Far-right politics in Australia describes authoritarian ideologies, includingfascism andwhite supremacy as they manifest in Australia.
In Australia the far-right first came to public attention with the formation in 1931 of theNew Guard inSydney and its offshoot, theCentre Party in 1933. Theseproto-fascist groups weremonarchist,anti-communist andauthoritarian in outlook. These early far-right groups were followed by the explicitly fascistAustralia First Movement (1941). Far-right groups and individuals in Australia went on to adopt more explicitly racial positions during the 1960s and 1970s, morphing into self-proclaimedNazi,fascist andanti-Semitic movements, organisations that opposed non-white and non-Christian immigration, such as the neo-NaziNational Socialist Party of Australia (1967) and the militant white supremacist groupNational Action (1982).
Since the 1980s, the term has mainly been used to describe those who advocate for preservation of what they perceive to be ChristianAnglo-Australian/European Australian culture, and those who campaign againstAboriginal land rights,multiculturalism,immigration andasylum seekers. Since 2001, Australia has seen the formation of severalneo-Nazi,neo-Fascist oralt-right groups such as theTrue Blue Crew, theUnited Patriots Front,Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party and theAntipodean 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.
According topolitical scientistJames Saleam,[1] himself a far-right activist,[2][3] the Australian far-right could be divided into four groups: Radical-Nationalism; Neo-Nazism; Populist-Monarchism; Radical-Populism.[4]
Although recognising that it is not an homogeneous movement,[9] Dean et al. (2016) identified six fundamental cores among the Australian radical right:opposition towards immigration,anti-establishment and anti-elitist rhetoric, the protection ofwestern values andculture, a radical regeneration of the democratic system within the democratic system, a return totraditional values in opposition tomulticulturalism, and a support to a strong state committed tolaw and order.[10]
Neo-Nazi groups such as theNational Socialist Network have become more prominent in the 2020s.[11][12][13]
An early exponent of fascist ideology in Australia was the writer and poetWilliam Baylebridge, who was later associated withP. R. Stephensen and the Australia First Movement in the 1930s and early 1940s.[14]
The Australian far right rose out of themonarchist andanti-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 SirCharles Kingsford Smith[15] and former Mayor of North SydneyHubert Primrose.[16][17]
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.[18][19][20] During the initial growth of the movement, Campbell was able to attract many ex-soldiers and ex-commanders to the movement.[21]
The New Guard saw thePremier of New South WalesJack 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 theSydney Harbour Bridge in protest at Lang's anti-monarchist sentiments.[22][15]
After Lang's dismissal in May 1932 the New Guard's membership declined rapidly.
TheWhite Army (so named after the RussianWhite Army[23]), also known as theLeague of National Security (LNS), was formed inVictoria around 1931, headed by theChief Commissioner ofVictoria Police,Thomas Blamey and described as afascist paramilitary group.[24] 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, laterChief 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.[25][23]
The Centre Party was a fascist political party formed in December 1933, following Lang's dismissal and the demise of the New Guard.Eric Campbell established the party after he had met with European fascists and National Socialists such asSir Oswald Mosley andJoachim von Ribbentrop. Campbell repositioned the remnants of the New Guard away from paramilitary activities and into electoral politics.[26]
The Centre Party contested theMay 1935 New South Wales state election, polling 0.60% of the total vote.[27] Following the party's poor showing at the election Campbell withdrew from public life and the party disbanded.
The Australia First Movement was a short-lived Australianfascist movement founded in October 1941. The group wasanti-Semitic andnational socialist, advocating thecorporate state and a political alliance with theAxis powers ofGermany,[28]Italy andJapan.
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.[29] Two members were convicted oftreason. Australia First Movement member and former member of the Centre PartyAdela Pankhurst, of the famoussuffragette family, was arrested and interned in 1942 for her advocacy of peace with Japan.[30]
The Australian League of Rights is a fascist and anti-Semitic political organisation. It was founded inAdelaide, South Australia byEric Butler in 1946, and organised nationally in 1960. The party's ideology was based on the economic theory ofSocial Credit expounded byC. H. Douglas.[31] The League describes itself as upholding the values of "loyalty to God, Queen and Country".
