And that really is saying something.

Jeeze…

Regarding the first group, an article in The Sydney Morning Herald in August, 1999 uncovered documents showing that scientists and technicians were brought from Germany to Australia as part of a scheme to bring in highly trained technicians. The Employment of Scientific and Technical Aliens Scheme (ESTEA) operated between 1946 and 1951, bringing in 127 German scientists of whom almost one-third were affiliated with either the Nazi Party or other Nazi groups. In addition some of the remainder had worked for the Nazis in military research or for I G Farben, the notorious chemical firm that used concentration camp inmates as workers.

Of the second group, in addition to individuals such as Konrad Kalejs and Srecko Rover, perhaps the most prominent example is the Ustasha, and the most prominent puppet Lyenko Urbanchich (1923–2006), a key member of the NSW Liberals, mentor to David Clarke (a Tory member of the NSW Parliament). Clarke, in turn, has played a key role in shaping the career of Alex Hawke, the recently-elected member of Federal Parliament for the seat of Mitchell in NSW.

One of the leading experts on the matter of Nazis in Australia is Mark Aarons. In an interview with the AJN, it is written:

Aarons says postwar Australian governments knowingly accepted Nazi war criminals into the country. “The very first ship that brought displaced persons under the displaced persons scheme contained a significant number of people from the Baltic countries who, it was revealed, had fought or served in the SS. The then security service investigated and the file eventually made its way onto the immigration minister’s desk, Arthur Calwell, who shut the whole thing down and told them to stop investigating and that it was an immigration issue, not a security matter.

“That really set the tone,” he says, “the first minister, the first ship, the first Nazis, and he turned a blind eye, knowing that the consequences, and I don’t think there can be any doubt about this, would be a significant movement of ex-Nazis and Nazi collaborators into Australia.

“By comparison, the rules that applied for Jewish refugees were extremely harsh… The number of Jews arriving on any ship was restricted to quite a small percentage of the total passenger list, which meant you couldn’t get large-scale Jewish migration. It meant in many instances that Jewish refugees actually found themselves on the same ships as their former persecutors. There were many people who actually identified an SS guard or a Nazi official who had been responsible in their region for carrying out the Holocaust on the same ship.”

IT is now widely known that British and United States intelligence services actively recruited former Nazis to aide their anti-communist operations. Aarons says some of these recruits were subsequently handed on to Australian authorities and settled here.

“You can trace their war crimes, you can trace their recruitment by US intelligence, you can trace their illegal immigration into Australia, and then you can trace it all the way through to them going onto the payroll of ASIO once they arrived in Australia… The purpose being that they would help ASIO in anti-communist operations, both in the domestic hunt for communist agents, but also in the procurement of international intelligence — particularly of intelligence from behind the Iron Curtain. These people had a range of family and political contacts still living under communism and were thereby seen to be quite capable gatherers of intelligence.”

Australia has welcomed other war criminals to its shores, even since the last World War II criminals arrived, Aarons claims. He says similar black marks on the immigration record occurred throughout the 1980s and 1990s when former Afghan communists were recruited by Australian intelligence agencies and brought into the country.”

With regards neo-Nazis — that is, those who are not members of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) but who follow in its ideological footsteps — there are a small number in Australia, some of whom are happy to accept the label, many of whom aren’t. Of the former category, Carl D. Thompson (‘Wodensvolk’) is a prominent example; of the latter, a quick perusal of SFDU will reveal scores if not hundreds. Many of those who assembled at The Birmy for the gigs organised by B&H and the SCHS — two international neo-Nazi networks — would also belong in this category.

Generally speaking, those attracted to ‘white nationalism’ have a stunningly poor grasp of political philosophy, and wouldn’t know their arse from a hole in the ground. In my opinion, you’re among one of the stupidest.

And that really is saying something.

Most bands that play at The Arthouse would confirm the door policy as just common knowledge.

“I wanna kill this Adam cunt”? “Fucking idiot”?

Honestly. How old did you say you were?

