Secret location of Aussie underground fight club leaks
Once a week, a bunch of Aussie blokes meet up to beat the hell out of each other. But are copping backlash after the secret location was leaked.
Nobody seems to have told the Lads Society about the first rule of Fight Club.
Because although the underground Aussie far-right white supremacist group tried to hide its fight night locations from the public eye — they’ve now been exposed and they’re facing a massive community backlash.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a big surprise to the men’s-only “brotherhood” as they can be seen brazenly bragging about their antics in Sydney and Melbourne in videos plastered all over social media.
Promotional clips of the weekly boxing and training nights in both Sydney and Melbourne show them beating seven bells out of each other to cinematic music and they’ve talked of expanding the organisation to Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
“This is no bulls**t,” one moustachioed member says to the camera among a montage of big hits and wild swings on a Facebook video. “This is the real deal.”
However, the group — which includes high-ranking members of the far-right Australian nationalist protest group United Patriots Front (UPF), as well as members of the openly Nazi-supporting Antipodean Resistance — has stirred up anger in one inner-west Sydney suburb after the fight night location was revealed by an anti-fascist blogger.
UPF founder Neil Erikson, who can be seen wearing a t-shirt which reads “F**k Islam” in one filmed fight, and its leader Blair Cottrell, who can be seen giving talks and lifting weights, feature in the group’s promotional videos.
A local community group called Ashfield Community Action has created a poster which has been circulated on social media warning the suburb’s residents about the group.
“The Sydney Branch is known to be led by committed Nazis,” the poster reads. The organisation has attracted the interest of hundreds of hard line far-right racists from around Australia.”
They even accuse the group of “training white men for racist violence” and calls for it to be shut down as soon as possible”.
A spokesman for NSW Police said the force has been made aware of what was happening at the leaked location — but the Lads Society refused to talk to news.com.au about what their organisation was about or what happened at their weekly fight night.
However, on a social media video, a Lads Society member revealed the “community initiative” was set up about 16 months ago.
“The purpose of this organisation was to build a community of young Australian men to provide job networking, mental and physical health as well as an open space for communication,” he said.
“As we know Australia might not be going in the direction we want it to and there is very little we can do at a political level.
“Our idea is solving problems with community by making sure we’re all self-improving, with good physical fitness, mental health, job security. The whole idea of this is reinvigorating Australian culture.”
In more recent posts, they go on to say how the society provides free seminars for its members on general strength and conditioning, injury prevention, workout technique advice, diet advice and many more things for free.
However, that has is not the impression NSW Labor MP Jo Haylen has of the group.
Speaking out in parliament last week, she accused them of spreading “racism, fascism, sexism or race-based violence”.
In a Facebook post she described the group as a “far-right nationalist men’s-only movement” which has established a “clubhouse” in Ashfield.
“I’ve called on the government to show leadership, and for NSW Police and other agencies to investigate what is going on here in the interests of public safety,” Ms Haylen said.
“The link between The Lads Society and far-right nationalist groups and identities is clear and I’m concerned that the Thomas St premises have been used for the group’s weekly men’s only fight nights.
“I’m concerned about any group that is premised on hatred and division, especially when they have violent undertones.
“Ashfield is a success story in Australian multiculturalism. It’s a peaceful, diverse and vibrant community and residents won’t stand for racist, fascist groups that seek to divide us.”
On its homepage, the Antipodean Resistance says, “We aim to provide an alternative for young Australians to the filth of modern society by setting a good example for people to live up to … such as alcoholism, drugs and race mixing … We oppose substance abuse, homosexuality, and all other rotten, irresponsible distractions laid before us by Jews and globalist elites.”
Both the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society were accused of trying to infiltrate the NSW Nationals afterThe Daily Telegraphrevealed the party was investigating at least 35 NSW members, including at senior levels, for their links to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.
Just earlier this week, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and other Jewish community groups released a report showing the disturbing scale of anti-Semitism in Australia.
The report states that the Lads Society is closely connected to Antipodean Resistance — sharing many members and a world view.
Of the 366 incidents noted by the council and other Jewish community groups, 156, or 43 per cent, were categorised as attacks — assault, abuse, vandalism, and graffiti — and 210, or 57 per cent, as threats via email, letters, telephone calls, or leaflets, posters and stickers.
There were 166 incidents reported in New South Wales — more than in any other state.
“Members of Antipodean Resistance have put up thousands of Nazi stickers and anti-Jewish, anti-homosexual and pro-Nazi posters, especially at universities, high schools, and other places visible to the public,” said ECAJ’s research officer, Julie Nathan, who authored the report.
“Antipodean Resistance has explicitly promoted violence and murder, calling to ‘Legalise the execution of Jews’.
“It has also called for the killing of homosexuals. Its posters graphically depict and incite the use of firearms to shoot Jews and homosexuals in the head. Antipodean Resistance is a serious threat to the safety and security of Jews, homosexuals, non-white immigrants and ultimately to the entire community.”
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