The Australia First Party (AFP), officially known as the Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated, is an Australian nationalist political party founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell, a former member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

. The policies of the party have been described as

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, anti-multicultural and economically protectionist, advocating for strict immigration controls, the prioritization of Australian citizens in employment, and the promotion of Australian culture and values. The party's logo includes the

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

of the Eureka Flag. The AFP's current leader, Jim Saleam, is a

Lebanese Australian Lebanese Australians () refers to citizens or permanent residents of Australia of Lebanese ancestry. The population is diverse, having a large Christian religious base, being mostly Maronite Catholics, while also having a large Muslim group ...

, a convicted

arsonist Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, waterc ...

, a former member of the National Socialist Party of Australia and founder of the militant Australian

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

group National Action. The party has been accused of having ties with

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

and

neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

. In October 2022, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) released a report in which it classified the AFP as a "white nationalist" and "anti-immigrant" group. As of July 2024, the party is only registered for local government elections with the

New South Wales Electoral Commission The New South Wales Electoral Commission, known as the NSWEC or the NSW Electoral Commission is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NS ...

(NSWEC) as "Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated (Councils)".

History

Campbell era

The Australia First Party was established in June 1996 by Graeme Campbell, and registered as a political party by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...

(AEC) on 13 September 1996. Campbell had been the federal

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

since 1980. However, he was disendorsed by Labor in 1995, and continued to sit in parliament as an independent. He was reelected as an independent at the 1996 Australian federal election, and formed AFP soon after. However, AFP was not successful at the 1998 federal election and Campbell lost his seat, blaming his loss on Australia First being eclipsed by One Nation. In 2009, he claimed that, if not for the presence of a One Nation candidate, he would have picked up an additional 8.5% of the vote, which would have been enough to keep him in the race. Campbell remained Australia First's leader until June 2001, when he left the party to stand (unsuccessfully) as a One Nation

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

candidate in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. At the 2004 federal election, Campbell attempted unsuccessfully to regain his old federal seat as an independent. He again stood for the Senate in Western Australia at the 2007 federal election as an independent, but only achieved 0.13% of the vote.

Saleam era

Saleam has served two jail terms, one for property offences and

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

in 1984 and one for being an accessory before the fact in 1989 for his involvement in the

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

attack on the home of

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

representative Eddie Funde. In 2002, Jim Saleam ran as an AFP candidate for a seat on Marrickville council, New South Wales, claiming "to oppose Marrickville being a Refugee Welcome Zone". Later that year the party formed its youth wing, the Patriotic Youth League. AFP was deregistered by the AEC on 13 August 2004 for failing to nominate candidates at elections for four years. By 2007, Saleam had reestablished AFP, and in July 2009, Saleam claimed that the party had 500 members, and announced that he was registering its New South Wales branch, Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated, with the AEC. The branch was registered by AEC on 13 June 2010, in time for the 2010 federal election. At the 2013 federal election, AFP was involved in Glenn Druery's Minor Party Alliance. Saleam stood in the seat of Cook on a platform to end refugee intakes, running against

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

, and received 617 votes, or 0.67% of the vote. On 14 July 2015, the AEC de-registered the AFP due to its failure to demonstrate the required 500 members. It was re-registered on 1 March 2016 as "Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated". AFP contested the 2016 federal election, without any success. Saleam stood in the seat of Lindsay, New South Wales, receiving 1068 votes or 1.2% of the vote. In October 2016, the Australia First Party joined with the Australian Protectionist Party, Nationalist Alternative, Eureka Youth League, and Hellenic Nationalists of Australia to form the Australian Coalition of Nationalists, as a framework for cooperation between these entities. Saleam also stood for AFP in the 2018 Longman by-election, receiving 709 votes or 0.8% of the vote. Saleam stood in the seat of

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

, New South Wales, in the 2017 by-election as an independent, though still a member of Australia First, as the party was not registered for NSW elections. He received 453 votes, 1% of the total. He again stood in the seat at the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

as an independent. Saleam's platform included the reintroduction of the White Australia policy and opposition to Chinese immigration. On 2 May 2014, the party aligned itself with the Golden Dawn party of Greece, an

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

organisation, and on 24 July 2016, the party endorsed former

Grand Wizard The grand wizard (sometimes called the imperial wizard or national director) is the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad. The title "Grand Wizard" was used by the first Klan which was fo ...

of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

David Duke for the 2016 Louisiana election via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. On 12 January 2022, the party was de-registered by the

for failing to meet the increased requirement of 1,500 members.

Policies and electoral performance

The party stands on a nationalist, anti-multicultural and economic protectionist platform. It advocates for strict immigration controls, the prioritization of Australian citizens in employment, and the protection of national sovereignty. The party follows eight core policies in their programme: *Ensure Australia retains full independence. *Rebuild Australian manufacturing industries. *Control foreign ownership. *Reduce and limit immigration. *Abolish multiculturalism. *Introduce Citizen's Initiated Referendums. *Strengthen the family. *Strive to rebuild a united Australia. The Australia First Party has been largely unsuccessful electorally. It has been elected to two local council seats, one in

City of Penrith A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and one in

City of Prospect City of Prospect is an inner urban local government area (LGA) in Adelaide, South Australia. The council seat is the unusually-large suburb of Prospect, which makes up almost two thirds of the tiny council area, which is less than . Established ...

