The Australia First Movement was a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

movement, founded in October 1941. It grew out of the Rationalist Association of New South Wales and the Victorian Socialist Party, and was led by former

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

Percy Stephensen Percy Reginald Stephensen (20 November 1901 – 28 May 1965) was an Australian writer, publisher and political activist, first aligned with communism and later shifting support towards far-right politics. He was the co-founder of the fascist Aus ...

and Adela Pankhurst. Writers Xavier Herbert and

Eleanor Dark Eleanor Dark AO (26 August 190111 September 1985) was an Australian writer whose novels included '' Prelude to Christopher'' (1934) and '' Return to Coolami'' (1936), both winners of the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for literature, ...

were involved with the organisation, which was inspired by the activities of retired businessman,

William John Miles William John Miles (27 August 1871 – 10 January 1942) was an Australian businessman and far-right political activist. Early life Miles was born on 27 August 1871 in Woolloomooloo, New South Wales. He was the son of Ellen (née Munton) and John ...

, who had campaigned during the 1930s under the "Australia First" slogan. Between 1936 and 1942, Miles published 16 volumes of a newsletter titled ''The Publicist'', to which he contributed. He was a leading member of the Rationalist Association, and used ''The Publicist'' as his mouthpiece. Before 1939, it described itself as being "for national socialism" and "for Aryanism; against semitism".Muirden, p.101 In January 1942, the ailing Miles transferred editorship of ''The Publicist'' to his co-author Stephensen, and had no involvement in the Australia First Movement, dying later that year. The Australia First Movement has been characterised as

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, anti-war and pro-isolationist, and advocated Australia's independence from the British Empire. It attracted the support of the Catholic weekly, ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'', as well as the

Odinist Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th centu ...

Alexander Rud Mills. By 1938, those who were later associated with the Australia First Movement were advocating the establishment of a national socialist corporate state and a political alliance with the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. A number of members came from a far-left background: Stephensen, Pankhurst and Walsh were former Communists. In March 1942, four members of the Australia First Movement in Perth, and sixteen in Sydney, were arrested, based on the suspicion that they would provide help to Japanese invaders. Two were convicted of conspiring to assist the enemy, and others were interned for the duration of the war. Adela Pankhurst, of the famous

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

family, had visited Japan in 1939 and was arrested and interned in 1942 for her advocacy of peace with Japan. In his official history of Australian involvement in the Second World War, Paul Hasluck criticised those internments as the "grossest infringement of individual liberty made during the war".

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