Lads Society
PredecessorUnited Patriots Front
Australian Defence League
Reclaim Australia
SuccessorNational Socialist Network
European Australia Movement
Formation2017 (2017)
FounderThomas Sewell
Defunct2020 (2020)
TypeWhite nationalist organisation
PurposeNeo-Nazism, White nationalism
Chairman
Thomas Sewell
AffiliationsUnited Patriots Front, Antipodean Resistance, Soldiers of Odin, Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party, True Blue Crew, Reclaim Australia
Formerly called
United Patriots Front
Split from Reclaim Australia

The Lads Society is a far-right, white nationalist, Islamophobic extremist group founded by several former members of the United Patriots Front (UPF) in late 2017. It established club houses in Sydney and Melbourne.[1][2] The Lads Society came to national prominence after it staged a rally in St Kilda, Victoria, targeting the local African Australian community. Attendees were seen making the Nazi salute and one was photographed wearing an SS helmet.[1]

In 2017, the group's leader, New Zealand-born[3] Thomas Sewell asked Brenton Harrison Tarrant (the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings) to join the Lads Society, but Tarrant refused.[4] The group's members and allies attempted to infiltrate the Young Nationals in New South Wales, and engaged in branch stacking at the May 2018 conference. Lads Society members attained leadership positions in the Young Nationals, but were later forced out of the party.[5] The Melbourne Chapter has since become the National Socialist Network.

History

Ashfield Community Action group antifascist poster protesting the presence in Ashfield of the Lads Society

In 2017, members of the United Patriots Front, Blair Cottrell, Neil Erikson, Chris Shortis and former UPF lieutenant Thomas Sewell, along with Nathaniel Anderson and Jacob Hersant, members of the neo-Nazi Antipodean Resistance, were involved in the creation of the Lads Society, a private far-right men-only club, with a base in Melbourne.

A Sydney club followed in April 2018, and there were plans to expand into other states. The clubs include a boxing gym where weekly "fight nights" take place and a library.[6][7]

In 2018, a local Sydney community group called Ashfield Community Action (ACA) formed in order to oppose the Lads Society. The group distributed posters that aimed to warn the suburb's residents about the group, stating that "The Sydney Branch is known to be led by committed Nazis", and that the organisation "has attracted the interest of hundreds of hard line far-right racists from around Australia". It accused the group of "training white men for racist violence" and called for it to be "shut down as soon as possible".[6]

Lads Society members provided a security detail for far-right white nationalist Lauren Southern during her 2018 Australian tour. Photos from the event show members displaying the white power symbol hand sign gang signal.[6]

In early January 2019, Erikson and Cottrell promised to unleash a Cronulla-style race riot on Melbourne. During the rally a significant number of participants were documented giving Nazi salutes.[8][9][10]

Undated videos leaked to the press in November 2019 revealed Sewell's aim to attract and recruit members from mainstream society under the guise of a men's fitness club. His white supremacist agenda was clearly shown as he outlined plans which included the creation of "Anglo-European" enclaves in Australian cities, encouraging the "speed and ferocity of the decay" of society to help foment a "race war" by such tactics as exploiting the "African gangs" trope used by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and other mainstream politicians.[3]

National Socialist Network

In January 2021, a new group called National Socialist Network had surfaced with a large number of members from the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance attending their first public event. This marked a transition of the Melbourne Chapter of the Lads Society to form the National Socialist Network. Over the Australia Day weekend, 38 members of Sewell's National Socialist Network chanted "white power" and shouted "Sieg Heil" and other racist slogans at passers-by. The group were photographed throwing Roman salutes and holding a cross-burning — a ritual usually associated with the Ku Klux Klan — next to Lake Bellfield at the foot of the Grampians in western Victoria. The group's actions drew the attention of local police and intelligence officers from Victoria Police's Counter-Terrorism Command.[11]

On 1 March 2021, Thomas Sewell and another man with a camera tried to enter the Nine Network building in Melbourne, Australia. At the entrance to the building, they encountered a black security guard. The security guard attempted to escort the two men away from the building, but they proceeded to attack the security guard and screamed racial slurs at him whilst doing so. Their venture to the building came when the network was due to air a television special about their group on A Current Affair, one of the network's segments.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Campion, Kristy (April 2019). "A "Lunatic Fringe"? The Persistence of Right Wing Extremism in Australia". Perspectives on Terrorism. 13 (2): 12–13. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  2. ↑ Kaye, Byron; Allard, Tom (4 April 2019). "New clues emerge of accused New Zealand gunman Tarrant's ties to far right groups". Reuters. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 McGowan, Michael (11 November 2019). "Australian white nationalists reveal plans to recruit 'disgruntled, white male population'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Begley, Patrick (2 May 2019). "Threats from white extremist group that 'tried to recruit Tarrant'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Koziol, Michael (31 October 2018). "Nationals members resign en masse amid investigation into neo-Nazi ties". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Graham, Ben (30 November 2018). "Secret location of Aussie underground fight club leaks". News.com. New.com. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  7. ↑ Puddy, Rebecca (7 June 2018). "Far right nationalists open private men-only clubs in Melbourne and Sydney". ABC News. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  8. ↑ The new extremist threat in Australia: Right-wing groups who have ASIO’s attention
  9. ↑ "Opposing race protesters and police converge on St Kilda foreshore". The Age. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  10. ↑ Wroe, David (7 January 2019). "Fake facts and normalising extremists: why it was right to jump all over Fraser Anning". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  11. ↑ Estcourt, David (3 March 2021). "Neo-Nazi group leader charged with assault of Channel Nine security guard'". The Age. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  12. ↑ McGowan, Michael (1 March 2021). "Neo-Nazi leader filmed repeatedly punching security guard at Channel Nine building". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Romper Stomper reboot is a compelling investigation into Australia's extremist politics". ABC News. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2018.

Further reading

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