Australia First Party - History

History

The Australia First Party was founded in June 1996 by Graeme Campbell, who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, from 1980 until he was expelled from the party in November 1995. Campbell had become increasingly critical of the policies of the Labor government of Paul Keating, particularly in matters relating to economic deregulation, Aboriginal land rights, and multiculturalism.

Campbell hoped to see the AFP became a serious political party, drawing on a current of populist opinion which rejected the policies of both the Labor Party and the opposition Liberal Party. The AFP however was overshadowed by the appearance in 1997 of One Nation, a rival populist party led by an independent MP, Pauline Hanson.

Following Campbell's resignation in June 2001, Diane Teasdale became the national president of the Australia First Party, but at the national level the party had not been very active 2001–2004 (it did not contest the 2001 election).

In 2002, a new AFP branch was formed in Sydney. The Secretary of the Sydney Branch was Jim Saleam, a stalwart of the Australian far right who was convicted of organising a shotgun attack on the home of a local representative of the African National Congress in the late 1980s. Saleam has maintained his innocence of the charge, claiming he was framed by politicised police, and his legal defence has been published on the internet.

In 2002, the party helped to form the Patriotic Youth League to give young Australians a voice in the nationalist side of politics. The PYL was formed by Stuart McBeth who was a university student at the time. The League was described by anti-racist groups as being "far right" and as being "racist".

The wording of the Party's NSW/Federal website, such as "the politics of New World Order liberal-globalist-capitalism", also suggests that the Party has been revived by people of a more nationalistic economic protectionist viewpoint than was the case under Campbell's leadership. Saleam has written many articles about what he sees as the failings of the neo-conservative international policies of the state and federal governments in Australia since December 1972. In keeping with its traditional Labor values, Australia First has been opposed to privatisation and worker exploitation. Saleam has been widely critical of the deregulation of the financial market and of the abolishment of protectionist measures by successful federal governments since 1972 and especially since the election of Hawke-Keating Labor government in 1983.

In April 2007 Darrin Hodges, chairman of the Sutherland Shire branch, was expelled from Australia First. Hodges went on to co-found the Australian Protectionist Party. Whitelaw Towers, which is linked to the leadership of Australia First, has denounced Hodges and his friends as being "Christian Zionists" and being in league with the Zionist Occupational Government. The Whitelaw Towers website has also claimed that Darrin Hodges is a "kosher nationalist".

In August 2007 Saleam (and several other prominent organisers) were expelled from Australia First by the old party leadership led by Teasdale. Saleam then took control of the NSW membership and incorporated "Australia First Party (NSW)". The Saleam faction also took control of most other party branches like the ones in Toowoomba and Newcastle. The old party leadership refused to recognise the decisions made by the Saleam faction and denounced the faction's moves as being illegal and threatened legal action against Saleam. The old party leadership maintained control over some Party branches thus splitting the party into two separate groups. One was controlled by Saleam and the other by Teasdale. In 2010 all the assets of the old Party were transferred to the new AFP under the leadership of Saleam.

In July 2009, the party announced they had reached their target of 500 members and were registering the party with the federal electoral commission. The party was successfully registered with the Australian Electoral Commission just a month before the August 2010 general election. The party was formally registered in June 2010.

In March 2010, it was announced on the New South Wales website of the Australia First Party that the Eureka Youth League had been formed. In the statement, the Party claimed that it was an "initiative of a few young nationalists" who were members of the AFP.