By Wendy Bainger
MELBOURNE: The notorious fascist group National Action has recently opened a 'bookshop' in Tyson Street, Fawkner. This so-called bookshop, however, has nothing to do with knowledge or culture. Operations are being overseen by Michael Brander, the pocket fuehrer of this gang of racist misfits. The 'bookshop's' location, close to the Fawkner Secondary College is so that this fascist group can recruit members and to organise violent racist and homophobic attacks on members of the community.
As reported in the Herald Sun, 'The walls of the ... shop are covered with posters calling for the shooting of "human trash" boat people' and 'T-shirts, stickers and mugs are adorned with slogans such as "Stop the Asian Invasion" and "Land Rights for Whites".
The report went on the quote local shopkeepers as saying that 'the shop had no place in the area' and they are quite right. National Action is a vicious organisation dedicated to peddling its twisted policies of bigotry andhatred. Nor do they stop at words. From top to bottom they are composed of violent bashers. Michael Brander, the leader of the gang, is a convicted thug with a long history of serious assaults.
His methods were demonstrated at an anti-immigration, pro-fascist rally outside Melbourne's parliament in 1995. At this rally, without provocation, he viciously assaulted a member of a counter-demonstration with a flagpole. His victim required a number of stitches to the scalp. In November 1996 Brander was convicted and fined $3000 for the assault. Speaking afterwards, Brander said that he regretted nothing and has since gone on to organise the hate-centre in Fawkner as a reply to the magistrate and others who commented on his repugnant ideas and actions.
The experience in Adelaide, where National Action has operated for several years, shows that ethnic groups in the suburbs suffered on-going brutal attacks, which police were unable to deal with adequately. The examples in Italy, Germany and more recently in Sweden show that fascist organisations like National Action cannot be ignored or considered and idle threat. In Western Australia a number of fascists led by Jack van Tongeren are serving long prison terms for their part in a savage wave of assaults and arson against the Asian community.
National Action claims that high unemployment in working class suburbs like Fawkner is caused by immigration. This hides the truth that the responsibility lies with governments and transnational corporations for reducing the public and private sector, eliminating tens of thousands of jobs. It is companies like Ford and Nestle and politicians like Jeff Kennett who sack workers, not migrants. In the last six years immigration has dropped from 163,000 to less than half that amount whilst unemployment continues to grow.
Unemployment is not confined to Australia either. It is part of the world-wide crisis of the social and economic system we live in. Apart from being a terrible social problem in its own right, it is deliberately used by conservative governments and the capitalists they serve as a way of dividing workers and of driving down wages and conditions. The socialist organisation Militant advocates a united fight by all workers and youth, irrespective of race, ethnicity, colour, language or religious belief to fight against cuts to jobs, health, education and social services.
Come to the rally to close down the Nazi bookshop in Fawkner.
Meet at 1pm on Saturday March 15
CB Smith Reserve, Fawkner
Followed by a march on the bookshop at Tyson Street.
Bring banners and follow the marshalls.
For more information or to help with the campaign in the area, contact us on 019-359894