4.30pm, Thursday, February 8, 2024 /// 3CR /// 855AM / streaming live on the 3CR website
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[Update (January 31, 2024) : Cameron Brodie-Hall, the leader of the Adelaide cell of the NSN, has plead not guilty to a charge of possessing extremist material: ‘A book outlining how to spark a Nazi revolution in Australia with bombings and the murder of ‘soft targets’ was found in the home of an alleged neo Nazi leader, a court has heard.’]
I wasn’t gonna bother but then I thought, what the Hell, may as well.
• Despite The Australian‘s (frankly idiotik) avowal to the contrary: Yes, Virginia, nazis exist. Both in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere.
• Just as fascist groupings first emerged in Australia in the 1920s, Nazi associations quickly followed in the 1930s. Following the end of the Second World War, and the collapse of Italian Fascism, German Nazism and other European fascist regimes and movements, local expressions were — unsurprisingly — rather subdued, and didn’t really start cracking again until the 1960s. That said, the Australian state, as part of a wider program by the victorious Anglo-American franchise, also rolled out the welcome mat for some select Nazi criminals along with other fascist migrants/refugees. Of particular note in this regard is the Ustasha, which continues to attract some degree of support from within the Croatian-Australian community and whose leader, Ante Pavelic, is still accorded a place of honour in a number of community centres. See also : Fascists in Exile: Post-War Displaced Persons in Australia, Jayne Persian (Routledge, 2024).
• Formal neo-Nazi associations such as Tom Sewell’s National Socialist Network (AKA European Australian Movement) are relatively rare. Thus, while Antipodean Resistance, Aryan Nations, Blood & Honour/Southern Cross Hammerskins, Creativity, Squadron 88 and other groupuscules have been in existence over a period of several decades, none have drawn the same degree of ‘mainstream’ attention as the NSN/EAM. See : A Brief Guide To The Australian Far Right (September 2021 Edition).
• The NSN/EAM did not fall from the sky. Rather, the grouping around Sewell evolved out of previous articulations of racist and fascist organising. Hence, prior to Sewell’s decision to Go Full Nazi — a tactical decision which his former kamerad Blair Cottrell eschewed, preferring his political perspective stayed in the closet – he organised with The Lads Society, which in turn emerged from the collapse of the United Patriots Front; itself the (rather self-)conscious ‘vanguard’ of Reclaim Australia. To put it simply, the NSN is the product of years of far-right and neo-Nazi organising and mobilisation: a culmination rather than, as it’s often framed, a ‘sudden’ explosion (and one helped along its way by sometimes quite favourable treatment by those who may now want to distance themselves from this specific projection). A useful account of important elements in this process is provided in The Rise of the Fascist Cadre: Shifts in Far-Right Organising in Australia, Jordan McSwiney, C-REX – Center for Research on Extremism, May 18, 2021.
• I could go on (and one day I hope to), but finally, it’s simply not possible to understand the antics of the boy from Balwyn and his flunkeys without first situating them in the recent history of far-right organising and the wider political context in which they find themselves and to which they respond. This also requires that particular attention is paid to the relationship of these ‘extreme’ political expressions and the altogether ‘mainstream’ obsessions of media and politics over borders and immigration, race and nation, xenophobia and Islamophobia. This necessarily includes examining, on the one hand, the parliamentary cretinism of PHONy (It’s OK to be White!), the anti-Indigenous racism associated with the failed ‘Voice’ campaign and the murderous brutality of the Australian border regime and, on the other hand, the deeper wells of ultra-nationalism, white supremacy and colonial-settlerism from which it draws and which form its foundations.
In essence: ‘Whoever is not prepared to talk about capitalism should also remain silent about fascism.’ ~ Max Horkheimer
True West explores myths of the West and how, if left unexamined, they distort the realities of the present and exacerbate polarizations. These misperceptions about land, politics, liberty, and self-determination threaten the wellbeing of western communities overrun by newcomers seeking a dream—and the country, unless America recognizes the dangers of building a national identity on illusion. Gaines Quammen interrogates it all by listening, carefully, to people from varying political and cultural perspectives as she seeks to reconcile the deep anger and broad misunderstandings that linger amid myths that define and impede the West and America.
4.30pm, Thursday, February 1, 2024 /// 3CR /// 855AM / streaming live on the 3CR website
• This episode will be available as a podcast on Apple, Spotify and other platforms after broadcast.
