorism
Schmid's 2011 Revised Academic Consensus Definition of Terrorism was agreed after three rounds of consultations among experts in the field. The first of 12 points in his definition states:Researcher Miroslav Mares noted "the line between street violence perpetrated by subcultural networks can quickly blur into terrorist violence".
Right-wing extremism
is a broad term used to encompass a variety of ideologies, including fascism, national socialism, white supremacy, the common components of which are authoritarianism, anti-democracy and nationalism.In Australia, right-wing extremists often believe that there is a threat to some aspect of their existence or society, and then attribute the cause as a particular target group, such as an ethnic community or those who adhere to a different, usually left-wing ideology. They overexaggerate and spread feelings of danger, blaming the target group, and think that the only way to rid society of the danger is to remove the threat, often by violent means.
Background
20th century
Far-right violent extremist groups have existed in Australia since the early 20th century, but their activities and impact has been minimal. After the First World War, there was an ex-soldiers' fascist movement in New South Wales known as the New Guard, a short-lived paramilitary organisation, which emerged from the Sydney-based Old Guard in 1931, during the Great Depression, and regarded by some as the most successful fascist organisation in Australian history. The White Army, or League of National Security, formed in Victoria around 1931 and attracted some former members of the New Guard, but the far right only became a stronger force in the late 1930s, with the Australia First Movement, who believed in a white Australia. Alexander Rud Mills was a vocal supporter, who also believed in "a racial interpretation of Odinism". In 1941, plans to assassinate prominent Australians and to sabotage sites in Australia were discovered in the possession of Western Australian members.File:Aftermath of September 1972 George St bombings in Sydney.png|thumb|Aftermath of the 1972 George St bombings in Sydney, allegedly carried out by the Ustaše
After World War II, the Australian League of Rights, led by Eric Butler, became active. Butler believed in the existence of a "Zionist Occupation Government", which controlled governments across the world, including that of Nazi Germany. This group tried to infiltrate mainstream political parties. Post-war immigration to Australia in the 1950s introduced far-right sympathisers from Europe into Australia, in particular sympathisers of the Ustaše, a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization responsible for partaking in the Holocaust and Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia. From 1963-1973, the Ustaše carried out fifteen attacks and inspired dozens more as part of a terrorism campaign of bombings and assassination attempts across Australia.
In the 1960s came the Australian National Socialist Party, and from the late 1970s, ASIO was monitoring groups such as the Safari 8, the Legion of the Frontiersmen of the Commonwealth, and the Australian Youth Coalition, but they did not last long. In the 1970s and early 1980s the National Front of Australia and the Australian National Alliance emerged, and from the early 1980s, National Action.
Following a lull in activity, violence by the far-right in Australia surged in the 1980s. National Action members carried out attacks in Sydney, including a drive-by shooting. In 1984, the Australian Nationalist Movement broke away from National Action, considering National Action not sufficiently anti-Semitic and embracing of neo-Nazism, and ANM members started a campaign which included violent assaults and fire-bombings. Australia " anything like the levels of right-wing extremism and violence that impacted Europe and North America in the 1990s", but some networks of subcultures, and the "skinhead" counterculture, including groups like the Southern Cross Hammerskins, Combat 18, Blood & Honour, and the Women of the Southern Legion harboured ideologies centred on racial identity.
21st century
Southern Cross Hammerskins, Combat 18, and Blood & Honour Australia continued to be active in Australia, and new ones have been founded since 2000.Right-wing extremism began to increase around the world from around 2009, partly in response to jihadism, but more often related to perceived threats to white culture posed by immigration. In this climate, Australian chapters of internationally based groups were founded, such as the Australian Defence League and Right Wing Resistance.
Since around 2015, the threat from far-right violent extremist groups has been increasing. Around 30–40% of ASIO's counter-terrorism work involved far-right individuals and groups in late 2020, an increase of 10–15% on the years before 2016. Although their capabilities are assessed as being on a smaller scale than the far-right extremists in Europe and the US, the ideologies are similar. Worldwide, individuals enable and encourage each other in online networks. White extremist attacks in the US, UK and Europe inspired the Christchurch shooter, Brenton Tarrant, and his actions on 15 March 2019 have inspired others around the world.
Founder of the Proud Boys, Gavin McInnes was refused a visa to visit Australia in November 2018.
Australian right-wing extremists celebrated the 2021 United States Capitol attack in Washington, D.C., and experts warned of an increased threat of violence by white supremacists since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two government backbenchers, Craig Kelly and George Christensen, had aired conspiracy theories relating to the Capitol attack on social media, and the refusal of Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reprimand them was seen as "dangerous" by one expert on violent extremism.
Current situation
In its 2019–2020 annual report, ASIO rates Australia's national terrorism threat level as "probable", based on the assessment of credible intelligence. It states that "extremists such as neo-Nazis represent a serious, increasing and evolving threat to security. The 2019 Christchurch attack continues to be drawn on for inspiration by right-wing extremists worldwide", and says that these groups are attracting younger adherents of their ideologies. The extremists exploit the social and economic disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia to engage with others online. It says that 2020 "saw an increased growth in ASIO investigations related to extreme right-wing groups, individuals and emerging ideologies", with far-right extremist individuals comprising "around a third of all ASIO counter-terrorism investigative subjects". During this time too, for the second time, authorities disrupted planned terrorism in Australia linked to an individual with an extreme right-wing ideology.A report published in March 2021, prepared jointly by the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right in the UK and Hedayah, a research group based in the United Arab Emirates, and compiled with the policy assistance of the Australian Department of Home Affairs, says: "Australian chapters of more fringe neo-Nazi cells actively engaged in campaigns of radical right terror and violence". It also reported that since the Christchurch attack, extremist groups have "become more explicitly anti-Semitic, aggressively racist and white supremacist". Of the various groups named in the report, four have been proscribed in other countries, but not in Australia: Combat 18, which linked to the shooting of mosque in Perth in 2011, Blood and Honour, Generation Identity and the Proud Boys. One of the researchers later named Antipodean Resistance and the National Socialist Network as local groups of concern. The latter group has been photographed in disguise at The Grampians, near Canberra and in Adelaide.
Countering extremism
Joint Counter Terrorism Teams are run collaboratively by the AFP, state and territory police forces and ASIO. The AFP leads the National Disruption Group, which works with Australian communities and a number of other government agencies "to combat violent extremism and the radicalisation of Australians".Various agencies have reported not paying enough attention to right-wing extremism before the Christchurch massacre. The deputy commissioner of Victoria Police Ross Guenther told a March 2021 police briefing that they had been focusing on Islamist extremism owing to the threats by supporters of Islamic State in Australia, and that the Christchurch terrorist had been able to slip under the radar. Since then, the national and state agencies have been more focused on far-right extremism, with the greatest threat posed by individuals rather than groups.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security was due to report to the Minister for Home Affairs in April 2021 from its "Inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism in Australia", which lapsed when the membership of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security ceased to exist at the dissolution of the House of Representatives on Monday 11 April 2022. There have been calls to follow the example of Australia's other partners in the Five Eyes security collaboration and proscribe more of the far-right extremist groups.
In March 2021 the first far-right extremist group was added to the list of proscribed terrorist groups, this group being the Sonnenkrieg Division, bringing the total to 27.