Abbreviation | AR |
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Named after | 'Antipodes' meaning related to Australia and New Zealand |
Successor | National Socialist Network |
Formation | 12 October 2016 [1] ; (8 years ago) |
Founded at | Melbourne |
Type | Neo-Nazi hate group |
Legal status | Active. In violation of The Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tasmania). [2] Associated with proscribed American and British terrorist groups and organisations [3] Monitored by state and federal law enforcement including ASIO [4] |
Purpose | Neo-Nazism [1] White supremacy Antisemitism Homophobia Fascism Australian nationalism Anti-multiculturalism Anti-Chinese sentiment Anti-immigration |
Headquarters | Melbourne [1] |
Location |
|
Origins | Melbourne |
Region | Primarily in Victoria and New South Wales |
Official language | English |
Parent organization | Iron March |
Affiliations | National Action (UK) Nordic Resistance Movement Atomwaffen Division |
Part of a series on |
Neo-Nazism |
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Part of a series on |
Far-right politics in Australia |
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Antipodean Resistance (AR) is an Australian neo-Nazi hate group. [5] The group, formed in October 2016, uses the slogan "We're the Hitlers you've been waiting for" and makes use of Nazi symbols such as the swastika and the Nazi salute. AR's logo features the Black Sun and Totenkopf (death's head) with an Akubra hat, a laurel wreath and a swastika. [1]
Antipodean Resistance promotes and incites hatred and violence, distributing racist, homophobic and antisemitic posters and propaganda. In 2018 its website was shut down by its hosting provider. ASIO, Australia's national security agency, has been monitoring the group since at least 2017.
Antipodean Resistance was formed on the now-defunct Iron March website, which was a far-right website describing itself as a fascist social network, and which appears to have been home to many white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists. [6] Members of the website formed groups such as Atomwaffen Division and Antipodean Resistance. [7]
AR has attracted attention for its Nazi-inspired vandalism in major cities in Australia. It has targeted schools in Melbourne with significant ethnic minority populations, placing posters carrying messages such as "Keep Australia White" and "Australia For The White Man" along with several other racial slurs targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Chinese Australians and African Australians which were described as "vile and disgusting" by the Victorian education minister James Merlino. [8] The group also placed a series of Chinese-language posters at numerous university campuses threatening Chinese students with deportation. [9]
In the lead-up to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey AR targeted churches, universities and public places with homophobic propaganda linking same-sex marriage and paedophilia. [10] [11]
In 2018, the NSW Nationals unanimously adopted a resolution banning 22 people for life after an investigation into alleged infiltration by people with links to neo-Nazi and fascist groups. The resolution also banned any party member from joining a number of specific organisations, including Antipodean Resistance.
In 2020, the Antipodean Resistance and another far-right group, the Lads Society, allegedly formed the National Socialist Network. [12] [13]
The membership of AR is reported to be very small. The group is only open to who are "able to take a hit" for their beliefs. Members assume a pseudonym in an attempt to remain anonymous. Media outlets have reported that AR have organised secret radicalisation camps in remote forests. [14] AR has been banned from a number of social media and online hosting platforms. [1]
Several counter-terrorism experts have suggested authorities should focus more on far-right extremists such as Antipodean Resistance. Anne Aly, the Labor MP, in 2017 suggested that the group may turn to terrorism, stating "For a terrorist attack to succeed, it really only takes one person." She called for the group to be banned, stating "I would like to see some of these groups proscribed ... as terrorist and violent organisations." [10]
It was reported in 2017 that ASIO, the Australian national security organisation, was monitoring the group, who were "willing to use violence to further their own interests." [15]
Neo-Nazism comprises the post-World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy, to attack racial and ethnic minorities, and in some cases to create a fascist state.
Blood & Honour is a neo-Nazi music promotion network and right-wing extremist political group founded in the United Kingdom by Ian Stuart Donaldson in 1987. It is composed of white nationalists and has links to Combat 18.
The Hammerskins are a neo-Nazi group formed in 1988 in Dallas, Texas. Their primary focus is the production and promotion of white power rock music, and many white power bands have been affiliated with the group. The Hammerskins were affiliated with the record label 9% Productions. The Hammerskins host several annual concerts, including Hammerfest, an annual event in both the United States and Europe in honor of deceased Hammerskin Joe Rowan, the lead singer of the band Nordic Thunder.