• We also have a Facebook page for the show, which you’re invited to ‘Like’ and to ‘Follow’.
• I have a Patreon account which youse are also invited to support.
Tom Sewell’s ‘National Socialist Network’ held a gathering in Sydney this weekend, with approximately 60 or so members from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania responding to the call.
Having assembled on Gadigal country on Invasion Day (January 26), the boys hopped on a train at Atarmon but were stopped by NSW police at North Sydney, removed and d0xxed. (While some wags have speculated that Tommeh! — noting the fuehrer’s previous boast that he was happy to hand over his members’ d0x to authorities in Victoria — is a federal informant, it’s far more likely that the simplest explanation is the right one: the boy from Balwyn is just a bit strategically inept.)
In any case, on International Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27), the boys then gathered at a scout hall in Turramurra North, where they were again subject to heavy manners by police.
Undeterred, today (January 28) Sewell & Co. tried to hold a picnic in a park — with by now predictable results.
No doubt more details regarding the composition of the little Nuremberg rally will be made public in future, but in the meantime, if I was to speculate on why the boys decided Sydney rather than Melbourne was the go this weekend, it’s because they may have decided that they’ve reached a limit in terms of recruitment in this city, and would very much like to revive things in the larger (see also : Neo-Nazi group ‘The Lads Society’ @ 34 Thomas Street, Ashfield, Sydney : Help shut it down!, November 19, 2018). Beyond that, some have asked why it appears that police in NSW appear to be rather less keen on nazi parades than their fellows in Victoria (who have a long record of facilitating such events). One partial explanation may be an understanding of the symbolism of a neo-Nazi assembly on the anniversary of the British Empire’s establishment of a penal colony in 1788, the potential mischief such a gathering may pose, and a desire to avoid it. Further, the powers granted by police to tell others to move on/bugger off under the terms of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 are extensive.
Look, for all the squawking: Which Melburnian hasn’t woken up one morning after a night on the tiles to find themselves facedown in a park in St Kilda at least once in their lives?
In any event, as in previous years, on January 26 there’s lots of stuff going on tomorrow.
This week on Yeah Nah Pasaran! on 3CR we talk to Crikey! It’s Cam Wilson! [X/Twitter]. Cam was a guest on the program in May 2022: in this episode, we spoke to him about some of his recent reportage on The Wonderful World of ‘Artificial Intelligence’, the alleged chanting of ‘Gas the Jews’ that took place at a rally at the Sydney Opera House in October, reporting on nazi weird0es, and Pete ‘My Sonnenrad Rules’ Evans.
Mr Wilson also announces that he’s working on a book dedicated to Australian conspiracy theorists. Scoop!
4.30pm, Thursday, January 25, 2024 /// 3CR /// 855AM / streaming live on the 3CR website
• This episode will be available as a podcast on Apple, Spotify and other platforms after broadcast.
• We also have a Facebook page for the show, which you’re invited to ‘Like’ and to ‘Follow’.
• I have a Patreon account which youse are also invited to support.
4.30pm, Thursday, January 18, 2024 /// 3CR /// 855AM / streaming live on the 3CR website
• This episode will be available as a podcast on Apple, Spotify and other platforms after broadcast.
• We also have a Facebook page for the show, which you’re invited to ‘Like’ and to ‘Follow’.
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I recently stumbledupon a recent (September 2023) podcast interview by veteran crime reporter John Silvester with two of the police involved in the death of Melbourne teenager Tyler Cassidy in Northcote in 2008. Having made some posts on the subject at that time, I thought I’d see what other commentary I’ve missed in the years since I last made reference to it: I did this outta curiosity about the aftermath, but also because one of these posts was possibly one of if not the most popular I’ve published.
What I discovered was that:
• In combination with filtering software (and my very poor Google-fu/SEO technique), the near-total obliteration of the blogosphere by corporate anti-social media means many fewer people discover it (and thereby be in a position to actually read my h0ttt takes boo-hoo).
• In 2016, a defamation action taken by one of the officers involved against a Queensland barrister for his online comments was successful and he was rewarded $150,000.
• Following a campaign by Cassidy’s mother, Tasers are now standard issue for Victoria police.
