page_title: Far-right politics in Australia
section_title: Lads Society
hierarchical_section_title: Far-right politics in Australia / History / 2000s onward / Lads Society
caption_attribution_description: English: Ashfield Community Action group - Antifascist poster protesting the presence of Lads Society in Ashfield.
context_page_description: Far-right politics in Australia began in Sydney with the formation of The New Guard and the Centre Party. These proto-fascist groups were monarchist, anti-communist and authoritarian in nature. Early far-right groups were followed by the explicitly fascist Australia First Movement. The far right in Australia went on to acquire more explicitly racial connotations during the 1960s and 1970s, morphing into self-proclaimed Nazi, fascist and anti-Semitic movements, organisations that opposed non-white and non-Christian immigration, such as the neo-Nazi National Socialist Party of Australia and the militant white supremacist group National Action.
  Since the 1980s, the term has mainly been used to describe those who express the wish to preserve what they perceive to be Judeo-Christian, Anglo-Australian culture, and those who campaign against Aboriginal land rights, multiculturalism, immigration and asylum seekers. Since 2001 Australia has seen the development of modern neo-Nazi, neo-Fascist or alt-right groups such as the True Blue Crew, the United Patriots Front, Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party and the Antipodean Resistance.
context_section_description: The Lads Society is a far-right white nationalist extremist group founded by several former members of the United Patriots Front in late 2017, with club houses in Sydney and Melbourne. 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 brandishing an SS helmet. In 2017, the group's leader Thomas Sewell approached the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, asking him to join the Lads Society, but Tarrant refused. The group's members and allies attempted to infiltrate the Young Nationals in NSW, 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. White nationalists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux of Canada met with Lads Society members during their trip to Australia.
caption: Ashfield Community Action group Antifascist poster protesting the presence of Lads Society in Ashfield
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