We won’t solve our Nazi problem until we cut the Great Australian Bullshit

Nazis don’t belong in this country and they know it. That’s why they hide behind masks in the dark. We’re not afraid of these goons, but we won’t tolerate them either.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Saturday, 9 August

In case you missed it, a group of neo-Nazis recently took to the streets of the Melbourne CBD, storming down its thoroughfares with their offensive symbols and racist slogans. They had previously gathered in Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, presumably to share their Nazi stories, swap their Schutzstaffel trading cards and terrorise the public. But clearly, this country gathering left them unsatisfied, thus they came into the city seeking a bigger stage.

It spoke volumes that the press made much of how police were “powerless” to stop them due to Victorian protest legislation. Certainly, the cops hadn’t shown such a light hand five days earlier when protesters against Israel’s genocide in Gaza attempted to take the action to a bridge. Or when there were peace protesters to rough up at the Land Forces expo last September. But when it came to these Nazis in Melbourne, alas, the hands of the local constabulary were tied; instead, a homeless man (allegedly assaulted by these right-wing thugs) was the sole one to display moral fortitude and take action.

Not content with their goose step down Bourke St, their 3am photo opportunity at Northland Shopping Centre, their cave chanting at Gariwerd, and their countless other actions over the years, they are now going mainstream. A “March for Australia” has been announced for the 31st of this month, fixated on ending immigration, ending political cowardice and loving the Australian flag. Despite protestations to the contrary, the National Socialist Network is indeed involved in the organisation of this rally, resulting in fissures among “freedom” parties in Australia. Despite this, we can bet countless people will go along, pleading ignorance of the organisers, while reinforcing these basic racist views.

But to return to the events of the other night, it was Premier Allan’s claim that Nazis “don’t belong in this country” that really piqued my interest.

See, the problem is that I don’t believe this is remotely true. This has nothing to do with the fact that the media moved immediately to downplay the Nazi threat by claiming a group of 100 marched, when footage clearly shows it was around three times that size. Rather, Australia is full of historical examples of a broad tolerance of fascist activity and thought. Due to its inability to examine this legacy openly and honestly, this society creates the space for rallies like this to continue.

Indeed, speaking of bridges, what about the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932? When I went to school, we were taught that the opening ceremony was foiled by a fantastic show of “Australian larrikinism”. What tended to be missing from this education, however, was that Francis de Groot — the man who rode through on horseback, slicing the official ribbon with his sword, claiming his action “for the Australian people” — was a member of the fascist paramilitary group The New Guard. I found that out independently, much later down the track.

Similarly, I also remember being taught that Australia was more forward-thinking than many other Western countries on women’s rights. This was apparently why the feminist fight for reproductive rights led to the opening of family planning centres comparatively early. Achieving reproductive autonomy is, indeed, admirable. What is less admirable, however, is that these organisations promoted eugenics. Family Planning NSW was initially known as The Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales, which conducted the sterilisation of disabled people, the breeding out of certain medical conditions (including mental health conditions), and racially selective breeding. A rather important part of the tale, I would have thought?  

Nazis aren’t the only group of people enamoured with ideas of white supremacy, incidentally. Last week, I noticed quite a few folks in union circles marking the birthday of William Guthrie Spence. Spence, a politician, was the founder of the Australian Workers’ Union (and its precursors) and of the Labor Party. The suburb of Spence, in Canberra, is named in honour of him. 

Spence was also, however, a raging white supremacist. In his 1909 book Australia’s Awakening, Thirty Years in the Life of an Australian Agitator, Spence wrote the following with regards to the Labor Party’s policy platform:

The party stands for racial purity and racial efficiency — industrially, mentally, morally, and intellectually. It asks the people to set up a high ideal of national character, and hence it stands strongly against any admixture with the white race. True patriotism should be racial.

I do wonder why union hagiography on social media avoided mentioning this.

There are so many more examples in Australia’s history. The fascist and pro-Nazi Australia First Movement counted prominent suffragette Adela Pankhurst and writer and Rhodes Scholar Percy “Inky” Stephensen among its founders. Universities are still grappling with the legacies of their best and brightest by engaging in some truth-telling. In 2023, Dr Jayne Persian co-edited with Evan Smith and Vashti-Jane Fox a book called Histories of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Australia, which examines several decades of similar fascist and far-right groups and their organising. It really has been a constant cycle here. 

There is a reason this country had the White Australia policy in place for seven decades. There is a reason why our constitution still retains the right to ban certain races from voting, and bans dual citizens from running federally. There is a reason why Welcomes to Country inspire infantile sook-fests from various sections of the population, including the One Nation senators in the chamber. 

There’s also a reason why the ABC felt it appropriate in 2016 to invite far-right nationalist Blair Cottrell in for a Hack panel discussion, and why Sam Newman thinks having neo-Nazi and NSN Leader Thomas Sewell on his podcast to air his views is a good idea. These aren’t just “alternate opinions” being presented, folks. These are blokes who march through the CBD yelling “Australia for the white man”, and who were named as an inspiration for Brenton Tarrant to go on a killing spree in Christchurch mosques in 2019. They are dangerous men, so why would Australian media pretend otherwise?

The answer is simple: it’s easy to pretend otherwise when you don’t think otherwise — when you remain woefully ignorant of this country’s history, and thus, deep in your bones, you do believe Australia is a “white country”. Even though it was founded on the false doctrine of terra nullius, erasing thousands of years of Indigenous history and ownership/custodianship. Even though Aboriginal trade with Makasars long predates any white settlement, and even though migrants of colour have always been a part of the national population.

The White Australia policy mindset persists, stubbornly and arrogantly, and the Great Australian Silence continues. As long as this ignorance is perpetuated, and the myths that reinforce this lack of knowledge persist, the space exists for Nazis to march through our cities. 

Grand statements about the alleged Australian cultural space for Nazis made by Premier Jacinta Allan and other politicians, together with promises to better equip the police, are not going to solve this. Cutting the “Great Australian Bullshit”, so that people know their history and are willing to confront it honestly and openly, just might.