Dr James Saleam‘s Australia First Party has recently attempted to capitalise on racialised conflict in the capital of Australian country music, Tamworth. ABC reported on January 29 that ‘Leaflets attack Tamworth over refugee resettlement’:
Tamworth has been targeted in a leaflet drop attacking the council’s decision to launch a trial refugee resettlement program.
The leaflet drop comes only weeks after the council’s backflip on its decision to reject a Commonwealth plan to resettle refugees from Sudan in the district.
The leaflets, with contact details for the Australia First Party, say refugees bring violence, sexual assault, disease and other crimes to the country…
Note that Newcastle-based Stormfront member AustralianEuro reported his group’s participation — ie, the Newcastle branch of AFP — in the leaflet drop on January 28, claiming that the response to their distributing 2,000 copies of the leaflet was uniformly positive (see also ‘White radicals hit Tamworth’, The Daily Terror, January 30, 2007). Note also that racists and fascists on Stormfront had previously expressed tremendous annoyance at Tamworth Council’s decision. Further, in an audacious (and in my opinion somewhat comical) attempt to shed some of its neo-Nazi baggage, AFP has also declared its intention to try and capture a segment of the Aboriginal vote (‘Australia First in bid for indigenous vote’, Tracy Ong, The Australian, January 30, 2007):
Australia First founder [sic — the party was founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell, whom the party claims remains a patronising presence behind-the-scenes] Jim Saleam said the party would “love to” field an Aboriginal candidate in upcoming state and local elections if one willing to run under the party’s banner stepped forward.
“Aborigin[e]s are special people, we look forward to courting Aboriginal people and Aboriginal votes,” he said.
But ALP national president Warren Mundine said Mr Saleam was “completely nuts” if he thought he could court Aboriginal support. “It’s an idiotic viewpoint.”
“Nuts”, yes, “idiotic”, of course, but in invoking the ‘special’ status of Aboriginal people, Saleam is also undoubtedly invoking the memory of their ‘special treatment’.*
In general media reportage, AFP has been variously described as a “political party” — subsequently amended to read “right-wing nationalist” — and a “nationalist anti-immigration” party (AAP/News), and a “White Australia group” (Fairfax). The ABC reports that AFP could be the subject of legal complaints over their distribution of the racist leaflet (HRC mulls legal action over Tamworth anti-refugee leaflets, January 29, 2007), while the Northern Daily Leader carries a report (widely-syndicated by the regional and rural press) by David Ellery on the political complexion (pale skin, brown shirts) of the AFP: ‘Anti-refugee leaflets circulate in Tamworth’.
Ellery notes that AFP is an unregistered party, and that its leader, variously described as “secretary and chairman”, James Saleam, is “a right wing figure who has spent time in prison after being implicated in a shotgun attack on an African politician”. Curiously:
When asked about the time he spent in prison between 1991 and 1995 after being convicted of firearms charges stemming from a shotgun attack on Eddie Funde, a member of the African National Congress [NB. Funde was not merely a member, but the ANC’s official representative to Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand from 1983–1991], Saleam threatened The Leader editor, David Ellery, with the wrath of the Press Council.
This was followed up with a faxed letter to that effect — and also foreshadowing the possibility of libel action — late yesterday afternoon. Saleam, who said his conviction had been the result of his being framed by police, claimed an officer involved in the case had subsequently been found guilty of perjury on another matter. He claimed this effectively overturned the court’s finding.
No court has yet ruled against the original conviction stemming from the attack on Eddie Funde…
Running to the Press Council is Saleam’s standard response to unflattering news items concerning himself, especially any which refer to his criminal or neo-Nazi past. Unfortunately for him, thus far, every single one of his complaints have been dismissed by the Council.
