The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) has released a new report examining the rise of what it describes as the far right in Australian politics and society.
An analysis of Australia was previously published in 2022, and this is the first update since then. The authors note that while Australian authorities have taken significant steps to ban prominent extremist groups, the report finds that underlying networks and ideologies remain active and, in some cases, may be moving closer to mainstream politics.
The report highlights groups including the Australia First Party, the Great Australia Party, the Nationalist Socialist Network, the White Australia Party and One Nation.
“Once a fringe political force, the party has expanded its representation and membership and made significant electoral gains,” the authors said of One Nation.
Several organisations are included in the report because of positions the authors describe as being opposed to LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly transgender people. The Australian Christian Lobby, Binary Australia, Family Voice Australia, LGB Alliance Australia and National Workers Australia are among those listed.
The report also references multiple court findings involving Binary Australia and its chief executive, Kirralie Smith. The authors note that when Binary Australia was included in GPAHE’s 2022 report, Smith described the inclusion as a “slur” and “defamatory”.
“There is zero evidence of Binary inciting violence or acting hatefully toward an individual or group,” Smith said in 2022.
The report’s authors state that violence is not the sole criterion used in their assessments. They also note that since 2022, Smith has been the subject of an apprehended violence order and has been found by a court to have vilified two transgender women.
Smith was ordered to pay $95,000 to the women following the vilification ruling and to issue a public apology. The decision has been described as Australia’s first successful vilification ruling based on gender identity. An appeal was unsuccessful, and Binary Australia has indicated it will seek special leave to appeal to the High Court.
This week, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called on media organisations to stop comparing her party with far-right groups in the United States. Her comments followed a Channel Nine interview with a leader of the US-based Ku Klux Klan. Grand Wizard Thomas Robb praised One Nation’s recent political success.
In a social media post, Senator Hanson described the interview as an attempt to link the white supremacist organisation with her party.
“This is disgusting and a new low for the Australian media,” Senator Hanson said.
“The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist organisation with a long history of racial hatred, terror and violence.
“Yet Channel Nine sent an Australian journalist to the United States to seek them out, interview them and broadcast their views to Australians.
“This is extraordinary.”
Senator Hanson said any suggestion that One Nation or its supporters share the views of the Ku Klux Klan was both absurd and offensive.
Last week, it was reported that a One Nation volunteer during its successful campaign in the Secret Harbour by-election was previously named in a federal tribunal as someone who promoted neo-Nazi ideologies. The party said it was not possible to vet the background of every volunteer approaching the party and offering support.
OUTinPerth has contacted the organisations named in the report for comment.