The group inspired groups like theBritish League of Rights,Canadian League of Rights and theNew Zealand League of Rights. In 1972 Butler created an umbrella group, theCrown Commonwealth League of Rights, to represent the four groups; it also served as a chapter of theWorld League for Freedom and Democracy.[32]
The Australian National Socialist Party (ANSP) was a minor Australian neo-Nazi party. The party was founded in 1962 byUniversity of Adelaide physics student Ted Cawthron and Sydney council worker Don Lindsay. The group was anti-communist, and supported theWhite Australia policy and the total annexation ofNew Guinea.[33][34]
On 26 June 1964, the party's headquarters were raided by police. Party leader Athur Smith and four party members were arrested and convicted of possessing unlicensed firearms and explosives and possession of stolen goods. By 1967 the remnants of the party had joined the newly formed National Socialist Party of Australia.[34]
The National Socialist Party of Australia (NSPA) was a minor Australian neo-Nazi party formed in 1967 by former ANSP leader Ted Cawthron. In May 1968, the ANSP merged into the NSPA, and Cawthron and Frank Molnar attempted to distance themselves and the party from the "jackbooted 'Nazi' image" associated with the ANSP.[35]
In early 1970, Cawthron contested theMay 1970 ACT by-election, making him the first National Socialist in Australia to run for public office. The party also made a number of unsuccessful runs for the Senate.[36][37]
Jim Saleam was made deputy leader of the party between 1972 and 1975. Saleam became a prominent figure in far-right politics, going on to found National Action in 1982 and the Australia First Party 1996.[34]
National Action was a militantwhite supremacist group founded onAnzac Day 1982 by the former deputy leader of the National Socialist Party of Australia,Jim Saleam and former neo-Nazi David Greason.[38][39]
In 1989, Saleam was convicted of being anaccessory before the fact in regard to organising the attempted assassination ofAfrican National Congress representative Eddie Funde. Saleam claimed to have been set up by police.[38][40]
In 1991, the group was disbanded following the murder of a member, Wayne "Bovver" Smith, in the group's headquarters in the Sydney suburb ofTempe.[38] Following the murder of Smith, Saleam became NSW chairman ofAustralia First Party.[38]
The Australian Nationalist Movement (ANM), also known as the Australian Nationalist Worker's Union (ANWU), was aWestern Australian neo-Nazi, extreme right-wing group founded and led byPeter 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 aholocaust denier.[41][42]
In 1989, Van Tongeren staged a series of racially motivatedarson attacks, targeting businesses owned byAsian 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.[43]
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.[44][45][46][47][48]
On being released from jail in 2002, Van Tongeren expressed no remorse. In February 2004 three Chinese restaurants, synagogues and Asian-owned businesses werefirebombed, plastered with posters and daubed withswastikas. 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-GeneralJim McGinty and his family, among others.[49][50][51]
In August 2004, Van Tongeren and his co-accused Matthew Billing were found and arrested in theBoddington area south-east of Perth. Both men once again faced the courts over the 2004 arson plots.[52] During a hearing on 2 November, Van Tongeren collapsed, was taken to hospital, and later used awheelchair. Van Tongeren was released from jail on the condition that he leave Western Australia.[53] In 2007 the ANM/ANWU was reported to have been disbanded.[54]Van Tongeren has been a member of a number of far-right extremist groups including National Action (Australia)[55][56][57]
Australians Against Further Immigration (AAFI) was an Australian far-rightanti-immigration political party which described itself as "eco-nationalist" and was against positive netimmigration. The party was founded in 1989 and dissolved in 2008. The party was deregistered by theAustralian Electoral Commission in December 2005, because it was lacking the minimum 500 members required to be registered as a political party.[58]
Antipodean Resistance (AR) is an Australian neo-Nazi group. Formed in October 2016, the group's flag features aswastika. The group's logo features theblack sun andTotenkopf (skull head) with anAkubra hat, alaurel wreath and a swastika.[59] Antipodean Resistance promotes and incites hatred and violence, as illustrated in itsanti-Jewish andanti-homosexual posters, with graphic images of shooting Jews and homosexuals in the head. One poster called to "Legalise the execution of Jews."[60][61][62]
In 2017, it was reported thatASIO, the Australian national security organisation, was monitoring the group, who were "willing to use violence to further their own interests".[63]
Members of the Antipodean Resistance andLads Society organised the creation of a new group, theNational Socialist Network, in 2020.[64]
The Australian Defence League (ADL) is a neo-Nazistreet gang. The gang isanti-Islam, and has been involved in making terrorist threats, abusing, stalking anddoxxingMuslim Australians. The gang was founded in Sydney in 2009 byrecidivist criminal Ralph Cerminara. Cerminara has a significant criminal record, including convictions for assault, high-range drink-driving and breaching apprehended violence orders.[65][66]
The Australian Protectionist Party (also known as the Party For Freedom) is a minor far-rightanti-immigration party, focused oneconomic protectionism andwhite nationalism. The Australian Protectionist Party has been active in protesting against the presence of asylum seekers and Muslims, and has also organised several protests againstSharia law being implemented in Australia. The party has unsuccessfully contested a number of elections, failing to secure more than 1% of the vote in any election it has contested.[67]
The APP has been essentially inactive since 2016, with the only evidence of any activity being the occasional post on its website.
