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Australian Protectionist Party

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Australian Protectionist Party
Australian Protectionists
AbbreviationAPP
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Registered18 January 2011[a]
Split fromAustralia First
HeadquartersDover, Tasmania
Newspaper
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing[4] to far-right[5][6]
ReligionChristianity[2]
National affiliationAustralian Coalition of Nationalists (since 2016)
Colours  Blue
Slogan“To protect, preserve and defend our identity, heritage, and freedoms.”[5]
Website
www.protectionist.net

The Australian Protectionist Party (APP) is a minor nationalist political party in Australia. The party stated that it had been formed to fill the void of a pro-Australian party within the political arena based on traditional values.[3]

The APP was formed in 2007 as a splinter organization of the Australia First Party, party led by Jim Saleam.[7] The party was registered as a federal political party with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 18 January 2011[1][8] and de-registered on 18 June 2015.[9][10] The party continues to have an active website and seeks donations. Its current officeholders are not disclosed and its address is given as a PO box in Tasmania.

History

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Foundation and early years, 2007–2010

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Founded in 2007, the party was formed from a split with the Australia First Party (AFP) after initially being described as one of its three factions.[11] By 2010 the party was believed to have adopted the 'BNP model under Nick Griffin', moving away from Neo-Nazism and toward an authentic voice for white nationalism and white alienation.[12] This supposed change had come after a 2008 invitation from the party for a Nick Griffin speaking tour of Australia had been accepted.[13] However Griffin had been blocked from entering the country.[14][15]

Darrin Hodges ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2008 elections for Sutherland Shire Council, coming last in his ward.[16][17] At the 2010 Australian federal election, Hodges and Nicholas Hunter-Folkes (aka. Nick Folkes) ran a Senate ticket in New South Wales, running as independents, as APP was not registered in time. They received 1,864 votes or 0.04% of the vote.[18] Andrew Phillips stood for the seat of Mayo in South Australia, also as an independent, receiving 993 votes or 1.08% of the votes.

Registration, elections and de-registration, 2011–2015

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In June 2012, Andrew Phillips was described as the party's nominal leader, following the resignation of de facto party leader Darrin Hodges.[19] In September 2012, NSW chairman Nick Folkes unsuccessfully contested the NSW council elections for the Municipality of Leichhardt, receiving 41 votes or 0.6% of the total vote for the ward.[20] In December 2012, Folkes resigned from APP to form Party for Freedom,[21] modeled on Wilder's Freedom Party, and taking the entire Sydney branch with him.[22] Folkes' Party for Freedom appears to have links to Pauline Hanson's One Nation.[23]

At the 2013 federal election for the Senate for the state of New South Wales, the APP ticket of Mark Grech and Christian Johns received 2,424 votes or 0.06% of the vote.[24] Two years later, on 18 June 2015, the party would be de-registered by the Australian Electoral Commission, but the APP would still operate as an organization.[9]

Right alliance, 2016–present

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In June 2016, APP in Western Australia hosted a public speaking event in Perth featuring Graeme Campbell,[25] whom APP described as "the Father of modern Australian nationalism".[26] Campbell was the founder in 1996 of the far-right Australia First Party and had been a Labor, One Nation and independent MP.

In October 2016, the APP joined with the Australian Coalition of Nationalists (ACN), a political group formed by the Australia First Party (AFP) alongside other nationalist organizations such as the Nationalist Alternative (NA), the Eureka Youth League, and the Hellenic Nationalists of Australia (HNA).[27][28]

The APP hailed the election of United States President Donald Trump, saying it believed this "ushered in a new era".[29]

Ideology

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Australia’s way of life needs protecting from the destructiveness of Multiculturalism and Political Correctness… APP is a party for ordinary Australians seeking to defend the Australian way of life… an alternative to the Establishment’s internationalist policies, and aims to protect Australia’s national interests

— Australian Protectionist Party, 2017[30]

With an emphasis on Australian nationalism,[31] the party's core ideology centres around protectionism, social conservatism;[3] opposition to immigration,[5][6] multiculturalism[32] and Islam,[5][6] and opposition to believed Islamic extremism in Australia.[33][34]

The party sits on the right-wing of the political spectrum, being described by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) as white nationalist, echoing the great replacement conspiracy theory.[5] Kathryn Crosby of the University of Technology Sydney describes the APP to have certain populism characteristics.[35]

