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. 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 (ANFSJ). The group was led 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. 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 (Australia)
Antipodean Resistance (2016–2018) Antipodean Resistance (AR) is an Australian neo-Nazi group. Formed in October 2016, the group's flag features a
swastika. The group's logo features the
black sun and
Totenkopf (skull head) with an
Akubra hat, a
laurel wreath and a swastika. Antipodean Resistance promotes and incites hatred and violence, as illustrated in its
anti-Jewish and
anti-homosexual posters, with graphic images of shooting Jews and homosexuals in the head. One poster called to "Legalise the execution of Jews." In 2017, it was reported that
ASIO, the Australian national security organisation, was monitoring the group, who were "willing to use violence to further their own interests". Members of the Antipodean Resistance and
Lads Society organised the creation of a new group, the
National Socialist Network, in 2020.
Q Society of Australia (2010–2020) The Q Society of Australia was a far-right,
homophobic and
Islamophobic organisation that opposed Muslim immigration and the presence of
Muslims 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. Its president was Debbie Robinson, who was also president of the Australian Liberty Alliance (later Yellow Vest Australia). On 13 February 2020, the Q Society stated that it would deregister itself due to lack of financial support, effective from 30 June 2020.
Creativity Movement/Alliance The
Creativity Movement, self-described as a "church" but in reality an
anti-Christian, 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 and
Marxism". 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". A
Liberal Party campaigner who had been a leading member of the Young Liberals in
Geelong, 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 the
Port Arthur massacre was master-minded by Jews, as well as a photo of him gesturing with a
Nazi salute in front of a
swastika. Some activity by members were reported in Melbourne and the
Surf Coast in 2015. In 2011, after stickers advocating "White Power" were found in
Victoria, 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. Members do not reveal their identity. 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 the
Dominion Movement, who was later arrested for sharing information that threatened NZ security. The group posts anti-Semitic and other racist commentary on
Twitter, and have used the same
meme character as the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.
United Patriots Front (2015–2017) The United Patriots Front (UPF) was a far-right extremist group whose membership was composed of neo-Nazis and fundamentalist Christians. Based in the state of
Victoria, UPF was a nationalist anti-Islam organisation that stood in
opposition to immigration,
opposition to multiculturalism and Islam by
demonstrations. 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 a
hate group, and has claimed solidarity with
Golden Dawn. The group was disbanded in 2017. The UPF's leaders went on to form a new, more explicitly White nationalist group, the
Lads Society, later that same year.
Lads Society (2017–2020) poster protesting the presence of Lads Society in Ashfield The Lads Society is a
far-right white nationalist extremist group founded by several former members of the
United Patriots Front in late 2017, with club houses in Sydney and Melbourne. The Lads Society came to national prominence after it staged a rally in
St Kilda, Victoria, targeting the local
African Australian community. Attendees were seen making the
Nazi salute and one was photographed brandishing an
SS helmet. 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 the
Young Nationals, but were later forced out of the party. Canadian alt-right activist
Lauren Southern and white nationalist
Stefan Molyneux met with Lads Society members during their visit to Australia. 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's
fitness 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 Minister
Peter Dutton and other mainstream politicians. Members of the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance organised the creation of a new group, the
National Socialist Network, in late 2020, and Sewell was one of the organisers of a 2021 group trip to the
Grampians in January 2021 (see below).
National Socialist Network (2020-2026) on 18 March 2023 The
National Socialist Network (NSN) was formed by members of the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance in late 2020. They also engage in anti-Semitic and other racist behaviour. Its leader is Thomas Sewell, an ex-Australian army soldier turned neo-Nazi, who is also leader of the Lads Society. In 2026, as a response to proposed hate speech laws in Australia, the organisation announced on Telegram that it would disband before 18 January.
New Guard (2015–2018) The New Guard (not to be confused with the 1930s
New Guard mentioned above) was a group with a presence on
Facebook between 2015 and 2018. Self-described as fascists, the group's aim was to influence mainstream politics. Their tactics included spreading
propaganda 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 the
Young Nationals in New South Wales in late 2018, leading to its demise.
Reclaim Australia (2015–2017) 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. After observing many Reclaim Australia rallies and interviewing participants, author
John Safran described it as a loose collective of different groups such as the
United Patriots Front and
Danny Nalliah's Catch the Fire Ministries. The
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), says that it monitors the group because of its potential for violence.
Soldiers of Odin Australia Soldiers of Odin (SOO) is an
anti-immigrant group founded in
Kemi,
Finland, in October 2015, in the midst of the
European migrant crisis. The Soldiers of Odin Australia arose out of the
Reclaim Australia group, 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-called
Apex gang. They also distributed food to
homeless people in the city. While they attracted significant press coverage in the second half of 2016, their presence seemed to have faded fairly quickly, and by 2020 they were no longer deemed a significant far-right group.
True Blue Crew (2015–??) The True Blue Crew (TBC) is an Australian militant white supremacist group. Members and supporters have been linked to
right-wing terrorism and
vigilantism, 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". 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. In December 2019 a member of True Blue Crew, Phillip Galea, was convicted of terrorism charges relating to planned bombings of the
Victorian Trades Hall and other left wing organisations in Melbourne.