The Australia First Party (AFP) is a militantwhite supremacist political party founded in 1996 byGraeme Campbell and currently led byJim Saleam. The party stands on a nationalist, anti-multicultural and economic protectionist platform. The Party's current platform includes the reintroduction of theWhite Australia policy and opposition to Chinese immigration.[39][68][69][70][71]
Campbell was Australia First's leader until June 2001, when he left the party to stand as a One NationSenate candidate inWestern Australia. After serving time in jail for organising the failed attempted assassination of Eddie Funde, Saleam took control of the party and ran as an its candidate for a seat onMarrickville council, New South Wales, claiming "to oppose Marrickville being a Refugee Welcome Zone". Later that year the party formed its youth wing, thePatriotic Youth League. The party contested the2010 federal election, the2013 federal election, the2016 federal election, the2017 Cootamundra state by-election, the2018 Longman by-election, and the2019 New South Wales state election, but failed to poll at more than 2% on any occasion.[72] Saleam's platform included the reintroduction of theWhite Australia policy and opposition to Chinese immigration.[71]
On 20 March 2019, Australia First member Nathan Sykes was charged with at least eight offences relating to threats he made to a number of journalists.[73]
The Patriotic Youth League (PLY) was a neo-Nazi micro group and the youth wing of the Australia First Party, founded in 2002 by formerOne Nation activist Stuart McBeth.[74][75][76] The Patriotic Youth League was mainly active in the northern suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, and played a large role in the2005 Cronulla riots. It disbanded in 2006, but was reincarnated as the Eureka Youth League in 2010.[40]
The Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA), created in 2015, was rebranded asYellow Vest Australia in 2019. It was a minor political party in Australia, with Debbie Robinson as party president. The party was the political wing of the Q Society. Founded in 2015, the party was anti-Islamic, with policies focusing on Muslim immigration such as enforcing "integration over separation", replacing multiculturalism with an integrated multi-ethnic society and stopping public funding for "associations formed around foreign nationalities". They vowed to "stop the Islamisation of Australia".[77] The party was deregistered in 2020.[78]
The Q Society of Australia was a far-right,homophobic andIslamophobic organisation that opposed Muslim immigration and the presence ofMuslims in Australian society. Founded in 2010, Q Society referred to itself as "Australia's leading Islam-critical organisation" and stated that its purpose was to fight against the "Islamisation of Australia". The group's events featured extreme homophobia and Islamophobia.[79] Its president was Debbie Robinson, who was also president of the Australian Liberty Alliance (later Yellow Vest Australia).[80]On 13 February 2020, the Q Society stated that it would deregister itself due to lack of financial support, effective from 30 June 2020.[81][82]
TheCreativity Movement, self-described as a "church" but in reality ananti-Christian,[83] white supremacist, neo-Nazi organisation, was founded in the United States in 1997 as an offshoot of the 1973 Church of the Creator, and had adherents in Australia until 2010.[84] The group ceased to exist elsewhere in the world by 2020, and the police seized the Creativity Movement website in 2021. The domain name creativitymovement.org is now held by theCreativity Alliance. Founded in 2003 after the arrest of the AmericanCreativity Movement leader,Matt Hale, theCreativity Alliance is anAdelaide-based offshoot of the Church of the Creator, run by Cailen Cambeul.[85][86]