Since its formation, the party has been active in protesting against the presence of asylum seekers and Muslims, and has also organised several protests against Sharia law being implemented in Australia.[36][37][38]

The party has participated in anti-asylum seeker rallies such as the one outside the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in 2010.[39]

Electoral performance

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Federal Parliament

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House of Representatives
Election year # of
overall votes
% of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
/– Position
2013 1,079 0.01 (#29)
0 / 150
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
Senate
Election year # of
overall votes
% of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
# of
overall seats
/–
2013 3,379 0.03 (#42)
0 / 40
0 / 76
Steady 0

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Party was de-registered in 2015.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Australian Protectionist Party – AEC". aec.gov.au. Australian Electoral Commission. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b Sykes 2022, p. 299.
  3. ^ a b c "Formation of the Australian Protectionist Party". protectionist.net. 10 September 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Wilson, Cam (7 October 2022). "One Nation, Australian Christian Lobby listed as hate groups by global extremism think tank". Crikey. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Australia – GPAHE". globalextremism.org. Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "New Report Profiles Far-Right Hate and Extremist Groups in Australia". globalextremism.org. Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. 5 October 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022.
  7. ^ Sykes 2022, p. 292.
  8. ^ "Australian Protectionist Party achieves registration". protectionist.net. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011.
  9. ^ a b Grant 2019, p. 117.
  10. ^ Sykes 2022, p. 297.
  11. ^ "Australia First Party makes like a banana..." slackbastard.anarchobase.com. 19 September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Australian Protectionist Party : nasty and weird". slackbastard.anarchobase.com. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011.
  13. ^ "BNP chairman Nick Griffin to tour Australia". protectionist.net. 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008.
  14. ^ "BNP leader's speaking tour postponed". ABC News. 15 December 2008. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016.
  15. ^ "British National Party leader's tour of Australia has been postponed". The Jewish Chronicle.
  16. ^ Gibson, Jano (26 September 2008). "Locals oppose Muslim school". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  17. ^ Matheson, Alan (7 November 2008). "Scrutinising the religious and political right". ON LINE opinion. Australia. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  18. ^ Sharp, Ari (20 August 2010). "Sex, socialism and shooting lead the charge in microparty race". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  19. ^ "t00t t00t! All Aboard The Australian Protectionist Party Failboat!". 23 June 2012.
  20. ^ "2012 NSW Local Council Elections - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  21. ^ "靴修理で靴を大切に履きたい|靴修理でかかとを直す!".
  22. ^ "Geert Wilders in Australia, February 2013". 3 February 2013.
  23. ^ "Party for Freedom's Nick Folkes vows to ignore legal action and celebrate Cronulla riots anniversary". 5 December 2015.
  24. ^ "Federal election 2013 - Senate Results: New South Wales". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  25. ^ APP, August 2016, "Graeme Campbell speaks to the APP in Perth". 12 August 2016.
  26. ^ APP, March 2016, "Perth meeting with Graeme Campbell, 12th June 2016". 24 March 2016.
  27. ^ "Australian Coalition of Nationalists proclaimed". australiafirstparty.net. Australia First Party. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016.
  28. ^ McSwiney 2024, p. 103.
  29. ^ "Trump ushers in a new era". protectionist.net. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017.
  30. ^ Grant 2019, p. 115.
  31. ^ "Primary Policies". protectionist.net. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  32. ^ "Multiculturalism not working, as Israel wants to send Africans to Australia". protectionist.net. 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013.
  33. ^ "Australian patriots face off against Islamic extremists". protectionist.net. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010.
  34. ^ "Australian Protectionist Party's successful protest against Islamic extremists". protectionist.net. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012.
  35. ^ Crosby, Kathryn (26 September 2017). "Populism, Populist or Personality? What is actually gaining in support and how to test it" (PDF). opus.lib.uts.edu.au. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2020.
  36. ^ Sally, By (5 July 2010). "Islamist leader Burhan Hanif tells Aussie Muslims to 'shun democracy'". News.com.au. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  37. ^ "Reference at www.dailytelegraph.com.au".
  38. ^ "Anti-Defamation League rally, 2011 | Australian Protectionist Party". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  39. ^ Kontominas, Bellinda (12 April 2010). "Activists' showdown at Villawood's gates". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 September 2011.

Bibliography

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