Political parties The Centre Party (1933–1935) 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 as
Sir Oswald Mosley and
Joachim von Ribbentrop. Campbell repositioned the remnants of the New Guard away from paramilitary activities and into electoral politics. The Centre Party contested the
May 1935 New South Wales state election, polling 0.60% of the total vote. Following the party's poor showing at the election Campbell withdrew from public life and the party disbanded.
Australian National Socialist Party (1962–1968) The Australian National Socialist Party (ANSP) was a minor Australian neo-Nazi party. The party was founded in 1962 by
University of Adelaide physics student Ted Cawthron and Sydney council worker Don Lindsay. The group was anti-communist, and supported the
White Australia policy and the total annexation of
New Guinea. 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. In early 1970, Cawthron contested the
May 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.
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.
Confederate Action Party of Australia (1992–1993) Reclaim Australia: Reduce Immigration (1996–1999) Australia First Party The Australia First Party (AFP) is a militant
white supremacist political party founded in 1996 by
Graeme Campbell and currently led by
Jim Saleam. The party stands on a nationalist, anti-multicultural and economic protectionist platform. The Party's current platform includes the reintroduction of the
White Australia policy and opposition to Chinese immigration. Campbell was Australia First's leader until June 2001, when he left the party to stand as a One Nation
Senate candidate in
Western 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 on
Marrickville council, New South Wales, claiming "to oppose Marrickville being a Refugee Welcome Zone". Later that year the party formed its youth wing, the
Patriotic Youth League. The party contested the
2010 federal election, the
2013 federal election, the
2016 federal election, the
2017 Cootamundra state by-election, the
2018 Longman by-election, and the
2019 New South Wales state election, but failed to poll at more than 2% on any occasion. Saleam's platform included the reintroduction of the
White Australia policy and opposition to Chinese immigration.
Patriotic Youth League/Eureka Youth League The Patriotic Youth League (PLY) was a neo-Nazi micro group and the youth wing of the Australia First Party, founded in 2002 by former
One Nation activist Stuart McBeth. The Patriotic Youth League was mainly active in the northern suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, and played a large role in the
2005 Cronulla riots. It disbanded in 2006, but was reincarnated as the Eureka Youth League in 2010. The APP has been essentially inactive since 2016, with the only evidence of any activity being the occasional post on its website.
Rise Up Australia Party (2011–2019) The Rise Up Australia Party was a far-right, Christian political party launched in June 2011. The party's policy platform was focused on nationalist and
fundamentalist Christian values. It was opposed to Islam in Australia and opposes
same-sex marriage. Its slogan was "Keep Australia Australian". The party was founded and was led by Pentecostal minister
Danny Nalliah, who is also the president of
Catch the Fire Ministries. Nalliah is originally from
Sri Lanka, and has worked and lived in Saudi Arabia with his family. The Rise up Australia party opposed
multiculturalism, wanted to preserve Australia's "
Judeo-Christian heritage", called for cuts to Muslim immigration, and advocated freedom of speech and freedom of religion. 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.
Australian Liberty Alliance (2015–2020) The Australian Liberty Alliance (ALA), created in 2015, was rebranded as
Yellow 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". The party was deregistered in 2020.
Love Australia or Leave (2016–2022) 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. after being founded by Kim Vuga, who is still the head. The party platform includes opposition to mass immigration and
Islam in Australia, and support of Australia leaving the
United Nations. The party ran candidates at the
2019 Australian federal election in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania, but failed to win any seats. The party was de-registered on 12 January 2022.
Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party (2019–2020) Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party was a
populist, far-right,
white nationalist party founded by
Fraser Anning in April 2019, when he was a
senator for
Queensland. Anning had previously been a senator for
Pauline Hanson's One Nation and
Katter's Australian Party, and sat as an independent before founding the new party. The party contested the
2019 federal election, but failed to win a seat. The party was deregistered on 23 September 2020.
Other groups Another extremist group mentioned in connection with infiltration to the
NSW Young Nationals in 2018 (see below) is Squadron 88. which described itself as "a youth-focused identitiarian organisation dedicated to giving
European Australians a voice and restoring Australia's European character", and published a manifesto detailing its beliefs, but its website was non-operational. Other potentially violent groups active in Australia include the
Southern Cross Hammerskins and the Crazy Whiteboys. The latter is a violent anti-Asian, anti-Semitic and anti-
African Australian group (also described as skinhead Other far-right groups whose profiles have varied include the Nationalist Australian Alternative, Australian Traditionalism, and the New National Action.) and
Sovereign Citizens (and some others), but both have their roots in the
American 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 a
corporation with no authority over free citizens". There have been several court cases testing this concept, none successful for the "freemen". In 2015, the
New 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. There have been a few minor cases where parties have invoked arguments surrounding the "sovereign man", but the arguments have failed. 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) has a Facebook presence, and there are other websites promulgating Freemen/Sovereign Citizen ideas. From the 2010s, there has been a growing number of Freemen targeting
Indigenous Australians, with groups with names like Tribal Sovereign Parliament of Gondwana Land, the Original Sovereign Tribal Federation (OSTF) and the Original Sovereign Confederation. Some proponents have conflated sovereign state beliefs with the
land rights movement. The new
Australian Natives' Association (ANA), according to its Charter of Principles, 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) describes itself as an "Australian Nationalist Organisation for the preservation of western culture and identity". ==Terminology and media==