1)

It’s an elementary point of logic.

You wrote:

“The Beefeaters don’t support the Birmy Boycott for a fair few reasons, all of which you’ve failed to mention.”

I can’t have failed to mention the reasons The Beefeaters don’t support the boycott when they’ve never been provided.

Capiche?

Now you complain that I never asked your reasons for not supporting the boycott. By the same token, you never asked me my reasons for advocating precisely the opposite. Instead, I’ve merely written about the issue extensively, without waiting for either your permission or acknowledgment. On the other hand, as far as I’m aware, The Beefeaters have said nothing. (By the way, are you honestly claiming that you only became aware of the existence of the boycott on February 9, 2008?)

2)

With regards the ‘diversity of patrons’ who use the pub. As far as I’m aware, the pub has few patrons. Secondly, the Kooris I’ve spoken to about the issue support the boycott. None, to the best of my knowledge, after having been informed of the nature of the groups Gary has allowed use of his pub, as well as the assault on a black woman on the night on of the ISD gig in September 2006, have expressed anything other than disgust.

3)

Regarding money-making: yes, the function room is free. On that basis, Gary makes no money from its use, whether by neo-Nazis or The Beefeaters. On the other hand, as you may already be aware, the pub also sells alcohol. You may be naive, but you don’t strike me as being stupid, but to be on the safe side, I’ll spell it out for you: Gary makes money from the sale of alcohol. Gigs at the pub are intended to draw a crowd.

Capiche?

4)

Inre The Arty, fair enough. I’ve only ever organised benefits, and a number of those haven’t been at licensed venues anyway. That said, no offence, but I’ll have to ask around among the people I know who do book gigs whether or not The Birmy is the only pub in Melbourne that doesn’t take a percentage of the door before I believe it to be the case…

5)

“Yet you and Fightdemback still list them as being one?” We do? Maybe. Where?

6)

The Birmy is closing?

Huh.

I’m sure there must be a lesson in that somewhere.

My “failure” to mention the reasons The Beefeaters fail to support the boycott is possibly related to the fact that to this point The Beefeaters have failed to provide any.

Which we [were] asked for when?

It that so? Dunno. The handful of local Kooris I’ve spoken to about it support the boycott. Maybe some Kooris support it and some don’t? But if you’re claiming that no other pub on Smith Street serves Kooris, that means it’s popular by default. And Gary has already made it quite clear that he doesn’t give a shit who he takes money from. That’s a problem when it extends to violent neo-Nazi gangs such as Blood & Honour and the Hammerskins.

You only need to walk into The Pub to see the diversity of the patrons and as I already said before no money is made from the “free function room”.

But I’ve been involved in arranging a few at The Arty, and the standard arrangement has been they keep the bar money and organisers get the door money.

As have I and that simply isn’t the case.

…an assurance was given that GotH were absolutely not a neo-Nazi band. Personally, I have my doubts…

Yet you and Fightdemback still list them as being one?

Anyway, I can waste my time in much better ways than this so I’ll leave you to it, even a holy man knows that some dickheads are too ignorant to ever learn. I’m sure you need some time to figure out whom else you can print misinformed ideas about now that The Birmy is closing up anyway. Good luck to you.

Lovely to see you know what’s going on Andy. The Beefeaters don’t support the Birmy Boycott for a fair few reasons, all of which you’ve failed to mention.

My “failure” to mention the reasons The Beefeaters fail to support the boycott is possibly related to the fact that to this point The Beefeaters have failed to provide any.