Ellery seems to have relied on the contents of a Wikipedia article on Saleam for much of his information, an entry Saleam describes as being “compiled by anti-racist enemies of his who were using it to discredit him”. In reality, the entry is quite brief and — apart from a few spelling errors — states a number of relatively uncontroversial facts, the only real points of contention being Saleam’s ethnicity (he says Greek; others say Lebanese), when he was awarded his PhD, and his relationship to the Patriotic Youth League (now seemingly the singular domain of a middle-aged racist from Brisbane called John Drew) and AFP (Saleam is described as Secretary of the Sydney branch).
Finally, ABC Radio reports that Australia First Party wants to ‘divide and conquer’ (Tanya Nolan, The World Today, January 31, 2007):
ELEANOR HALL: The group responsible for a leaflet drop on Tamworth which warned residents that Sudanese migrants would bring crime, violence and disease to the New South Wales centre, has said its Tamworth action was only the start of a national campaign.
The Australia First Party has declared it will pursue a policy of ‘divide and conquer’ and will field candidates in local elections around the country.
The Party’s founder, Dr Jim Saleam, says the group’s aim is to split all Australian communities on racial issues, as Tanya Nolan reports…
JIM SALEAM: Our intention is most certainly to divide all towns between those who in our opinion have an Australian view and those who have the anti-Australian view…
Saleam, as well as a number of other AFP members, is also a member of Stormfront, where he posts under the alias ‘radnat’. It is official Stormfront policy that ‘the Jew’ is The White Man’s #1 Enemy. As for The White Man’s Burden, interested parties need only refer to the Stormfront website to gain some idea of the hatred and contempt AFP’s social base has for Aborigines. In one thread (‘The real racists in Tamworth’), responding to a newspaper report on the assault of a man in Tamworth in which two of his assailants are described “as being of Aboriginal appearance”, Carl D. Thompson (‘Wodensvolk’) writes:
Typical Abo behaviour: cowardly scum, vicious pack animals. There were reasons that the graziers used to go on black hunts from time to time. It was the only way to ensure that their wives and children were not raped and murdered while the men were away from the homestead. The last ‘permit to shoot blacks’ as they were called was issued in Queensland in 1925. What a pity that the permit system is not still available.
ruthlesstoothless chimes in with:
Dirty rotten filthy sub-human scum should be hunted down and shot like the filth that they are.
ben_hall opines:
Aboriginals [sic] are PRIMITIVE SCUM that are lucky not to be rounded up and placed in a zoo for students to study the world’s most backward animal at a safe distance…
ladyfuro reckons:
Abo or Sudanese… same in the dark in the eyes of the elderly. Take them all out… that is the only appropriate response. Where [the fuck] was the church when this elderly gentleman needed accom[m]odation… oh sorry, it was taken up by ethnics.
While Mithrandir23 says:
I’m surprised these neanderthals weren’t carrying clubs.
“White nationalists” are not what you’d call supple thinkers.
* Special Treatment (Paul Kelly)
- Grandfather walked this land in chains
A land he called his own
He was given another name
And taken into town
He got special treatment
Special treatment
Very special treatment
My father worked a twelve hour day
As a stockman on a station
The very same work, but not the same pay
As his white companions
He got special treatment
Special treatment
Very special treatment
Mother and father loved each other well
But together they could not stay
They were split up against their will
Until their dying day
They got special treatment
Special treatment
Very special treatment
My mother bore a stranger’s child
A child she called her own
Strangers came and took away that child
To a stranger’s home
She got special treatment
Special treatment
Very special treatment
I never spoke my mother’s tongue
I never knew her name
I never heard the songs she sang
I was raised in shame
I got special treatment
Special treatment
Very special treatment
“The Party’s founder, Dr Jim Saleam, says the group’s aim is to split all Australian communities on racial issues, as Tanya Nolan reports…”
For the record, this is incorrect, Saleam is not the ‘founder’ of Australia First.