The Creativity Alliance includes numerous Church of Creativity groups, such as the "Church of Creativity – Victoria", with its now-defunct website stating that it is "A Creativity Alliance website", was operational from at least 2004 until 2017 and has since been blended into the main Creativity Alliance website along with all other regional Church of Creativity websites. The Victorian website stated that it "objects to...Christianity,multiculturalism andMarxism".[83] A 2010 version of the website listed its five core beliefs, including "our Race is our Religion;... the White Race is Nature's Finest; ... Racial Loyalty is the greatest of all honors, and racial treason is the worst of all crimes; ...what is good for the White Race is the highest virtue, and what is bad for the White Race is the ultimate sin; ...[and] that the one and only, true and revolutionary White Racial Religion – Creativity – is the only salvation for the White Race".[87]
ALiberal Party campaigner who had been a leading member of the Young Liberals inGeelong, Scott Harrison, was revealed to have been a member of this organisation for six years prior to 2010, but had turned his back on those beliefs. He resigned from the Liberal Party after anti-Semitic articles written by him emerged, including airing a theory that thePort Arthur massacre was master-minded by Jews, as well as a photo of him gesturing with aNazi salute in front of aswastika.[84][88]
Some activity by members were reported in Melbourne and theSurf Coast in 2015. In 2011, after stickers advocating "White Power" were found inVictoria, the group was investigated by the state's Multicultural Affairs Minister. The group says it is committed to achieving its aims by non-violent means.[40]
In 2016 the Dingoes were described in a 2016 news report as "young, educated andalternative right", comparing the group to theIdentitarian movement in Europe. The group self-described themselves as "politically incorrect larrikins", and one member praisedDonald Trump for embodying "white values".[89] Members do not reveal their identity.[90]
The Dingoes were mentioned as one of the groups involved in the 2018 infiltration to theNSW Young Nationals (see below).[91]National Party MPGeorge Christensen andOne Nation candidateMark Latham were both was interviewed on the Dingoes podcast, calledThe Convict Report,[90] but Christensen later said that he would not have done it if he had known about their extremist views. The podcast also featured a New Zealand man who ran theDominion Movement, who was later arrested for sharing information that threatened NZ security.[92] The group planned a 2018 conference in Sydney, dubbed DingoCon, at which US alt-right figureMike Enoch ofThe Right Stuff was invited to speak.[93]
The group posts anti-Semitic and other racist commentary onTwitter, and have used the samememe character as the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.[90] The podcast was shut down after the attack.[92]
Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party was apopulist, far-right,white nationalist party[94] founded byFraser Anning in April 2019, when he was asenator forQueensland. Anning had previously been a senator forPauline Hanson's One Nation andKatter's Australian Party, and sat as an independent before founding the new party. The party contested the2019 federal election, but failed to win a seat.[95] The party was deregistered on 23 September 2020.[96]
The United Patriots Front (UPF) was a far-right extremist group whose membership was composed of neo-Nazis and fundamentalist Christians.[97][98] Based in the state ofVictoria, UPF was a nationalist anti-Islam organisation that stood inopposition to immigration,opposition to multiculturalism and Islam bydemonstrations. It was a splinter group from Reclaim Australia group, formed after a dispute between Shermon Burgess and Reclaim Australia organisers. The group has been described by a number of media outlets and journalists as ahate group, and has claimed solidarity withGolden Dawn.[99] The group was disbanded in 2017. The UPF's leaders went on to form a new, more explicitly White nationalist group, theLads Society, later that same year.
