Extremist groups are presenting themselves as legitimate entities in a way that threatens to reshape Australian politics

'Quite frightening': the far-right fringe of the election campaign is mobilising

In Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, a militant white supremacist group, whose members and supporters have been linked to far-right terrorism, has launched its first foray into politics.

Under a park enclosure at Gatton, wearing T-shirts with the “True Blue Crew” insignia, group members handed out soft drinks and cooked sausages, with the stated aim of helping like-minded federal election candidates work together.

They hired a face painter for the children.

Following the Christchurch shooting, the True Blue Crew was booted from Facebook for incendiary posts about Islam. Experts who have studied the group say it appears to be “committed to violence”. Members have been arrested with weapons, and on terrorism-related charges.

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On the feverish fringe of the federal election campaign, an increasing number of groups such as the TBC are presenting themselves as legitimate entities, swapping street thuggery for community outreach in a way that has already reshaped far-right politics.

“There are two real camps of rightwing extremists,” says Geoff Dean, a terrorism expert and adjunct professor at Griffith University. “Those of the old style that do believe in violence and those of the new style, the new radical right, who want to gain political legitimacy to ... change laws to support their agenda.

“There’s almost a truce at the moment between the two camps. Some of the old-style are going along trying to present a softer image because they realise that if they do get political power, they can make changes. They feel like they’ve got the best chance in this election of getting somewhere.”

Far-right musical chairs

There are more than a dozen rightwing and far-right parties running tickets at the federal election, including several whose platforms are primarily anti-Islamic or ethno-nationalist.

Ballot papers reveal a game of far-right musical chairs, as former candidates and MPs switch allegiances between One Nation, the United Australia party, the Australian Conservatives, Katter’s Australian party, the Great Australian party, the Rise Up Australia party, the Love Australia or Leave party and Fraser Anning’s new Conservative National party.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest News Corp reporter Eliza Barr and photographer Dylan Robinson after a confrontation following a Fraser Anning press conference in Cronulla. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Anning’s party in particular has preselected more than a dozen people who were former running mates of Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer.

The White Rose Society, researchers, and the ABC have detailed the white supremacist links of some of Anning’s closest advisers. His entourage has included convicted criminals and extremists such as Neil Erikson, who was one of the heavies who tackled and choked a teenager who egged the senator.

Such connections have mired mainstream candidates in controversy.

Guardian Australia reported on Friday that Erikson attended a Gold Coast “recruitment event” for the Liberal National party last year.

The West Australian Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has denied he met Erikson at a rally in Perth, contradicting his college Ian Goodenough, who earlier claimed a “brief meeting” had taken place.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, on Wednesday aired claims in state parliament that Erikson had been engaged to “interfere with the Victorian election”.

When Anning’s party emailed potential election candidates, they were warned to disclose things such as “inflammatory social media comments” that might become an issue.

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But in practice, the party appears intent to incite controversy. Leaked messages, obtained by the ABC, showed plans for confrontational racist stunts, including wearing blackface and burning the Qur’an.

On social media, one candidate repeatedly evokes the Holocaust and in one post says: “kill the traitorous left before killing our other enemies”.

Infiltration attempts

On Easter Saturday, in a small room at the Club Burwood RSL, the Liberal Democrats’ NSW branch held a members’ “meet and greet”. The guest speaker was Dia Beltran, a YouTuber who regularly offers a platform to far-right figures Blair Cottrell, Neil Erikson and Anning.

Beltran was introduced as a “moderate conservative” but her speech to the Liberal Democratic party faithful veered into the conspiracy of “cultural Marxism”, a supposed coordinated plot to undermine traditional western values, but which cloaks oppressive ideology as a defence of freedom.

Beltran, who finished by urging the crowd of classical liberals to “stand up and fight for your culture”, was received with warm applause.

Kristy Campion, an expert on far-right extremism and lecturer in terrorism studies at Charles Sturt University, said the far right had a long history of “entryism”, attempting to subvert mainstream politics.

“These groups are quite adaptive. The most long-running racist group in Australia, the Australian League of Rights, said they were going to execute strategies to infiltrate political parties and replace their core values with (their own),” Campion said.

“It’s not dissimilar to what we saw the Lads Society do last year, attempting branch stacking within the National party.

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“These groups are very good at framing their messaging in such a way that it will gain popular appeal. It’s not always blatantly racist. People subscribe to ideas that are quite mainstream ... but what they don’t realise is behind that is an authoritarian, exclusionary ideology that might not really represent their values.

“Fundamentally their ideology is anti-democratic.”

Dean says the far right in Australia has typically been reactionary and attracted “nutters”.

“They’re very good at being opportunistic and capturing marketing phrases echoing Trump,” Dean says.

“But there is no political agenda or long-term thinking. Their solution always comes down to oppression, to picking on the other person, to having no regard to anybody who doesn’t believe what they believe.

“To talk about this as being about democracy and liberty – it’s just a joke. That’s what’s so sad. People do not think beyond their noses. When you unpack it all, it’s really quite frightening what is happening.”

Hitting a nerve

The organiser of the True Blue Crew event at Gatton, former One Nation party official Jim Savage, has privately claimed to be an inspiration behind Fraser Anning’s “final solution” speech, advising the new senator to “just hit the fucking nerve”.

Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) EXCLUSIVE: Sky News has obtained leaked audio which reveals Senator @fraser_anning’s maiden speech to parliament was designed to stir controversy and raise his profile, according to one of the Senator’s confidants.



MORE TO COME: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK pic.twitter.com/fJG8UrSIwN

Last week a True Blue Crew member was charged with assaulting a photographer after an Anning press conference. Plain clothes police were among the crowd.

On his own Facebook page, Savage outlines the True Blue Crew’s political aims:

“TBC is NOT a political group nor lobbyists,” Savage writes. “We brought together a large number of people from several different political parties (all conservative of course) to highlite (sic) the fact we are all in the same boat fighting the same enemy.”

Clem Wheatley, from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, is thankful for the support: “Thanks to the True Blue Crew, what a great bunch of people.”

Meanwhile Anning, elected with 19 primary votes, continues to aim for the nerve. With each statement and stunt that offends the mainstream, he seems to further embolden the support of a new breed of young, far-right extremist.

“It’s surprised us all the amount of young people ... who have joined the party,” Anning told the True Blue Crew members in Gatton.

“I always thought we’d appeal to people from 45 to dead, but as it happens we’ve got all these young people who have put their hand up.”