Also for the record, I pointed this out in a preceding paragraph:
“Australia First founder [sic — the party was founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell, whom the party claims remains a patronising presence behind-the-scenes] Jim Saleam said the party would “love to” field an Aboriginal candidate in upcoming state and local elections if one willing to run under the party’s banner stepped forward…”
Just saying.
Aboriginals are scum…they preach that they have been here for 40000 years…and what the fuck did they do with the place…they burn off what they didnt eat so other ‘clans’ couldnt use the land… they were living under sticks before the white men came to australia. and still would be now if they didnt…what would have happened if white men had come to australia 200 years later than they did…advanced weaponry against sticks ill let your imagination handle the rest…
Australia is home to more biodiversity than any other developed nation on Earth. In fact Australia is one of the six most biodiverse nations on the planet.
However, Australia’s wildlife is now facing an extinction crisis.
Australia has the worst mammal extinction record in the world – 22 mammals have become extinct in the last 200 years. No other country or continent has such a tragic record of mammal extinctions.
In addition, of our surviving biodiversity, more than 1,500 mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and plants are listed as threatened with extinction under Federal legislation. The Federal government has also identified 3,000 ecosystems facing extinction.
Add to the mass extinction of animals (amphibians, birds, fish, insects, mammals and reptiles) and plants — both species and populations — mass habitat destruction; caused by deforestation / soil erosion and increased salinity, agriculture clearing and overgrazing, overfishing, the introduction of exotic species (cane toads, rabbits, willows, feral cats, foxes and rabbits etc), pollution (land, air and water) and infrastructure development. In short, ‘what the fuck has been done to this place’ since white men came to Australia approximately 200 years ago — and leaving aside the social dimension — is not good. In fact, the civilization which has been built here — as a result of imperial expansion and the desire of the British ruling classes to rid themselves of a ‘criminal underclass’ — may in many ways be considered a weapon of mass destruction, one for which future generations, both black and white, will have to pay a very high price.
As for your diatribe regarding the nature of Aboriginal peoples, it expresses little more than racist ignorance.
Anglo-pride, having pride and love for your own race does not need to come at the expense or hatred of another. I love my anglo identity, but I also respect those of other races and cultures. You make everyone with an anglo-identity look bad, because we all get tarnished with the same brush. Shame on you.
So what if Abos are lardites – does having technology make us as a race/culture/nation any happier? I don’t think so; and are we any better for it? Not if the only “culture” we have is to see kids on the news drinking themselves to oblivion (the U.K banker is one example that springs to mind).
How can anglos be respected for having a culture and ethnocentric identity when all you do is to just go around spewing hatred. No wonder the left call us all racists…
I’ve never been convinced of the claims that the Angles were a superior people — or the Saxons for that matter. The Frisians, on the other hand… well, let’s just say: “Frisian Pride!”
Oh yeah. This too:
You white power idiots need to face the fact that in a matter of YEARS you won’t even be here anymore. Less than 8% of the world population is white. You talk about a “multicultural agenda”? If the white man had stayed in the caves of Europe where he belonged, there would be no multiculturalism! You are the ones who decided to colonize everywhere on earth. You are genetically inferior and will soon be bred out. Good. So to all of you American idiots, go watch Nascar, eat mayonnaise and white bread and screw your sisters you backwoods idiots. To all you Australians, you diseased offspring of mental defectives, Australia is a BRITISH PENAL COLONY for God’s sake. You are all descendants of murderers and rapists. You New Zealand wankers are in the same boat. To all you English inbred, pasty white, incest having losers, you can all go to hell. The sun set on you a looonnnggg time ago. You can all go kill yourselves.
Australia was established as a British penal colony, yes, partly in order to provide a port for the English Navy, partly in order to cleanse British society of a criminal underclass whose criminal activity was, as you also assert, of ‘genetic’ rather than social origin.
(The Commonwealth of) Australia officially formed a quasi-independent nation-state on January 1, 1901 — the last convict to be transported Down Under died in Melbourne in 1928. The crimes for which individuals were sentenced to transportation were generally what would today be regarded as a) minor crimes such as theft, not rape or murder, or b) of a political nature — Irish republicans and British trades union activists for example.