The Lads Society is afar-rightwhite nationalist extremist group founded by several former members of theUnited Patriots Front in late 2017, with club houses in Sydney and Melbourne.[100] The Lads Society came to national prominence after it staged a rally inSt Kilda, Victoria, targeting the localAfrican Australian community. Attendees were seen making theNazi salute and one was photographed brandishing anSS helmet.[100] In 2017, the group's leaderThomas Sewell approached the perpetrator of theChristchurch mosque shootings, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, asking him to join the Lads Society, but Tarrant refused.[101] The group's members and allies attempted to infiltrate the Young Nationals in NSW, and engaged in branch stacking at the May 2018 conference. Lads Society members attained leadership positions in theYoung Nationals, but were later forced out of the party.[102] Canadian alt-right activistLauren Southern and white nationalistStefan Molyneux met with Lads Society members during their visit to Australia.[when?][citation needed]
Undated videos leaked to the press in November 2019 revealed Lads Society leader Sewell's aim to attract and recruit members from mainstream society under the guise of a men'sfitness club. His white supremacist agenda was clearly shown as he outlined plans which included the creation of"Anglo-European" enclaves in Australian cities, encouraging the "speed and ferocity of the decay" of society to help foment a "race war" by such tactics as exploiting the "African gangs" trope used by Home Affairs MinisterPeter Dutton and other mainstream politicians.[103]
Members of the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance organised the creation of a new group, theNational Socialist Network, in late 2020, and Sewell was one of the organisers of a 2021 group trip to theGrampians in January 2021 (see below).[64]
Love Australia or Leave was a far-right, nationalist political party based in Queensland. It has been registered for federal elections from October 2016 until 12 January 2022.[104] after being founded by Kim Vuga, who is still the head. The party platform includes opposition to mass immigration andIslam in Australia, and support of Australia leaving theUnited Nations. The party ran candidates at the2019 Australian federal election in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania, but failed to win any seats.[105]
The party was de-registered on 12 January 2022.
TheNational Socialist Network (NSN) was formed by members of the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance in late 2020.[64] It is a Melbourne-based neo-Nazi group that claims to be active in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney,Brisbane,Canberra,Perth and several regional cities, but which would not reveal how many members or associates the group has. It has vowed to bring about a "white revolution" and has openly describedIndigenous Australians as "subhuman and monkeys".[11] They also engage in anti-Semitic and other racist behaviour. Its leader is Thomas Sewell, an ex-Australian army soldier turned neo-Nazi,[106] who is also leader of the Lads Society.[64]
The group helped to organise a group of about 38 young white men who paraded Nazi symbolism and shouted offensive slogans in theGrampians region over theAustralia Day weekend in January 2021 (see below).[64]
In March 2021,Victoria Police'scounter-terrorism command charged Sewell with affray, recklessly causing injury, and unlawful assault after he allegedly punched a security guard working for theNine Network in Melbourne's Docklands. The alleged assault took place prior to the broadcast of anA Current Affair report about Sewell's organisation.[107]
The New Guard (not to be confused with the 1930sNew Guard mentioned above) was a group with a presence onFacebook between 2015 and 2018. Self-described as fascists, the group's aim was to influence mainstream politics. Their tactics included spreadingpropaganda about protecting Australia's European identity as well as opening businesses and buying property to create wealth, using this to try to influence the election of state and federal parliamentarians. Part of the group's plans was to create a kind of "pioneer Europa", where people subscribing to such views would live, governed by a sympathetic mayor. The men-only group was revealed to have infiltrated theYoung Nationals in New South Wales in late 2018, leading to its demise.[108][109]
Formed in 2015, Reclaim Australia is a loosely associated far-right Australian nationalist protest group which draws support from nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other far-right groups, which is primarily focused on opposing Islam. The group held street rallies between 2015 and 2017, and often faced counter-protests from trade unions, human rights and anti-racism activists.[110][111][112][113] After observing many Reclaim Australia rallies and interviewing participants, authorJohn Safran described it as a loose collective of different groups such as theUnited Patriots Front andDanny Nalliah's Catch the Fire Ministries.[114]
TheAustralian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), says that it monitors the group because of its potential for violence.[115]
The Rise Up Australia Party was a far-right, Christian political party launched in June 2011.[116][117][118] The party's policy platform was focused on nationalist andfundamentalist Christian values.[119] It was opposed to Islam in Australia and opposessame-sex marriage. Its slogan was "Keep Australia Australian". The party was founded and was led by Pentecostal ministerDanny Nalliah, who is also the president ofCatch the Fire Ministries. Nalliah is originally fromSri Lanka, and has worked and lived in Saudi Arabia with his family.[120]
