NSW Nationals to expel white supremacists, alt-right supporters from party

The NSW Nationals will be asking 20 alleged white supremacist, neo-Nazis and alt-right members to justify why they should not be kicked out of the party. The party would be expunging members that they believed were radicalised.

The ABC had previously uncovered a plot by an alt-right movement in Australia to join major political parties to influence their policy agendas from within. According to a report from Background Briefing, there were members of the NSW Young Nationals in Sydney attending a secret men’s-only fight club set up by some of the most prominent alt-right nationalists in the country. The same people apparently also had access to a private Facebook group, wherein they discussed their manifesto. Their group is said to be called The New Guard and its members were self-described fascists.

The publication said at least three members, including Clifford Jennings, were or recently had been members.

On Monday, the party said it had investigated about 35 members since the ABC had published its report. The party’s state director, Ross Cadell, admitted that it was impossible to track down all members with extremist views. Nevertheless, they would be sending letters to about 20 members to explain why they should not be expelled from the party over their alleged links to white supremacists and alt-right movements. Some of those who would receive a letter “almost certainly” would face expulsion, but others wouldn’t be implicated to the same level.

“Some of them have partaken in hate speech and some of them haven’t,” he explained. “But they are linked closely enough that we want to get some understanding of where they are and that’s what we hope to do. There’s a photo of them pulling alleged white power symbol at a dinner table and there’s some members of the party that were just sitting there.

“They aren’t pulling the same symbol, but they are doing hand gestures and we just want to clarify where they are, what they’re doing and what is their involvement, if any.”

Mr Cadell also said that the Nationals were sharing information with “at least one other political party” that they suspected had also been infiltrated. He did not name the party, but he said it was not the Liberals.

The Nationals leader Michael McCormack said they would not allow members with extremist views.

“The Nationals will not tolerate extremism or politics of hate. People found to engage with such radicalism are not welcome in our party. We are a grassroots party proudly championing what matters most to our regional and rural communities — always has been, always will be,” he tweeted.