The Australia First Movement was a fascist movement, founded in October 1941. It grew out of the Rationalist Association of New South Wales and the

Victorian Socialist Party The Victorian Socialist Party (VSP) was a socialist political party in the Australian state of Victoria during the early 20th century. Most VSP members were also members of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), or later became members. A faction ...

, and was led by former Rhodes scholar Percy Stephensen and

Adela Pankhurst Adela Constantia Mary Walsh ( Pankhurst; 19 June 1885 – 23 May 1961) was a British born suffragette who worked as a political organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union, WSPU in Scotland. In 1914 she moved to Australia where she con ...

. Writers

Xavier Herbert Xavier Herbert (born Alfred Jackson; 15 May 190110 November 1984) was an Australian writer best known for his Miles Franklin Award-winning novel '' Poor Fellow My Country'' (1975). He was considered one of the elder statesmen of Australian li ...

and Eleanor Dark were involved with the organisation, which was inspired by the activities of retired businessman, William John Miles, 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, anti-war and pro-isolationist, and advocated Australia's independence from the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. It attracted the support of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

weekly, '' The Advocate'', as well as the Odinist

Alexander Rud Mills Alexander Rud Mills (1885 – 8 April 1964) was an Australian barrister and author, interned in 1942 for his Nazi sympathies and fascist beliefs. He was also a prominent Odinist, one of the earliest proponents of the rebirth of Germanic Neopagan ...

. By 1938, those who were later associated with the Australia First Movement were advocating the establishment of a

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

corporate state Corporate statism, state corporatism, or simply corporatism is a political culture and a form of corporatism whose adherents hold that the corporate group (sociology), corporate group, which forms the basis of society, is the State (polity), stat ...

and a political alliance with the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and Japan. A number of members came from a far-left background: Stephensen, Pankhurst and Walsh were former

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. 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.

, of the famous suffragette family, had visited Japan in 1939 and was arrested and interned in 1942 for her advocacy of peace with Japan. In his

official history An official history is a work of history which is sponsored, authorised or endorsed by its subject. The term is most commonly used for histories which are produced for a government. The term also applies to commissions from non-state bodies includin ...

of Australian involvement in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding min ...

criticised those internments as the "grossest infringement of individual liberty made during the war".

See also

References

Further reading