Far-right politics in Australia
Far-right politics in Australia describes authoritarian ideologies, including fascism and white supremacy as they manifest in Australia.
In Australia the far-right first came to public attention with the formation in 1931 of the New Guard in Sydney and its offshoot, the Centre Party in 1933. These proto-fascist groups were monarchist, anti-communist and authoritarian in outlook. These early far-right groups were followed by the explicitly fascist Australia First Movement. Far-right groups and individuals in Australia went on to adopt more explicitly racial positions during the 1960s and 1970s, morphing into self-proclaimed Nazi, fascist and anti-Semitic movements, organisations that opposed non-white and non-Christian immigration, such as the neo-Nazi National Socialist Party of Australia and the militant white supremacist group National Action.
Since the 1980s, the term has mainly been used to describe those who advocate for preservation of what they perceive to be Christian Anglo-Australian/European Australian culture, and those who campaign against Aboriginal land rights, multiculturalism, immigration and asylum seekers. Since 2001, Australia has seen the formation of several neo-Nazi, neo-Fascist or alt-right groups such as the True Blue Crew, the United Patriots Front, Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party and the Antipodean Resistance, and others.
Australian nationalism was a 19th-century movement, mostly concerned with establishing an Australian national identity, but more recently, some far-right groups have also dubbed themselves Australian nationalists.
Overview
According to political scientist James Saleam, himself a far-right activist, the Australian far-right could be divided into four groups: Radical-Nationalism; Neo-Nazism; Populist-Monarchism; Radical-Populism.- The first group is characterised by its doctrinal reference to the Australian labour, republican, and nationalist heritage, and their rejection towards the imperial, American-alliance or client-internationalist phases of their country.
- The second group conglomerates movements directly influenced by international neo-Nazism, including white supremacists and the skinhead movement.
- The third group is composed of movements which advocate for a populist interpretation of the Australian Constitution and support for a depersonalized monarchy as an embodiment of popular will.
- The fourth group is supportive of popular democracy, gun ownership and grassroots activism under a populist underpinning.
Neo-Nazi groups such as the National Socialist Network have become more prominent in the 2020s.
Political groups
Organizations
An early exponent of fascist ideology in Australia was the writer and poet William Baylebridge, who was later associated with P. R. Stephensen and the Australia First Movement in the 1930s and early 1940s.The New Guard (1930s)
The Australian far right rose out of the monarchist and anti-communist movements. Formed in Sydney on 16 February 1931, the New Guard was the first and largest fascist organisation in Australia. It was formed by World War I veteran, Australian monarchist and anti-communist, Eric Campbell. The group comprised mostly returned servicemen and claimed a membership of 50,000 at its peak, including prominent members of society such as aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and former Mayor of North Sydney Hubert Primrose.The New Guard was a paramilitary organisation with its members being well armed and receiving military training. The New Guard under Campbell orchestrated a number of operations, including strike breaking, attacking Labor Party members and "Communist" meetings; they also demanded the deportation of Communists. During the initial growth of the movement, Campbell was able to attract many ex-soldiers and ex-commanders to the movement.
The New Guard saw the Premier of New South Wales Jack Lang as an immediate threat. The organisation attracted attention when member Francis de Groot, on horseback and at Campbell's direction, upstaged Lang in cutting the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in protest at Lang's anti-monarchist sentiments.
After Lang's dismissal in May 1932 the New Guard's membership declined rapidly.
White Army
The White Army, also known as the League of National Security, was formed in Victoria around 1931, headed by the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Thomas Blamey and described as a fascist paramilitary group. The group, which existed for about eight years from 1931, comprised several senior army officers, including Col. Francis Derham, a Melbourne lawyer, and Lt. Col. Edmund Herring, later Chief Justice of Victoria. Some members had been members of the New Guard, and both groups were involved in street fights with leftist groups. This was reportedly a response to the rise of communism in Australia. Its members stood ready to take up arms to stop a Catholic or communist revolution.Australia First Movement (1941-1942)
The Australia First Movement was a short-lived Australian fascist movement founded in October 1941. The group was anti-Semitic and national socialist, advocating the corporate state and a political alliance with the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.The group was disbanded in March 1942, when a number of its members were secretly interned by the Australian government on suspicion that they might attempt to provide help to Japanese invaders. Two members were convicted of treason. Australia First Movement member and former member of the Centre Party Adela Pankhurst, of the famous suffragette family, was arrested and interned in 1942 for her advocacy of peace with Japan.