The Rise up Australia party opposedmulticulturalism, wanted to preserve Australia's "Judeo-Christian heritage", called for cuts to Muslim immigration, and advocated freedom of speech and freedom of religion.[121] In the 2013 federal election the party contested seats in most territories and states, and lobbied for changing the name of the immigration department under the Abbott government from immigration and cultural affairs to immigration and border protection.[120]After the2019 Australian federal election, on 26 June 2019, the party was voluntarily deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission.[122]
Soldiers of Odin (SOO) is ananti-immigrant group founded inKemi,Finland, in October 2015, in the midst of theEuropean migrant crisis.[123] TheSoldiers of Odin Australia arose out of theReclaim Australia group,[124] and was registered as a non-profit association with theVictorian government in June 2016.[125] That same year the group ran racially-driven vigilante "safety patrols" aroundFederation Square,Birrarung Marr andBourke Street Mall[126] and outside city train stations at night to counteract what it claims was the inability of police to protect the public from rising street crime and gangs such as the so-calledApex gang.[125] They also distributed food tohomeless people in the city.[127]
Their recruitment rhetoric included exaggeratingillegal entry to the country, crime perpetrated by immigrants and the threat ofIslamic terrorism, targeting mainlyAnglo-Australian men; they also used the "exoticNorse mythology" to attract far-right sympathisers who were willing to take public action.[127]
While they attracted significant press coverage in the second half of 2016,[125][128][129][130] their presence seemed to have faded fairly quickly, and by 2020 they were no longer deemed a significant far-right group.[124]
The True Blue Crew (TBC) is an Australian militant white supremacist group.[131] Members and supporters have been linked toright-wing terrorism andvigilantism, and members have been arrested with weapons and on terrorism-related charges. Experts who have studied the group say it appears to be "committed to violence".[132] The True Blue Crew was formed in 2015 as a splinter group from the anti-Islamic Reclaim Australia group, along with a number of small far-right nationalist groups such as the United Patriots Front.[133]
In December 2019 a member of True Blue Crew, Phillip Galea, was convicted of terrorism charges relating to planned bombings of theVictorian Trades Hall and other left wing organisations in Melbourne.[134]
Another extremist group mentioned in connection with infiltration to theNSW Young Nationals in 2018 (see below) is Squadron 88.[91]
There was a small group called Identity Australia that was formed around March 2019,[135] which described itself as "a youth-focused identitiarian organisation dedicated to givingEuropean Australians a voice and restoring Australia's European character", and published a manifesto detailing its beliefs, but its website is as of April 2021[update] non-operational.[136][137]
Other potentially violent groups active in Australia include theSouthern Cross Hammerskins and the Crazy Whiteboys. The latter is a violent anti-Asian, anti-Semitic and anti-African Australian group (also described as skinhead[138]) founded in 2009 in Melbourne.[40] Two of their members were given jail sentences after a particularly vicious and brutal attack on an Asian student in 2012.[138][139]
Other far-right groups whose profiles have varied include the Nationalist Australian Alternative, Australian Traditionalism, and the New National Action.[76]
There is some cross-over between the two groups which call themselvesFreemen on the Land (FOTL[140]) andSovereign Citizens (and some others), but both have their roots in theAmerican farm crisis and the US/Canadian financial crisis of the 1980s, and their core beliefs may be broadly defined as "see[ing] the state as acorporation with no authority over free citizens".[141][140] In 2011,Malcolm Roberts wrote a letter to then Prime MinisterJulia Gillard filled with characteristic sovereign citizen ideas, but denied that he was a "sovereign citizen".[142][143] There have been several court cases testing this concept, none successful for the "freemen".[144] In 2015, theNew South Wales Police Force identified "sovereign citizens" as a potential terrorist threat, estimating that there were about 300 sovereign citizens in the state at the time.[145] There have been a few minor cases where parties have invoked arguments surrounding the "sovereign man", but the arguments have failed.[146] Sovereign Citizens from the US have undertaken speaking tours to New Zealand and Australia, with some support among farmers struggling with drought and other hardships. A group called United Rights Australia (U R Australia[147]) has a Facebook presence, and there are other websites promulgating Freemen/Sovereign Citizen ideas.[141][148] From the 2010s, there has been a growing number of Freemen targetingIndigenous Australians, with groups with names like Tribal Sovereign Parliament of Gondwana Land, the Original Sovereign Tribal Federation (OSTF)[149] and the Original Sovereign Confederation. Some proponents have conflated sovereign state beliefs with theland rights movement.[150]
TheNew Australian Natives' Association.[151] According to its Charter of Principles, the NANA is for "the cultivation of an Australian sentiment based on the maintenance of European-descent ethnic homogeneity; the development in Australia of a self-reliant ethnocentric community existing in parallel to preexisting institutions; and the promotion in Australia of patriarchal family order."