The Black Sun is a type of sun wheel symbol originating in Nazi Germany and later employed by neo-Nazis and other far-right individuals and groups. The symbol's design consists of twelve radial sig runes, similar to the symbols employed by the SS in their logo. It first appeared in Nazi Germany as a design element in a castle at Wewelsburg remodeled and expanded by the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, which he intended to be a center for the SS.
Peter Joseph "Jack" van Tongeren is the former leader of the West Australian Neo-Nazi group Australian Nationalist Movement (ANM), a white supremacist and far-right group, and a successor organisation called the Australian Nationalist Worker's Union (ANWU). He served 13 years, one month, and six days in prison from 1989 to 2002 for theft and arson, having robbed and firebombed businesses owned by Asians in Western Australia. In the late 1980s it was revealed Van Tongeren's father was of part-Javanese ancestry. Nevertheless, Van Tongeren resumed anti-Asian activities upon his release in 2002, leading to further convictions, in 2006.
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The United Patriots Front (UPF) was an Australian far-right extremist group that opposed immigration, multiculturalism and the religion of Islam. Formed in 2015, the group has been largely dormant since their Facebook page was deleted following the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.
Siege is an anthology of essays first published as a single volume in 1992, written in 1980s by James Mason, a neo-Nazi and associate of the cult leader Charles Manson. After growing disillusioned with the mass movement approach of neo-Nazi movements, he began advocating for white revolution through terrorism. Referred to as the "Godfather of Fascist Terrorism", Mason has been proscribed as a "terrorist entity" in Canada.” Mason originally wrote the essays for the eponymous newsletter of the National Socialist Liberation Front, a militant splinter of the American Nazi Party.
The Atomwaffen Division, also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, was an international far-right extremist and neo-Nazi terrorist network. Formed in 2013 and based in the Southern United States, it expanded across the United States and it had also expanded into the United Kingdom, Argentina, Canada, Germany, the Baltic states, and other European countries. The group was described as a part of the alt-right by some journalists, but it rejected the label and it was considered extreme even within that movement. Atomwaffen was described as "one of the most violent neo-Nazi movements in the 21st century". It was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and it was also designated as a terrorist group by multiple governments, including the United Kingdom and Canada.
Anti-Communist Action, also shortened to Anticom, is a right-wing to far-right political organization based in the United States and Canada. The group has described itself as "the right's response to antifa." Anticom has espoused neo-Nazi ideology and members have attended neo-Nazi events. The group has done security for various alt-right and white supremacist rallies. Anticom has overlapping membership with the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division and has shared information on combat and bomb-making.
Neil Erikson is an Australian far-right extremist and self-proclaimed neo-Nazi.
The Lads Society is an Australian far-right, white nationalist, Islamophobic extremist group founded by several former members of the United Patriots Front (UPF) in late 2017. It established 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 wearing an SS helmet.
Far-right politics in Australia describes authoritarian ideologies, including fascism and White supremacy as they manifest in Australia.
Iron March was a far-right neo-fascist and Neo-Nazi web forum. The site opened in 2011 and attracted neo-fascist and Neo-Nazi members, including militants from organized far-right groups and members who would later go on to commit acts of terror. The forum closed in 2017. Subsequently, former users moved to alternative websites and social networking services, such as Discord. In 2019, an anonymous individual leaked the database that hosted all Iron March content.
Thomas Sewell is a New Zealand-born Australian neo-Nazi activist and organiser, known for controversial public stunts, violent criminal conduct, and promotion of National Socialism. He is the leader of the National Socialist Network, the European Australian Movement and the founder of the Lads Society. The groups led by Sewell focus on promoting white supremacy and far-right activism in Australia.
Far-right terrorism in Australia refers to far-right-ideologically influenced terrorism on Australian soil. Far-right extremist groups have existed in Australia since the early 20th century, however the intensity of terrorist activities have oscillated until the present time. A surge of neo-Nazism based terrorism occurred in Australia during the 1960s and the 1970s, carried out primarily by members of the Ustaše organisation. However in the 21st century, a rise in jihadism, the White genocide conspiracy theory, and after effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have fuelled far-right terrorism in Australia. Both the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are responsible for responding to far-right terrorist threats in Australia.
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According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend.