Active. In violation of The Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tasmania).[2] Associated with proscribed American and British terrorist groups and organisations[3] Monitored by state and federal law enforcement including ASIO[4]
Antipodean Resistance (AR) is an Australian neo-Nazihate group.[5] The group, formed in October 2016, uses the slogan "We're the Hitlers you've been waiting for" and makes use of Nazi symbols such as the swastika and the Nazi salute. AR's logo features the Black Sun and Totenkopf (death's head) with an Akubra hat, a laurel wreath and a swastika.[1]
Antipodean Resistance promotes and incites hatred and violence, distributing racist, homophobic and antisemitic posters and propaganda. In 2018 its website was shut down by its hosting provider. ASIO, Australia's national security agency, has been monitoring the group since at least 2017.
AR has attracted attention for its Nazi-inspired vandalism in major cities in Australia. It has targeted schools in Melbourne with significant ethnic minority populations, placing posters carrying messages such as "Keep Australia White" and "Australia For The White Man" along with several other racial slurs targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Chinese Australians and African Australians which were described as "vile and disgusting" by the Victorian education minister James Merlino.[8] The group also placed a series of Chinese-language posters at numerous university campuses threatening Chinese students with deportation.[9]
In 2018, the NSW Nationals unanimously adopted a resolution banning 22 people for life after an investigation into alleged infiltration by people with links to neo-Nazi and fascist groups. The resolution also banned any party member from joining a number of specific organisations, including Antipodean Resistance.
The membership of AR is reported to be very small. The group is only open to youngheterosexualwhite people, who are "able to take a hit" for their beliefs. Members assume a pseudonym in an attempt to remain anonymous. Media outlets have reported that AR have organised secret radicalisation camps in remote forests.[14] AR has been banned from a number of social media and online hosting platforms.[1]
Terrorism concerns
Several counter-terrorism experts have suggested authorities should focus more on far-right extremists such as Antipodean Resistance. Anne Aly, the Labor MP, in 2017 suggested that the group may turn to terrorism, stating "For a terrorist attack to succeed, it really only takes one person." She called for the group to be banned, stating "I would like to see some of these groups proscribed ... as terrorist and violent organisations."[10]
It was reported in 2017 that ASIO, the Australian national security organisation, was monitoring the group, who were "willing to use violence to further their own interests."[15]
^ abcdefgNathan, Julie (20 April 2018). "Antipodean Resistance: The Rise and Goals of Australia's New Nazis". ABC Religion & Ethics. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This is reflected in the logo most commonly used, that of the Totenkopf mask and Akubra-style hat perched above a swastika, with the background being the Black Sun (Schwarze Sonne in German) symbol, also known as the Sun Wheel (sonnenrad in German), surrounded by a wreath.
^McKenzie, Nick; Tozer, Joel (27 January 2021). "Neo-Nazis go bush: Grampians gathering highlights rise of Australia's far right". The Sydney Morning Herald. According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend.