• The Southern Cross Soldiers — along with being responsible for some of the worst rap anthems I’ve ever heard — have presumably grown up and … I dunno, could be viewed as being one link in the chain connecting, say, ‘Cronulla’ (2005 — see also : Alan ‘I’m the person that’s led this charge’ Jones) to later political formations (Australian Defence League, Australian Protectionist Party) and protest movements (Reclaim Australia, United Patriots Front).
The semi-popular post referred to above — OH NOES! Southern Cross Soldiers go to war (November 23, 2008) — was published just a few weeks before Cassidy’s shooting death (December 11, 2008). Of the cast of bizarr0s active in 2008 and featured in that post, ex-APP/Party for Freedom meathead and failed Cronulla re-enactor Nick Folkes got cancer and embraced Hitler and veganism, while Luke Connors (Australia First Party/Patriotik Yoof League), Darrin Hodges and Martin Fletcher have all, hopefully, put their days of promoting race-hate behind them.
Oh and Folkes’ sometime ‘Cronulla’ comrade from Cooma, Shermon ‘The Great Aussie Patriot’ Burgess, eventually ended up Alhamdulillah converting to Islam.
LOL.
See also : ‘Bloods, Crips and Southern Cross Soldiers’ by Amelia Johns in A Critical Youth Studies for the 21st Century, Peter Kelly and Analise Kamp (eds.), Brill, 2015.
[Update (January 13) : As noted by White Rose Society, ‘The ABC has reported on a violent assault in May 2023 in Adelaide’s CBD, carried out by National Socialist Network member Kane Brennand-Reynolds and another man, Martin Quinn.’ According to the report, ‘When he left the court on November 10, the ABC asked Brennand-Reynolds if he was a Nazi. He responded by performing what appeared to be a Nazi salute.’ Incidentally, on January 8, it became a federal offence to do a Nazi salute in public (see : Australia outlaws Nazi salute and hate symbols, Al Jazeera, January 8, 2024). Then again, that’s been the case in Italy for many years and ah, Giorgia Meloni fans can’t. won’t. don’t. stahp.]
Happy New Fear!
1)
Having previously utilised Christian nationalist crowdfunding site ‘Give Send Go’ to raise 50K+ to support their organising efforts in Australia (see, for example, Ballarat), the Melbourne-based neo-Nazi groupuscule ‘National Socialist Network’ has launched another fundraiser to allegedly help support the construction of a regional/rural enclave for angwy Aryans, one which they’ve dubbed ‘White Australian Community’ (see also : ‘Pioneer Little Europe’). You may remember Give Send Go from its corporate sponsorships of Warren Mundine’s ‘Conservative Political Action Conference’ (CPAC) in Sydney last year; as for the NSN, while its leader Tom Sewell and his sidekick Jacob Hersant escaped a custodial sentence for the crime of ‘violent disorder’ (they attacked some hikers) last year, Hersant celebrated their victory outside (((the courts))) with just a little bit too much enthusiasm, and copped another charge as a result. Finally, just before Christmas, nazi boxing instructor Tim Lutze (see‘Legacy Boxing Gym’) claims that a car belonging to his wife was firebombed outside their home in Werribee. Nobody’s been arrested for the alleged incident, it seems, but it did remind me of a previous arson in Newcastle involving members of another neo-Nazi cell, linked to the NSN, called ‘Activ88’. On that occasion, an older nazi, Ben Thomas, allegedly groomed a younger nazi in order to perform the act (see also : Inside Australia’s ‘terrorgram’: How neo-Nazism spreads in our cities, Nick McKenzie, The Age, August 4, 2022 /// Antifascist Action Wollongong).
BONUS! Unravel True Crime! Firebomb! ‘Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. The police arson squad is racing against the clock to stop the next attack. It’s 1988 and as the rest of Australia celebrates the nation’s bicentenary, a campaign of terror is getting underway in Perth. Thirty-five years on, most of us have never heard about it, even though it’s one of the few sustained and coordinated terrorism campaigns in Australia’s history.’
2)
I suppose I should note the death of the blog ‘New Australian Bulletin’. Published by a convicted stalker, doll-collector and racist bizarr0 called Nathan Sykes, NAB continued in the tradition of ye olde ‘Whitelaw Towers’ blog, functioning as a kind of online shit-sheet for veteran fascist Dr Jim Saleam’s ‘Australia First Party’, in which Mr Sykes (wearing various hats — just as he did when he was producing batshit commentary for Andrew Anglin’s Daily Stormer website) flailed away at Dear Leader’s critics. Sadly, despite these valiant efforts, the chief difficulty facing Jim and Nathan’s party remains its failure to lower the demographic, now happily colonised by their rivals in the NSN (see : Matthew Grant’s Gun Club).
