Australian Radical Right Narratives and Counter-Narratives in an Age of Terror

Attention to radical right extremism has also redoubled over the past two years due to the recent terror attack targeting New Zealand mosques on 15 March 2019. The Christchurch attacker, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, originally hailed from Grafton, New South Wales, some 380 miles north of Sydney, before moving to commit acts of terror on New Zealand’s South Island. The Christchurch incident has therefore led Australian policymakers, politicians, and civil society groups to highlight radical right extremist, with the deputy director of Australia’s Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) recently warning of a quadrupling of its radical right terroristic case load in the past five years.^[3]

Radical Right Extremist Groups and Narratives in Australia: Declining Anti-Muslim Populism and Ethno-Nationalism vs. Rising White Supremacism and Chauvinism

In the most recent country report for the CARR-Hedayah Radical Right Counter-Narratives (RRCN) project, we researched 14 of Australia’s key, extra-parliamentary radical right extremist groups and the violent and ideological narratives that they have propagated over the past ten years. Moving from anti-Islam protest movements to radical-right ‘fight clubs’ and neo-Nazi cells, the report tracked the recent splintering of these groups over time (for example, Reclaim Australia becoming the United Patriots Front and True Blue Crew and then Lads Society which became the National Socialist Network), the movement of key actors (e.g. Blair Cottrell and Thomas Sewell) between these movements, and the radicalisation of narratives from a form of anti-Muslim populism through to more white supremacist and chauvinist narratives that have been more representative of radical right extremist groups in the current context; not just nationally but globally. Examples of this white supremacism and male chauvinism are evident in the online communications of groups like the Lads Society and Proud Boys Australia. In a September 2019 blog post, for example, one Lads Society activist in a post titled ‘Freedom’ posted the call to action that: “As Europeans, we come from a line of explorers, inventors, great leaders and warriors. It’s time that we take back the freedom that is rightfully ours,” whilst in a recent post on the Proud Boys Australia Telegram channel suggests that “S***hole countries are now the white man’s fault lol.’” Proud Boys Australia – formerly largely active only online – in particular has become more active during the COVID-19 period – engaging in anti-lockdown protests and vigilante-style activism against left-wing opponents that has become an increasing concern for watchers of radical-right extremism in the country.^[4]

Resonating with what leading scholars have described Australia’s “diverse” and “complex” radical right extremist scene,^[5] the report also found that there has been a key shift in Australian-based activist movements from mass organisations to smaller cell-based groups of activists that act in a ‘hive’ like fashion online.^[6] Nowhere has this been better exemplified than the ties between established radical right actors and Christchurch terrorist, Brenton Tarrant. For example, Lads Society leader and founder, Thomas Sewell, claims to have discussed the creation of a white ethno-state with Tarrant and had been in touch with the lone-actor terrorist three years prior to the shooting.^[7] Moreover, Tarrant openly praised former UPF leader Blair Cottrell online in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November 2016 – labelling Cottrell as an “Emperor” and “a true leader of the nationalist movement in Australia” in over 30 comments on the UPF and TBC’s Facebook pages.^[8] Added to this was Tarrant’s use of a meme from Australian-based alt-right online collective The Dingoes (showing a man in an Akubra hat stating a “Hold still while I glass you” (below)) on 8chan in a post when expressing his intentions about the (then) forthcoming Mosque attacks.^[9]

Figure 1: Linkages between Australia Far Right and Christchurch Attacker

Nowhere has this post-organisational shift been more evident in the rise to prominence of a new radical right extremist group since the writing of the Australia RRCN report, the Melbourne-based National Socialist Network. Founded by former Lads Society leader Thomas Sewell (who believed that his former formation was not “strong enough or explicit enough”)^[10] at the start of January 2020, the group only came to prominence in early 2021 as news broke of forty activists engaging in a so-called ‘Third Reich hike’ in the Western Victorian Grampian mountains.^[11] Subscribing to an extreme, anti-democratic, and openly neo-Nazi ideology, the group advocates National Socialism as “the only worldview” that will ensure the survival of the white race. In their eyes, only revolution (“We don’t care in what way this is achieved,” they add) is the only solution to ensure the future of white people in Australia.

