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"ADC ONLINE" - Vol.2, No.3, June 2001

An online journal for discussion, news and
analysis of far-right activity in Australia,
New Zealand and the world.
ISSN 1445-0402
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Text-only version


Contents
* Politicians lend support to LaRouche cult
* New far-right political party established
* Holocaust-denier targets Asians & Aborigines



***  POLITICIANS LEND SUPPORT TO LaROUCHE CULT

Two National Party parliamentarians, the Hon Bob Katter (Queensland Federal
MP) and Peter Webb (NSW State MP) have signed a petition circulated by the
"Citizens Electoral Council" (CEC), the Australian arm of the Lyndon
LaRouche fascist political cult. The petition calls for a "New Bretton
Woods", which is a LaRouchian economic policy aimed at countering the
satanic "oligarchy" - a supposed cabal of Jewish bankers trying to subjugate
the world.

Published in the CEC's newspaper, the petition has also been signed by
various former Australian MPs and trade union leaders, primarily from
Western Australia (where the CEC has been making overtures to the union
movement). The CEC has previously circulated petitions among
parliamentarians and unionists on seemingly non-controversial issues as a
way of seeking to legitimise its image.

It is quite likely that many of those who lent their names to the petition,
including MPs Bob Katter and Peter Webb, were unaware of the racist
underpinnings of the CEC and its "New Bretton Woods" policy. This is
reflective of the broader deceptive approach of the CEC. The group has
raised millions of dollars, particularly by preying on the elderly and
educationally disempowered, and has targetted trade unionists and the public
at large by promoting itself as a legitimate grassroots labour and political
movement.

***  NEW FAR-RIGHT POLITICAL PARTY ESTABLISHED

A new far-right party, The Great Australians, is currently seeking
registration and is nominating candidates nationwide to stand in the
forthcoming Federal election. The party is the political arm of "Austand",
an extremist group which describes itself as "Australia's foremost
independent political research organisation". Austand's main efforts are
aimed at discrediting the Treasury Department, which it believes is the
economic saboteur of Australia, acting on the orders of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. Australia's foremost
far-right newspaper, The Strategy, has suggested that Austand has "much the
same objectives as the Australian League of Rights".

The Great Australians was formed last year by Austand as a response to the
infighting in the One Nation Party and later merged with Bevan Collingwood’s
One Nation offshoot, "Australia United".

Queensland-based John Cumming, the chairman of Austand and The Great
Australians, is a former participant at the Inverell Forum, an annual
gathering of far-right leaders in Inverell, NSW. He was also instrumental in
developing the One Nation Party's economic policy, particularly its 2% Easy
Tax, which now forms part of The Great Australians’ platform.

One of The Great Australians' keyworkers is NSW-based Bevan O'Regan, an
activist in Australia's oldest racist group, the Australian League of
Rights. He has spoken at numerous League functions and the League funded his
video, "Your council the target". O'Regan has been quoted railing against
Asian immigration, claiming that there was a "One World Government", and
alleging that AIDS is part of an international conspiracy. He has previously
stood as both an Australians Against Further Immigration and One Nation
Party Senate candidate and was also one of the draftees of One Nation's
constitution.

The Great Australians is yet another example of a far-right party attempting
to tap into the supporter base of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party.

***  HOLOCAUST-DENIER TARGETS ASIANS & ABORIGINES

Victorian-based Holocaust-denier John Bennett has launched an attack on
Asians, Aborigines and Jews in his latest tract, "Your Rights 2001".
Purporting to be a legal guide for the layperson, Your Rights is widely
available at newsagents. It is published by Bennett's "Australian Civil
Liberties Union" (ACLU), which he founded after his expulsion from Liberty
Victoria. Not to be confused with the bona fide Australian Council for Civil
Liberties, the ACLU is a front for Bennett to espouse his racist and
Holocaust-denial views.

In a section of the publication entitled "matters ignored or misrepresented
in the media", Bennett rails against Aboriginal reconciliation, which he
describes as "a white man's guilt trip". Any efforts at reconciliation are
simply a "talkfest paradise for middle class trendies with no insight into
Aboriginal problems". In an attack on Asians, Bennett questions Australia's
"integration" with Asia in view of Australia having been "flooded with Asian
imports".

In a section attacking Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Bill,
Bennett depicts hate crimes as "hoaxes", suggesting that Jews themselves
daub swastikas on synagogues "to promote sympathy for Jews and Israel". He
also extensively quotes Nigel Jackson of the Australian League of Rights as
a "civil rights defender", voices support for Fredrick Toben of the
Holocaust-denying Adelaide Institute, and refers readers to the literature
of the US-based Institute of Historical Review, which is at the forefront of
global denial efforts.

It is of concern that through the publication of what appears to be a legal
guide, as well as the use of the name "ACLU", Bennett has sought to achieve
a level of legitimacy and credibility.

Copyright (c) 2001 B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission Inc.
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This edition of ADC ONLINE has been made possible through the support of
friends of Grahame Leonard on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

ADC ONLINE is a publication of the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission
Inc. (ADC), a national organisation dedicated to researching and combatting
all forms of racism. Prepared by Benseon Apple, Director of Research &
Public Affairs.

Technical support provided by Fluffy Spider Technologies
http://www.fluffyspider.com.au/

B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission Inc.
PO Box 450, Caulfield South, Vic 3162, Australia.
Phone 61-3-9527-1228 Fax 61-3-9525-9127
Email antidef@ozemail.com.au

Chairman: Mr Kerry Klineberg
Executive Director: Dr Danny Ben-Moshe

ADC Board of Advisers:
The Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC DCL (pres.),
Sir Walter Campbell AC,
The Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH,
The Hon RJL Hawke AC,
Professor Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE,
The Rt Hon Sir Ninian Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE,
The Hon Neville Wran AC QC
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