Oh and speaking of political rivals for the White nationalist banner, PHONy has been treated to some wagyu beef courtesy of Australia’s Greatest Poet AKA billionaire heiress Gina Reinhart.
Spencer Sunshine has examined the fortunes of the far-right in the United States in 2023 in The Far Right Is Growing Stronger—and Has a Plan for 2024 in which he notes that, while ‘the far right has dropped off the radar of many Americans’ (because war, economics and elections):
Another reason for this oversight is because far-right ideas have permeated American politics. Although the alt right collapsed, its goal of shifting the “Overton window”—the spectrum of what is considered legitimate political discourse—succeeded. Today, white supremacist, anti-LGBTQ+, and even antisemitic conspiracy theories have become so prevalent that what was taboo even in 2018 is accepted by many as not only normal but acceptable. However, observers of the far right are keenly aware of the movement’s continuing strength.
Josh Fernandez is a community college professor in Northern California who finds himself under investigation for “soliciting students for potentially dangerous activities” after starting an antifascist club on campus.
As Fernandez spends the year defending his job, he reflects on a life lived in protest of the status quo, swept up in chaos and rage, from his childhood in Boston dealing with a mentally ill father and a new family to a move to Davis, California, where, in the basement shows of the early ’90s, Nazi boneheads proliferated the music scene, looking for heads to crack. His crew’s first attempts at an antifascist group fall short when a member dies in a knife fight.
As in 2022, then, here’s a brief review of what appeared on the blog in 2023:
January : I updated Trot Guide, made some notes about Invasion Day and anti-fascism — inter alia National Socialist Network (NSN) lvl boss Tom Sewell escaped a prison term after being found guilty of assault — and we interviewed Evan Smith, Boe Spearim and Shane Burley for the radio.
March : In March, it came to my attention that veteran Islamophobic serial pest Shermon ‘The Great Australian Patriot’ Burgess — the former face of the ‘Australian Defence League’, ‘Reclaim Australia’, ‘United Patriots Front’ and numerous other far-right satellites — had apparently converted to Islam. We also spoke to Kate Burns, Byron Clark, Jayne Persian and Simon Hunt (Pauline Pantsdown).
March was also when English semi-pro transphobe Lady Posie Parker (AKA Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull) took part in a publicity tour of Australia and paid an even briefer visit to Aotearoa/New Zealand. The fallout from that particular stoopid carries on into 2024, with special guest speaker and Victorian state MP Moira Deeming suing Liberal Party leader John Pesutto for defamation regarding her involvement in the tour and subsequent expulsion from the party; especially ‘controversial’ was the participation of Sewell & The Gang in the event, a fact which forms a critical part of Deeming’s claims against Pesutto. See : Victorian MP Moira Deeming lodges defamation suit against Liberal leader John Pesutto, ABC, December 5, 2023.
April : We spoke to Ray Acheson and Jason Wilson in April and, borrowing from Crikey’s Cam Wilson, I (re-)examined the careers of several AltRight keyboard warriors (and some intimate links to The Daily Mail).
August : Warren Mundine’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) met at the casino in Sydney in August. I banged on about it a bit, and I also examined the bizarre campaign by the Building Industry Group of unions in Victoria to defend duck-hunting, noted the temporary retirement of keyboard warrior David Hiscox from the NSN and, for some reason, also talked a little about muzak. This month on Yeah Nah Pasaran! we interviewed Bradley Onishi, Jason Wilson, Matthew Cunningham and Tom Tanuki: Cam also spoke to Valerie Morse on Racist Tours.
December : The NSN rocked up in Ballarat, Joshua Roose and Neil Mitchell faced off against tyre extinguishers on 3AW and in the final episodes of Yeah Nah Pasaran! for the year we interviewed Jordan McSwiney and Joan Braune.
2024 will be the twentieth (!) anniversary for the blog, the audience for which has long been in decline. In addition to the blog, I, along with a majority of readers, can also be found on Bluesky, Facebook, Mastodon and X/Twitter. I also have a Patreon.
Two Greek anarchists are making molotov cocktails. One says to the other: "So who will we throw these at then?" The other replies: "What are you, some kind of fucking intellectual?"
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