How about the fact that The Birmy’s possibly the only pub on Smith St that welcomes Aboriginals [sic] (and people of any other nationality for that matter)? Or that it’s the only venue in Melbourne that truly supports local bands, offering free practice space and refusing to take any percentage of the door charge from gigs? I guess all this criticism’s fair enough considering they don’t lie about who uses their facilities as appose [sic] to so many other venues in Melbourne who do …

It that so? Dunno. The handful of local Kooris I’ve spoken to about it support the boycott. Maybe some Kooris support it and some don’t? But if you’re claiming that no other pub on Smith Street serves Kooris, that means it’s popular by default. And Gary has already made it quite clear that he doesn’t give a shit who he takes money from. That’s a problem when it extends to violent neo-Nazi gangs such as Blood & Honour and the Hammerskins. And to remind you Reverend:

‘Victim of white supremacist abuse returns to join protest chorus’
Marika Dobbin
The Melbourne Times
October 18, 2006

A LOCAL woman who was intimidated and racially abused by a group of men last month will attend a protest against neo-Nazism outside a Fitzroy pub. A coalition of local groups is organising the “peace movement” in response to a neo-Nazi concert at the Birmingham Hotel on Saturday, September 23, held to commemorate the death of British white supremacist Ian Stuart. Blondien (not her real name) says she was walking alone to her car on Johnston Street the same night when she was surrounded by about seven men. She says the men screamed abuse at her, calling her a black c..t and forcing her to repeat the insults. “It’s disgusting that people would single out one person and you have to say stuff about your race to get out of it,” Blondien said… Hotel co-owner Gary (who wouldn’t give his surname) said: “I’m not getting involved in someone else’s bullshit.”

Further:

BirmyHammerSkinz : …and reading earlier you were very concerned about some of us hassling a negroid girl, well did you stop to think there may have been a reason? she was foul, spitting on people, drinking goon, making a fool of herself and she had what was coming. anyway mate youre a goose and i think you should put your money where your mouth is

I doubt local Kooris support that kind of behaviour or the kind of pub proprietor who encourages it, but apparently you’re some kind of expert on the matter, so who knows?

Regarding venues supporting bands, again, I dunno, I’m not in the habit of booking gigs at pubs, or arranging for practice space. But I’ve been involved in arranging a few at The Arty, and the standard arrangement has been they keep the bar money and organisers get the door money. But you do have a point: it’s in the narrow self-interest of bands to continue to support The Birmy as opposed to supporting the boycott. What the boycott requests is that, instead of putting their own interests first, bands, promoters and punters place the interest of local communities in not having neo-Nazi scum at their venues (that is, public houses) first — especially in areas such as Collingwood and Fitzroy. In this sense, the situation is not dissimilar to an industrial picket. That is, it’s acknowledged that workers, as individuals, lose money by going on strike and not working, and that when a scab crosses a picket line, they do so in their own interest. But the point is that workers — and members of other ‘communities’ or (collectivities) — also have collective interests, and that pursuing them requires collective action. As it stands, the only penalty attached to scabbing on the community boycott of The Birmy is a certain stigma. If you’re happy to live with that, that’s your decision.

Finally, as for lying, it’s a matter of record that Gary lied about the ISD memorial. On the other hand, if you think others are lying, please feel free to provide details. Again, you seem to be the expert.

You didn’t happen to make it to The Tote on the 2nd did you? Gospel of Horns (a nazi band as I’m sure you know) had a nice big listing on the upcoming shows board which I’m sure your supporters (Final Warning and The Resignators) must of walked past quite a few times. Funny that, isn’t it?

If it is, you’ve got a crap sense of humour. And I’ve no idea if Final Warning and The Resignators are or were aware of the fact that GotH have an upcoming gig at The Tote. I certainly wasn’t aware of it, but thanks for the heads-up. Last time they played The Tote, management was contacted about the issue and an assurance was given that GotH were absolutely not a neo-Nazi band. Personally, I have my doubts, as do you, obviously. Therefore, if you’re aware of any further evidence regarding the band’s political allegiances, please feel free to divulge it.

As great as the name Slack Bastard is maybe you should consider changing it to Misinformed Twat. I’m off to play a set of Jamaican and Two-Tone ska there right now, I’m sure I’ll speak to you soon when you find some other way to twist truths into bullshit.

You haven’t disputed one single fact I’ve presented Reverend. As a Holy Man, I expect better. If you appreciate irony, please feel free to play the following, and dedicate it to Joel: