Fascism in Fitzroy? Fuck that!

Given minimal publicity, a surprisingly large number of people — perhaps as many as 100, I didn’t count — turned out this afternoon to protest/rally outside of The Birmingham Hotel (333 Smith St, Fitzroy | Cnr, Johnston & Smith Streets | Phone 9417 2706). The protest was called for by a number of different groups — including but not limited to Fight Dem Back! and a local women’s group — and following the pub’s exposure as the venue for a neo-Nazi gig organised by Blood & Honour Australia and the Southern Cross Hammerskins, held on Saturday, September 23rd.

Bad yes, but worse still is the fact that: this was the second year in a row that the ISD memorial gig had taken place at The Birmy; Gary, the-pub-proprietor-who-refuses-to-reveal-his-surname, lied to the Melbourne Times when asked about the gig; neo-Nazi gigs (including earlier memorial gigs) have taken place at The Birmy in years previous* and; a woman was subjected to racial abuse on Johnston Street on the night 50 or so boneheads gathered to celebrate the white supremacist Ian Stuart‘s death.

Gary was probably unhappy at the sight of so many people prepared to say ‘No!’, but was certainly more than a little foolish in seeking, first, to take photographs of those assembled and, secondly, to berate a few others for placing stickers on his property.

But aside from Gary — who is, after all, completely unapologetic about his support for neo-Nazism — the pub contained a smattering of locals, as well as a handful of anti-punk poseurs (presumably in attendance in order to offer support to Gary) who looked more than a little embarrassed; especially as they were vastly outnumbered by the real punks outside (for whom ‘punk’ means a lot more than having a funny haircut — who would’ve thought?).

Many thanks to all those who attended (especially the women in orange): it was genuinely heart-warming to see so many people actually giving a shit.

    *In 2002, Gary even agreed to allowing Blood & Honour Australia to hold a gig to celebrate Hitler‘s birthday!

As for what’s next, the provision of a venue for neo-Nazis in Fitzroy/Collingwood is obviously not a good thing, and may well be considered a problem by those responsible for enforcing Liquor Licensing. Of particular relevance in this context is the obligation of license-holders such as Gary to not detract from the ‘amenity’ of the area.

What is amenity?

For the purposes of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998, the amenity of an area is the quality that the area has of being pleasant and agreeable.

Factors that may be taken into account in determining whether the grant, variation or relocation of a licence would detract from or be detrimental to the amenity of an area include:

* the presence or absence of parking facilities
* traffic movement and density
* noise levels
* the possibility of nuisance or vandalism, or
* the harmony and coherence of the environment.

The Director of Liquor Licensing may reject an objection if he or she considers the:

* person making the objection is not affected by the application
* objection is frivolous or vexatious, or
* objection is not in accordance with the Act.

You can lodge an objection by:

* writing to the:

Director of Liquor Licensing
GPO Box 4304
Melbourne Vic 3001, or

* emailing to [email protected].

You should remember that objections are treated as public documents and that full details of the objection are provided to the applicant.

You can read more about lodging an objection in our Objections to Liquor Licensing Applications Fact Sheet.

Note further that:

A Local Council may also object to licence and licence-related applications on the grounds that the grant would detract from, or be detrimental to, the amenity of the area in which the premises are situated.

And at present, of the nine councillors on the (ALP/Greens-dominated) Yarra City Council, thus far only Steve Jolly has been vocal in his opposition to Gary and The Birmy’s support for neo-Nazi organising in the area. Concerned local residents are, of course, encouraged to contact their local councillor to enquire as to what, if anything, they intend to do about the matter.

About @ndy

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I like anarchy. I don't like nazis. I enjoy eating pizza and drinking beer. I barrack for the greatest football team on Earth: Collingwood Magpies. The 2024 premiership's a cakewalk for the good old Collingwood.
This entry was posted in Anti-fascism, Collingwood. Bookmark the permalink.

21 Responses to Fascism in Fitzroy? Fuck that!

  1. weez says:

    How curious that having assholes for patrons can lose you your liquor license. Enlightened bit of legislation there.

    Gary otta be thinking about putting things right with the local community… or putting up a FOR SALE sign.

  2. 100 hey, thats not what I hear… Once again though, very brave to protest a business and not the objects of your ire. Come and protest us if you feel so strongly, we welcome heated debate. You bravely demonstrate when its nice and safe, if its ok with everyone, and not offensive in a politically correct fashion. You are cowards.

  3. @ndy says:

    Mate, I don’t care what the voices in yr (pin)head tell ya — just don’t listen to yr next-door neighbour’s dog, mmmkay?