White power idiots are indeed idiots, but so too are those responsible for promulgating easily-disproven and fanciful accounts of Australian and British history.
Wendy
June 17, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Oh boy..dont get me started..too late! I was raised in Salisbury SA. If you go to the heart of Salisbury, you will find a group of Aboriginals on nearly every corner, drinking, swearing, bludging when they should be either at work or looking for it! They are dirty, rude and have no respect for anything or anyone around them. They beg for money, while they have a ‘goon under their arm, and will abuse the daylights out of you if you ignore them. I know there are white people like this too, but they dont look to blame others for their behaviour, whereas, Aboriginals will cry “white man not giving us enough!”..c’mon..why is it the white peoples fault they dont work?? They can apply just like we do! If they cant read the job applications, ask why!! They have Schools just for Aboriginals in SA, so why didnt they go to School and learn?? Instead of feeling sorry for themselves and getting off their drunken asses to find a job, they would prefer to sit around drunk all day and blame everyone else for their failures!
Yesterday, 4 aboriginals got on a local Adelaide Metro bus I was on, travelling to Adelaide. They got on, said something quick to the Bus Driver, and they just walked to the back of the bus!- no payment for a ticket- nothing!! I am on a very low income, but I struggled to pay my ticket, why can’t they?? And to make matters worse, everyone turned around to stare at them- and rightfully so, and they just sat there and smirked at everyone- and Aboriginal people wonder why most whites are fed up with them!! Talk about racist! Free travel because of your race? You have to be kidding me!! They need to stop using their race as a crutch to get freebies!
They get so many Government handouts, electricity, phone etc- while alot of white people are having theirs turned off as they can no longer afford it! They get free education, (I wish we got that!!), cheap loans, and extra money from Centrelink just because they are Aboriginal..damn why is that?? Is it REALLY necessary? Why cant I get an extra payment because I am white- racist again..
Aboriginals need to look at themselves very closely. Australians would accept them much more if they pulled their weight in society, rather than feeling sorry for themselves, thinking the world owes them a free favour. Take away their extra benefits, and make them live under the same Centrelink payments as the white fella. No extras. That would be EQUAL would it not? If they dont like it, then they can always return to living the way their ancestors did, in the bush, killing animals for their food, suffering from starvation- lets face it, they always talk about their heritage- then we should encourage them to go back to that way of life, if they cannot live EQUAL to the whites. If they dont look for work- cut their dole. If they then complain to Government agencies for money, they should be turned away, like the whites would be..they get so much more Centrelink help than whites do, so why are they not improving their way of life? If I had extra money, I’d buy clothes for the kids, and put plenty of food on their tables. At the moment, all they seem to do is hit the pubs, and then look for more money, at Tax Payers expense.
Am I angry? Damn straight I am..this race of people need to STOP whinging and looking for handouts, and get off their butts’ and get a job. Act like moral citizens. Do any other races get extra money each fortnight because of who they are? NO..think about it..
…and to “COMMON SENSE’…your comments are childish and racist! This is just my point. Its FINE to say… “English inbred, pasty white, incest having losers, you can all go to hell. The sun set on you a looonnnggg time ago. You can all go kill yourselves.”, yet the very MINUTE someone says ‘BLACK’, you run off squealing to your indiginous leaders like a bunch of old sooks!…you guys are the most RACIST breed of human I have ever known! You wonder why most Aussies have had enough of aboriginals getting away with blue friggin’ murder? You guys call us dreadful names, yet we can be sued for doing the same!
At the end of the day, you guys get what you deserve, and give a bad name to any decent members of your community. Shame.
You make a very persuasive argument Wendy. I only hope that ‘Common Sense’ is paying as much attention as I am.
I do not like Aboriginal people [blah blah blah].