. Saleam ran as a candidate in the 2018 Longman by-election, receiving 684 votes or 0.8% of the vote. In the 2019 Australian federal election, the party put up three candidates: Susan Jakobi in Lalor, Peter Schubeck for

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

, and Michael Chehoff for

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

Queensland

New South Wales

South Australia

Western Australia

Activities

The Australia First Party's activities have mainly consisted of distributing anti-immigration and racist pamphlets and protesting, although they denied involvement in some highly racist leaflets dropped in mailboxes in 2010 Campbelltown.

Cronulla riots (2005)

The group played a large role in the

2005 Cronulla riots The 2005 Cronulla riots were a series of race riots in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began in the beachside suburb of Cronulla on 11 December, and spread over to additional suburbs the next few nights. The riots were triggered by ...

. In the week prior to the riots, the AFP encouraged members to go to the seaside suburb of Cronulla. Its website called for "patriots" to show solidarity with victims of "anti-Australian race and hate and violence". AFP claim that 120 members and supporters attended the riots, and both members of the AFP and their youth wing the Patriotic Youth League were seen handing out anti-immigration leaflets and supplying alcohol there. Their website later described the riots as a "civil uprising of the Australian people".

Nathan Sykes arrest

On 20 March 2019, Australia First member Nathan Sykes, described as a "prolific online troll and a lieutenant of Australia's most prominent white supremacist Jim Saleam", was charged with at least eight offences, after allegations that he made repeated and detailed violent threats to Melbourne journalist and lawyer Luke McMahon. He had previously made numerous racist and intimidating online comments targeting high-profile Australians, including ex-Racial Discrimination Commissioner

Tim Soutphommasane Thinethavone "Tim" Soutphommasane ( ; born 1982) is an Australian academic, social commentator and former public servant. He was Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2013 to 2018. He has pre ...

, activist Mariam Veiszadeh and Guardian journalist Van Badham.

Patriotic/Eureka Youth League

The Patriotic Youth League was formed in 2002 by former One Nation activist Stuart McBeth as the youth wing of the Australia First Party. It was described by numerous media commentators and academics as a

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

youth organisation that has been linked to

, including the now-disbanded US-based

Volksfront Volksfront, also known as Volksfront International, was an American white separatist organization founded on October 20, 1994, in Portland, Oregon. According to Volksfront's now defunct website, the group described itself as an "international f ...

, and hate crimes. The group was mainly active in the northern suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, and played a large role in the

. They distributed white power leaflets in the days prior to the riots, displayed banners saying "Aussies fighting back" at the riots, and also distributed pamphlets and alcohol during the riots. The league disbanded in 2006, but was reincarnated as the Eureka Youth League in 2010 (not to be confused with the historical Eureka Youth League). , the Eureka Youth League has a website and

Facebook group Facebook Platform, Facebook is a Social network, social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile ...

; however, the last post on the latter was in October 2017.

Racism allegations

Australia First Party is led by convicted criminal and far-right activist Jim Saleam. Saleam was a member of the short-lived National Socialist Party of Australia as a teenager during the early 1970s and the founder of the militant Australian

group National Action. Australia First also endorsed independent candidate John Moffat, who was later criticised by B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Michael Lipshutz, Cronulla Liberal MLA Malcolm Kerr and Lebanese Muslim Association spokesman Jihad Dib for " inciting racial hatred". On 10 July 2009, the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' reported that David Palmer, the Imperial Wizard of the ''

'' in Australia, said several Klan members had secretly joined Australia First. Palmer said Australia First had been identified as an

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

party and would prove useful "in case the ethnics get out of hand and they need sorting out." The Australia First Party later endorsed former

of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke for the 2016 Louisiana election via

. In July 2010, it was reported that Australia First was distributing leaflets comparing Africans to monkeys, and "blaming Africans for the social problems in Sydney's west". Australia First denied responsibility for the leaflets, claiming that they had been distributed in an attempt to discredit the party. The Australia First Party used

Sinophobia Anti-Chinese sentiment (also referred to as Sinophobia) is the fear or dislike of Chinese people or Chinese culture. It is frequently directed at Overseas Chinese, Chinese minorities which live outside Greater China and it involves immigratio ...

and fear of African Australians in their campaign during the 2019 election.Campaign poster for Lalor with caption "No China city in Werribee"
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

*
Australia First (historic – 2008–2012)
{{Authority control 1996 establishments in Australia 2002 establishments in Australia Australian nationalist parties Far-right political parties in Australia Anti-Zionist political parties Political parties established in 1996