    Anyway, as I’ve said before, it’s difficult to ‘protest’ a neo-Nazi grp which has no HQ (‘tho the closest thing to it at the moment DOES appear to be Gary’s pub). Besides which, The Birmy IS the object of our ‘ire’… and everybody knows that THE NATURE OF (Y)OUR OPPRESSION IS THE AESTHETIC OF OUR ANGER.

    Or something.

    In any event, yr criticism is incoherent. (‘Bravery’? Pffft, whatever.) As far as I’m concerned, the point of the protest/rally was to draw (further) public attention to the fact that The Birmy hosts neo-Nazis, most recently on September 23rd. Further, that on this basis, the pub should be boycotted.

    From what I can gather, Gary is determined to go down with his ship, and basically lacks both the business sense and political nous to avoid this outcome. If he DID have a clue, I think he would’ve started making amends by this stage. As it is, he’s just digging a deeper hole for himself, ignoring the problem, and hoping it will go away.

    It won’t: the protest was a reminder.

    In fact, the only mob that IS going away is B&H Australia and the SCHS. These ‘brave’ Aryan warriors organised a — ssshhh, it’s a secret — gig, got busted, fucked off, and left Gary to carry the can. By now, I’m sure he really appreciates getting involved with the goose-stepping twats. (And if he doesn’t yet, he will by the time he’s forced to slap a ‘For Sale’ sign out the front.)

    Big, fat, wet, sloppy, antifa hugs ‘n’ kisses,

    @ndy.

  4. =P says:

    Andrew morgen & Cam smith. >=)

  5. @ndy says:

    Um, yeah.

    Anarchist Agitator Andy!:

    http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=407

    Bitter sweet musings on Leftywatch:

    http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=151

    Negras tormentas agitan los aires
    nubes oscuras nos impiden ver
    Aunque nos espere el dolor y la muerte
    contra el enemigo nos llama el deber

    El bien mas preciado
    es la libertad
    hay que defenderla
    con fe y con valor

    Alza la bandera revolucionaria
    que llevara al pueblo a la emancipacion
    En pie obrero a la batalla
    hay que derrocar a la reaccion

    A las Barricadas!
    A las Barricadas!
    por el triunfo
    de la Confederacion

  6. “Andrew morgen & Cam smith are very sexy men. >=)”

    Fixed.

  7. Boofhead says:

    COWARDS!

    FACELESS COWARDS!

    Thats all that can be said about you reds.

    Real brave people you are, you knew that the [Blud und Ehre] gig was coming up before it actually occurred, why didnt you protest the venue that night huh?

    What, dont want to put your money where your big mouths are?

    You are all piss and wind.

  8. @ndy says:

    THE NETHERLANDS

    After the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, a civil administration was installed under SS auspices. Arthur Seyss-Inquart was appointed Reich Commissar. He presided over a German administration that included many Austrian-born Nazis. They in turn supervised the Dutch civil service. This arrangement was to prove fateful for the Jews of the Netherlands.

    During 1940, the German occupation authorities banned Jews from the civil service and required Jews to register the assets of their business enterprises. In January 1941, the German authorities required all Jews to register themselves as Jews. A total of 159,806 persons registered, including 19,561 persons born of mixed marriages. The total included some 25,000 Jewish refugees from the German Reich. A Jewish council was established in February 1941.

    The arrests of several hundred young Jews (sent to the Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps) led to a general strike by Dutch workers on February 25, 1941, and a hardening of Nazi policy. The German authorities and their Dutch collaborators segregated Jews from the general Dutch population, and incarcerated 15,000 Jews in German-administered forced-labor camps. The Germans then ordered the concentration of Jews in Amsterdam and sent foreign and stateless Jews to the Westerbork transit camp in the northeast part of the country. Some of the remaining provincial Jews were sent to the Vught camp. As of April 29, 1942, Jews were required to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing.

    Deportations of Jews from the Netherlands began in the summer of 1942. The last train left Westerbork for Auschwitz on September 3, 1944. During these two years, the Germans and their Dutch collaborators deported 107,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz and Sobibor, where they were murdered. Only 5,200 survived. In addition, 25,000-30,000 Jews went into hiding, assisted by the Dutch underground. Two-thirds of Dutch Jews in hiding managed to survive.

    The geography of the Netherlands made escape difficult. The ruthless efficiency of the German administration and the willing cooperation of Dutch administrators and policemen doomed the Jews of the Netherlands. Less than 25 percent of Dutch Jewry survived the Holocaust.

    ======

    …And which side would you be on, Boofhead?

    Wanker.

    The next B&H gig will, no doubt, be publicly-advertised, well in advance.

    Maybe I’ll see you there?

    Big fat antifa kisses,

    @ndy.

  9. “COWARDS!

    SEXY COWARDS!