Australian League of Rights
The Australian League of Rights is an anti-Semitic political organisation. It was founded in Adelaide, South Australia by Eric Butler in 1946, and organised nationally in 1960. The party's ideology was based on the economic theory of Social Credit expounded by C. H. Douglas. The League describes itself as upholding the values of "loyalty to God, Queen and Country".The group inspired groups like the British League of Rights, Canadian League of Rights and the New Zealand League of Rights. In 1972 Butler created an umbrella group, the Crown Commonwealth League of Rights, to represent the four groups; it also served as a chapter of the World League for Freedom and Democracy.
Free Palestine Committee (1967)
The Free Palestine Committee was an anti-Zionist organization formed in Canberra around the time of the Arab-Israeli war in 1967, with the purpose to assist Arab countries in the conflict. Founded by Graeme Theo Royce, it was formed by representatives of the Australia‐Arab Friendship Association in New South Wales, the ACT-based Australia‐Arab Friendship League and the Australian National Front for Social Justice. The group was lead by Royce alongside Frank Molner, who served as an office bearer of the committee, and Ted Cawthron. Ideologically a National Socialist and antisemitic group, its leadership was associated with the ANFSJ and the NSPA, two notorious neo-Nazi organizations.National Action (1982–1991)
National Action was a militant white supremacist group founded on Anzac Day 1982 by the former deputy leader of the National Socialist Party of Australia, Jim Saleam and former neo-Nazi David Greason.In 1989, Saleam was convicted of being an accessory before the fact in regard to organising the attempted assassination of African National Congress representative Eddie Funde. Saleam claimed to have been set up by police.
In 1991, the group was disbanded following the murder of a member, Wayne "Bovver" Smith, in the group's headquarters in the Sydney suburb of Tempe. Following the murder of Smith, Saleam became NSW chairman of Australia First Party.
Australian Nationalist Movement (1985–2007)
The Australian Nationalist Movement, also known as the Australian Nationalist Worker's Union, was a Western Australian neo-Nazi, extreme right-wing group founded and led by Peter Joseph "Jack" van Tongeren.In 1987, Van Tongeren distributed 400,000 racist posters around Perth. The posters bore phrases such as "No Asians", "White Revolution The Only Solution", "Coloured Immigration: Trickle Is Now A Flood" and "Asians Out Or Racial War". Van Tongeren is a holocaust denier.
In 1989, Van Tongeren staged a series of racially motivated arson attacks, targeting businesses owned by Asian Australians. Van Tongeren served thirteen years in prison for his crimes. In the late 1980s it was revealed that his father was Javanese, making him of Indonesian ancestry. He resumed anti-Asian activities upon his release in 2002 leading to further convictions in 2006.
In 1989, two ANM members murdered police informant David Locke. The murder trial of the two men eventually led to Van Tongeren being found guilty of 53 crimes and sentenced to 18 years. The two men who murdered David Locke received life sentences.
On being released from jail in 2002, Van Tongeren expressed no remorse. In February 2004 three Chinese restaurants, synagogues and Asian-owned businesses were firebombed, plastered with posters and daubed with swastikas. Western Australian police launched "Operation Atlantic" in response to the attacks, leading to the arrest of five men involved in the attacks. The police also identified a plot to harm WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty and his family, among others.
In August 2004, Van Tongeren and his co-accused Matthew Billing were found and arrested in the Boddington area south-east of Perth. Both men once again faced the courts over the 2004 arson plots. During a hearing on 2 November, Van Tongeren collapsed, was taken to hospital, and later used a wheelchair. Van Tongeren was released from jail on the condition that he leave Western Australia. In 2007 the ANM/ANWU was reported to have been disbanded.
Van Tongeren has been a member of a number of far-right extremist groups including National Action