Currently, the group has a small but growing following on alternative social media platforms (around 438 followers on Gab and 5,002 followers on Telegram), where it posts regularly about its offline activism (including camping, the burning of crosses, graffiti-ing, and stickering).^[12] The group is very cognisant to stress the legality of its activism in these posts and actively comments on media reporting and Parliamentary activity that singles out their activities. Activities by the National Socialist Network have, however, recently seen this mask slip – with its leader Thomas Sewell arrested for affray, recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault on a security guard at Australia’s Channel Nine offices where Sewell and another activist were trying to gain access to reporters involved in an investigation on the group.^[13] This has also been joined by recent (unconfirmed) reports that activists from the National Socialist Network have been arrested for possessing an improvised explosive device and extremist material.^[14]

Image 1: National Socialist Network members set fire to a cross during a visit to the Grampians National Park. Hyperlink: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-do-not-need-to-wait-for-a-christchurch-grampians-cross-burning-spurs-call-for-action-20210128-p56xer.html. 

Countering Radical Right Extremist Violence in Australia: The Rhetoric-CVE Programming Gap 

One of the galvanising effects of the Christchurch terror attacks was for policymakers and security officials in Australia to take the threat of violence posed by radical right extremists in Australia more seriously. Indeed, ASIO has been engaged in serious thinking about how they can tackle radical right extremism^[15] and the definitional parameters it needs to use to meet this threat.^[16] Australia – like New Zealand – is, however, notable due to its lack of countering violent extremism (CVE) initiatives targeted at halting the supply line to radical right extremist groups.

To date, there has been only one systematic, large-scale programme, which started as Community Action for Preventing Extremism’s (CAPE) ‘Exit White Power’ project (see screenshots below). Set up in 2012 by anti-racism NGO, All Together Now, it has moved through several stages. It does, however, show the scalability and necessity of a counter-narrative response, with groups like Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front having likened practising Islam to so-called ‘barbarism,’ while crassly encouraging participants at their rallies to “insult and vilify Islam five times a day if you want to.”^[17] Targeted mainly at committed or radicalising individuals, it started with a website and Facebook page (“ExitWhitePower.Com” & “White Power? Discussion Page”) but has quickly become one of Australia’s premier RRCN resources.

Figure 2: “ExitWhitePower.Com” Website (L) & “White Power? Discussion Page” (R)

Conclusions and Recommendations

The report on Australia tracked radical right extremist narratives and CVE initiatives at a time of increased splintering and ideological extremity with respect to radical right extremism in Australia. Moving from street-based activism into more direct action and even terroristic forms of political violence, the report has highlighted links with the New Zealand Christchurch attacker and other violent international radical right groups able to be traced back to Australia.^[18] It has also highlighted several groups (Proud Boys Australia, Lads Society, and now the National Socialist Network) whose narratives paint a metastasising threat picture, both in terms of potential and actual radicalisation of Australian citizens. Furthermore, it is clear that Australia currently houses many local versions and chapters of international radical right extremist groups’ (e.g. Antipodean Resistance, Combat 18 & Southern Cross Hammerskins) – with recent revelations emerging about the digitally-anchored US ‘accelerationist’ group, the Base, attempting to recruit Australian members.^[19]

In response to these challenging circumstances, practitioners would be advised to find ways of disrupting permissive environments where anti-minority viewpoints are left to fester and making sure that grievances around migration do not escalate into active affiliation with radical right extremist groups. This is best achieved through localised and targeted counter-narrative projects that help dispel persistent myths and rumours as well as an active civic education programme that helps young people unpick difficult conversations around race, religion, and diversity. Here, it is important to note that only one notable programme to date has attempted to distribute radical right counter-narratives in the Australian context; namely, CAPE’s “Exit White Power” project.

Needless to say, there is a great opportunity to both scale up and deepen radical right counter-narrative campaigns capable of delegitimising white supremacist and ultra-nationalist narratives and conspiracies propagated by groups (such as the Proud Boys Australia, Lads Society, and now the National Socialist Network)) in Australia – if only funding and the political will would catch-up with the appetite for such programming.^[20] By embarking on radical right extremist counter-narrative projects and by including these new and sensitised perspectives into strategic communications work, going forwards Australia will have a far greater chance of immunising citizens against the perils of radical right extremism and the violent ideology contained in several of the most active groups narrative’s therein.