Australia First Movement

Australia First Movement
AbbreviationAFM
Formation20 October 1941; 82 years ago (20 October 1941)
Dissolved1942
TypePolitical organisation
Legal statusDefunct
HeadquartersSydney, New South Wales
Region served
Australia
Official language
English
President
Percy Stephensen
Organiser
Adela Pankhurst Walsh
Key people
 • Ian Mudie
 • Rex Ingamells
Main organ
 • The Publicist

The Australia First Movement (AFM) was an extremist political movement founded in Sydney in October 1941, which advocated isolationism and collaborationism during World War II and supported fascism and Nazism.[1] It grew out of the Rationalist Association of New South Wales and the Victorian Socialist Party, and was led by former Rhodes scholar Percy Stephensen and Adela Pankhurst. It has been alleged that writer Miles Franklin was also involved in the AFM, as she attended three AFM public meetings in December 1941, and had long time literary associations and friendships with Stephenson, Herbert and Dark. However, historian Jill Roe has documented Franklin's clear opposition to the political views of the AFM in her 2008 biography of Stella Miles Franklin. The AFM was inspired by the activities of retired businessman William John Miles, who had campaigned during the 1930s under the "Australia First" slogan.

  1. ^ Munro, Craig (1990). "Stephensen, Percy Reginald (1901–1965)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 16 March 2017.