    Thats all that can be said about you reds.”

    Fixed.

  10. Ian Stuart Driving School says:

    OK Chicken Little, enough debate about your bravery or lack thereof. You claim your goal was not to disrupt the \”super secret evil Nazi gig\” just to remove the secrecy surrounding it. OK then lets just explain to the uninformed how secret it all is.

    HOW TO ATTEND A \”SUPER SECRET EVIL NAZI GIG\”

    1/ Around gig time which is the same every year and more or less common knowledge a flyer with details of the city it is held within, the date and the line up is released, along with various email contacts. This is done via email and by posting on many bulletin boards and blogs. Check your own for example. Thats all the details anyone needs to know about the gig except for where it is.

    2/ Interested person contacts various B&H or SCHS email and if unknown to them then an opportunity to meet is arranged beforehand. Whilst gigs are ostensibly \”public\” we do reserve the right not to have to openly invite dickheads.

    3/ If you pass the initial \”Im not a dickhead\” test you will be contacted on the day of the gig and told the location.

    Hardly a very trying procedure now is it? Funnily enough though when it comes to emailing and asking questions your red/anarchist factions are very gung ho. When it comes to actually meeting, well the heartbreak of being stood up is gut wrenching.

    So there you have it, the beginners guide to attending your first B&H gig. Not too hard now was it?

    I hope that has dispelled rumours of these super secret gigs too hard for the uninitiated to attend.

    Now thats out of the way I would like to know how it would be possible for US to meet YOU…

  11. Boofhead says:

    Good on you [Ian Stuart Driving School] – these faceless wankers are just that, faceless wankers and cowards to boot!

    Nothing has changed really.

    It seems like the most traffic your little pissant blog gets is from people that think you are an idiot, Andrew.

  12. @ndy says:

    Blah blah blah.

    Yr prose is as convincing as that dead cunt Ian Stuart was thoughtful.

    In response:

    My goals are many, but in the current context, it’s to disrupt fascist organising. Hence, targeting the ISD memorial gig.

    1) As you correctly observe, the one — kinda crucial? — ‘detail’ missing on the ISD flyer is THE VENUE. In this instance, THE BIRMY. (Gary, the stupid bastard, was so afraid word would get out about his hosting the event, he actually lied about it ever taking place!)

    2) Yes, the ‘ISD is Dead’ celebration takes place every yr, at around the same time the bonehead in q wrapped his car ’round a tree in ’93. If you’d care to elaborate upon precisely which email lists, bulletin boards and blogs the gig is advertised on, however, pls feel free.

    3) It’s not “common knowledge” that these gigs happen; it’s quite esoteric actually. Ask most people about ‘Ian Stuart’, ‘Blood & Honour’ or the ‘Southern Cross Hammerskins’, they’ve got no idea what yr talking about. The mileu within which details of the gig are circulated, then, is basically the Australian far right — its more youthful and boneheaded elements in particular. In reality, a very small circle.

    4) Yes, B&H and the SCHS vet potential punters. Why? Because you — I assume that yr an anonymous member of one or both groups — want to strictly control who is in attendance. This is also precisely why the location of the gig is kept secret.

    5) Why engage in such furtive activity? The reasons are obvious. The ideology of groups such as B&H and the SCHS is neo-Nazism. Most people despise Nazism. Therefore, you have to hide.

    6) Feel free to publicly advertise yr next gig. Including the venue. ‘Til then…

    Follow yr leader.

  13. @ndy says:

    Politics & People
    ‘Hundreds of neonazis attend rock concert near Madrid’
    ThinkSpain

    According to a statement by the Antifascist Movement, “nearly a thousand neonazis wearing insignia glorifying Hitler’s Third Reich, and behaving in their typically yobbish fashion, gathered in the town of Guadalajara; in the calle Mayor and surrounding area to be precise” last weekend for a concert by British band, Brutal Attack, who have been together for 25 years, and who are linked to the extreme right wing Blood & Honour organisation that has members across Europe.

    The Antifascist Movement’s statement went on to explain that the concert, that was held inside an aluminium workshop on the Urraque II industrial estate in Yunquera de Henares, had been organised via internet under the name of a ficticious organisation ‘Unidad Skinhead’.

    It had originally been planned to stage the concert in Madrid, but had been moved out of the Madrid region following pressure from the Antifascist Movement.

    Monday, October 30, 2006

    …presumably, a translation of…

    http://www.nodo50.org/antifa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=187&Itemid=32

  14. @ndy says:

    Oh, and that’s “milieu”.

    And ah…

    “…these faceless wankers are just that, faceless wankers and sexy to boot!

    Nothing has changed really.”

  15. Dr. Cam says:

    Hahaha… Classic stuff, Ian Stuart Driving School.