The National Workers Alliance (NWA).[152] The NWA describes itself as an "Australian Nationalist Organisation for the preservation of western culture and identity".[153]
The Noticernews website, which launched in early 2024, promises "unbiased" news;[154] its subtitle reads "We notice what other news sites don't".[155] The termnoticer originated infar-right circles in the US, referring to someone who subscribes to "race science" (a belief that biology underlies racial differences, with whites being superior). In 2023 American far-right writerSteve Sailer published an anthology titledNoticing.[156]
The Noticer promotes neo-Nazi ideologies, and is popular with National Socialist Network followers. It has published several opinion pieces by prominent neo-Nazi Joel Davis, and others such as NSN leader Thomas Sewell and American white supremacist Jared Taylor have also featured on the site. The website's owners and financial backers are not shown. It purports not to be affiliated with any ideology or movement, but often publishes content relating to extreme-right views, hidden among other news items so that readers do not immediately realise its leaning. It publishes many crime stories, particularly about offences allegedly committed by people of colour. In the lead-up to the2025 Australian election, candidates and elected officials have shared content from the website, including SenatorRalph Babet,Trumpet of Patriots leader Suellen Wrightson,Family First leaderLyle Shelton, and candidates from bothPauline Hanson's One Nation and theLibertarian Party.Google has started removing ads from pages that breach its policy.[154]
In 2014 theCity of Greater Bendigo announced the construction of aA$3m mosque and Islamic community centre inBendigo, Victoria. Some residents created a "Stop the Mosque in Bendigo" group, and certain far-right organisations, in particular the Q Society, mobilised residents and brought in outsiders to oppose the construction by conducting extensive protests.[157] In October 2015, around 1,000 people turned up for a protest organised by the United Patriots Front. Members of the extremist groupRight Wing Resistance Australia travelled from interstate, and the Rise Up Australia Party was also represented.[158]
In 2018, it was revealed that the NSWYoung Nationals had been infiltrated by a significant number of neo-Nazis and otherfar-right extremists. Party leaderMichael McCormack denounced these attempts, and the leader of the NSW Nationals,John Barilaro, also denounced racism and fascism within the party.[91][159][160][161] The suspected neo-Nazis were expelled from the party and its youth wing.[91] Several of the men who infiltrated the organisation were from theNew Guard (see above).[108][109] The 19 members expelled from the party also included members of the Lads Society, Antipodean Resistance, Squadron 88, and the Dingoes.[91]
Australian far-right terrorist Brenton Harrison Tarrant committed the March 2019 mosque shootings atAl Noor Mosque andLinwood Islamic Centre inChristchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 people and injuring 50 more. Tarrant had expressed support for two Australian far-right organizations, the United Patriots Front and the True Blue Crew online, and repeatedly praisedBlair Cottrell, a neo-Nazi and former leader of the UPF, affectionately calling him "Emperor Blair Cottrell" during a celebration ofDonald Trump being elected asPresident of the United States in 2016; he also donated money to the UPF.[162][163][164]
On theAustralia Day weekend in January 2021, theNational Socialist Network, a new group created by members of the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society under Lads leader Thomas Sewell, were observed parading Nazi paraphernalia and harassing bystanders at several locations around theGrampians in Victoria. OneHalls Gap resident said: "There were 40 white males, many with skinheads, some chanting 'white power'".[64] They were reported to have chanted "sieg heil" and "white power",burnt a cross, and posted stickers saying "Australia For The White Man".[165]
