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#StKildaBeach Re LT, it's worth noting a few things: first, that the *openly* neo-#Nazi grp, Antipodean Resistance, was actually *born out of* the 'United Patriots Front'; their first joint action was a v smol anti-Black Lives Matter rally in #Melbourne in July 2016. >
Secondly, the UPF is defunct, having been replaced by 'The Lads Society'. TLS has a social centre in Cheltenham in #Melbourne, another in Ashfield in Sydney (see @ActionAshfield), & is in the process of est itself in BRIS, CAN & PER. The principal reason that the UPF is defunct >
Case in point: it was reported a day or two ago that the event page for the racist rally in #StKilda was shut-down (after FB was no doubt deluged w complaints); problem being, it was removed AFTER the event itself, rendering the exercise more-or-less pointless.
That aside, inre applying the term 'Nazi' to the rally: to begin w (& I understand that I'm repeating myself, but it appears to be necessary), the key organisers & promoters -- Blair Cottrell & Neil Erikson -- both have long histories of involvement in neo-Nazi orgs.
Principally, in the case of both meatheads, w 'Nationalist Alternative', a chiefly Melbourne-based groupuscule which, as it happens, has its origins in anti-mosque agitation in Williamstown. Otherwise, it's also worth noting that, at one point in early 2016, Erikson denounced >
> both Cottrell & the UPF *precisely* on the basis that they were a bunch of nazis -- this was *after* he left/was expelled from the grp. Fast-fwd to 2018 &, for his own reasons, Erikson was back on board w Cottrell & ex-UPF (ie, TLS). & his prev denunciation disappeared >
> along w much else, down the memory hole. Being a semi-professional liar & a fabulist as well as a serial pest, this back-and-forth is not surprising, & reflects a general tendency on the part of the milieu. Thus, it's half-right, imo, to not take the ideological positioning >
> of the var chancers & spivs attracted to this proto-movement *too* seriously; otoh, it would be mistaken to discount such factors entirely. To put it another way: Cottrell is indeed a neo-Nazi, & this assessment is not based on his fashion sense, or preparedness >
> to chuck up Hitler salutes a la a handful of meatheads on Saturday. Rather, this can be est by ref to: a) his stated political positions and; b) his public advocacy. In which context; Cottrell now lies about the fact that he's stated all the nazi stuff I've documented >
> on the blog & which has formed the basis of subsequent media reportage (esp that SMH article of late 2015). Further, anybody actually familiar w Nazi philosophy will easily recognise its influence upon Cottrell in all his public posturings (his rhetorical style, fwiw, is >
redolent of his dead hero's). Also, *not* being an absolute fucking cretin, Cottrell understands -- & has openly said so -- that to be tarred w the Nazi brush is to be given the political kiss-of-death. He wants to avoid that tag like the fucking plague, *precisely* because >
it's accurate but, moreover, because it jeopardises his attempts to appeal to a broader layer of potential recruits. If Cottrell is understood as being someone who's actually capable of acting rationally, much else falls into place. This is one of the issues w portraying him >
> & some others as simply deranged or even psychotic. However grotesque his Weltanschauung, his political activity is, generally-speaking, rational & considered. This applies more generally to the smol following he's accrued over the last four years. So, to return to the UPF >
> at its inception, its core membership consisted not of 'The Babysitters Club for racist incels', but middle-aged, married blokes w kids: Dennis Huts in PER, Kris0 Richardson & Chris Shortis in MEL, & Scott Moerland in BRIS (along w Burgess, Erikson, Sewell & Kevin Coombes).
In terms of nazi participation at the rally itself, again, if commentators are prepared to recognise the poss that smart nazis -- for entirely understandable & easily-explicable reasons -- try to avoid the tag, then assessments can be made in terms of ideology, not fashion.