  16. 1/What venues know or don\’t know is immaterial to us, as is the stance they take when confronted by the rabble. If anyone finds themselves in trouble as a result of \”OUR\” actions and wish our aid they need merely ask for it. The fact that we have been absent from any action concerning The Birmy, might possibly signify the fact that the proprietors have no ready links with us. Perhaps?

    2/Google will find you anything you need to know about the ISD. That\’s how I found this blog, with the flyer and gig location on it.

    3/These gigs are \”common knowledge\” to anyone who is interested in such things. If you don\’t know who Ian Stuart was, why would you wish to commem[o]rate him or need to [k]now the whereabouts of a gig[?] As for controlling who attends, is this not the policy of pretty much every gig, eve[r]y venue[,] anywhere[,] any time[?] From what you can wear to how much you pay to what bands can play? Why do pubs have security if not to control their patronage? We have no illusions as to the popularity of our beliefs[.] [W]hy should we make it too easy[?] Though with the likes of the Melbourne antifa to worry about it is rather unneccessary. Just because people don\’t like us, doesn\’t make US wrong[,] it makes YOU stupid.

    4/Yes we vet the crowd (see above)[,] who doesn\’t? Ever been kept out of a pub for wearing the wrong shoes? We only want white people. And yes [ I ] have been a B&H supporter for many years[.] [A]nd anonymous? Tell you what[.] I\’ll post my name and address when you post yours. What do you say?

    5/You can call it hiding if you like. I call it recognizing the facts and taking proper precautions[.] [O]nce again though, not from the likes of you. I\’d also like to add that the reason anti-racist gigs don\’t need to take the same precautions, is that we validate your exist[e]nce whereas we dont give a rat[\’]s ass about yours. You pissants don\’t even wobble the old hate meter.

    6/Attendance next year will be determined exactly the same as this year, anyone who wants to go can, provided they make the minimal effort. Once again though you\’ve not provided any way of meeting yourselves. Who is furtive and hiding?

    7/As a footnote to the idiot gallery[.] Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour and the last recourse for the morons who have nothing intelligent to say.

  17. Who is being sarcastic? We genuinely believe you consider us to be very sexiful. The sooner you can admit this to yourself the better.

  18. KinkyBoy says:

    He o’ways did say tha’ words were his weapon. Ideas anybody ?

  19. Buy him a soy latte and a muffin?

  20. @ndy says:

    Soy lattes and muffins = good! Weak tea and neo-Nazism = bad!

    Thanks Sleet!

    Cam, we are VERY sexiful. That’s why boneheads wanna follow us home.

    Violent Storm: like a car spinning out of control, yr going ’round in circles:

    1) B&H Australia and the SCHS say ‘fuck Gary’. Good. If you were otherwise busy on the day of the protest, doubleplusgood. The only wanker I saw was The Human Urinal, and he scarpered before he even came. Finally, “the fact that ‘we’ [?] have been absent from any action concerning The Birmy, might possibly signify the fact that the proprietors have no ready links with us”; alternatively, the fact that ‘you’ have been holding gigs at The Birmy for yrs suggests a good working r/ship. Speaking of which, a full list of previous gigs at The Birmy would be indeed welcome. Especially, ‘anonymous’, as yr mob have nothing to hide.

    2) Prior to our discovery and publication of THE VENUE for this yr’s ‘Ian Stuart is fat, round, and six ft underground’ Celebration, googling ‘ISD’ would tell you nothing B&H and the SCHS didn’t want the public to know. Specifically: THE ACTUAL VENUE.

    3) Daft fucking questions. Unlike yr comrade(s), I’m not stoopid, and acting disingenuously, as you do, is boring and pointless. That said: maybe you hadn’t noticed, but unless the police are not welcome, the vast majority of gigs are very public events. Part of this process involves NAMING THE VENUE. And, if yr mob really does have little to worry with regards Melbourne antifa, why not NAME THE VENUE?

    Not a hard question… but then again, everyone hates yr guts, right?

    4) If you wanna stop non-Whites attending the gig, Gary is obviously in a position to do so, as is any other proprietor: ‘Management reserves the right to refuse entry’. Of course, to do so on the basis of race is unlawful. This helps explain why Gary is a liar as well as a coward, who wants Fitzroy and Collingwood to be a safe haven for scum.

    No wonder yous blokes get along so well!

    5) OK, I will. Cheers bro’! And you really don’t know much about local Melbourne history, do you? Are you from out-of-town, or are you just plain ignorant?

    6) NAME THE VENUE.

    7) For a neo-Nazi, yr a fucking genius. See you at nxt yr’s ISD?

    Cheers and beers,

    @ndy.

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