Concerned citizens reported them to police, who confronted the group and later collected video evidence from security videos.Victoria Police's Counter Terrorism Command and ASIO were notified, and the incident was widely covered in the media.[64] One anti-Semitism expert called for the group to be branded a terrorist group, saying "We know that there is a direct link between incitement, between vilification ... and shooting rampages that we saw not just in Christchurch, but in other places".[165]
On 31 August 2025 members of theNational Socialist Network and various white supremacy groups participated inMarch for Australia anti-immigration rallies in Australian capital cities.[166]National Socialist Network leader and knownNeo-NaziThomas Sewell, along with various other far-right figures addressed protestors in all major cities calling for an end to immigration in the country. The rallies included at least one supporter of accused perpetrator of thePorepunkah police shootings and self-proclaimedSovereign citizen Dezi Freeman.[167]National Socialist Network members participated in chants of "Heil Australia"[168] and members of white supremacist groups advocated for "returning Australia to a white Australia". Members of theNational Socialist Network engaged in brawls with pro-Palestine counter-protestors and led a violent attack onCamp Sovereignty.[169]
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| Year | Candidate(s) | Votes | % | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | National Socialist | 24,017 | 0.43 | 9th | |
| Total | 24,017 | 0.43 | Lost | ||
| 1974 | National Socialist | 1,810 | 0.03 | 10th | |
| Total | 1,810 | 0.03 | Lost | ||
| 1980 | Progressive Conservative | 6,247 | 0.07 | 11th | |
| National Front | 1,467 | 0.01 | 12th | ||
| Total | 7,714 | 0.08 | Lost | ||
| 1990 | Australians Against Further Immigration | 19,439 | 0.20 | 11th | |
| Total | 19,439 | 0.20 | Lost | ||
| 1993 | Confederate Action | 59,875 | 0.56 | 6th | |
| Australians Against Further Immigration | 46,857 | 0.44 | 7th | ||
| Total | 106,732 | 1.0 | Lost | ||
| 1996 | Australians Against Further Immigration | 137,604 | 1.26 | 5th | |
| Reclaim Australia | 44,545 | 0.41 | 9th | ||
| Total | 182,149 | 1.67 | Lost | ||
| 1998 | One Nation | 1,007,439 | 8.99 | 3rd | |
| Australia First | 46,765 | 0.41 | 8th | ||
| Reclaim Australia | 8,019 | 0.07 | 19th | ||
| Total | 1,062,223 | 9.47 | Lost | ||
| 2001 | One Nation | 644,364 | 5.54 | 4th | |
| Australians Against Further Immigration | 21,012 | 0.18 | 15th | ||
| Total | 665,376 | 5.72 | Lost | ||
| 2004 | One Nation | 206,455 | 1.73 | 6th | |
| Australians Against Further Immigration | 11,508 | 0.10 | 21st | ||
| Total | 217,963 | 1.83 | Lost | ||
| 2007 | Pauline's United Australia Party | 141,268 | 1.12 | 6th | |
| One Nation | 52,708 | 0.42 | 12th | ||
| Total | 193,976 | 1.54 | Lost | ||
| 2010 | One Nation | 70,672 | 0.56 | 11th | |
| Australia First | 9,680 | 0.08 | 22th | ||
| Total | 80,352 | 0.64 | Lost | ||
| 2013 | One Nation | 70,851 | 0.53 | 16th | |
| Rise Up Australia | 49,341 | 0.37 | 20th | ||
| Australia First | 10,157 | 0.08 | 32nd | ||
| Australian Protectionist | 3,379 | 0.03 | 42nd | ||
| Total | 133,728 | 1.01 | Lost | ||
| 2016 | One Nation | 593,013 | 4.29 | 4th | |
| Liberty Alliance | 102,982 | 0.74 | 12th | ||
| Rise Up Australia | 36,424 | 0.26 | 25th | ||
| Australia First | 3,005 | 0.02 | 47th | ||
| Total | 735,424 | 5.31 | Lost | ||
| 2019 | One Nation | 788,203 | 5.40 | 4th | |
| Conservative National | 94,130 | 0.64 | 14th | ||
| Rise Up Australia | 64,344 | 0.44 | 15th | ||
| Great Australian | 34,199 | 0.23 | 24th | ||
| Love Australia or Leave | 10,099 | 0.07 | 38th | ||
| Yellow Vest Australia | 3,263 | 0.02 | 49th | ||
| Total | 994,238 | 6.81 | Lost | ||
| 2022 | One Nation | 644,744 | 4.29 | 4th | |
| Great Australian | 82,237 | 0.55 | 10th | ||
| Total | 726,981 | 4.84 | Lost | ||
| 2025 | One Nation | 991,814 | 6.40 | 4th | |
| People First | 71,892 | 0.46 | |||
| Total | 1,063,706 | 6.86 | Lost | ||
The only overview of Australian right-wing extremism is the slim volume, The Right Road? by Andrew Moore which was published nearly ten years ago [1995].
Updated: 18 September 2018.
Identity Australia appears little more than a grouplet for now
