THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA’S POLITICAL FRINGES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT

The report analyses the Facebook activity of 43 far-right and 31 far-left pages, and 9 public groups in Australia during the first seven months of 2020. It finds that while both sides use 'us versus them' narratives, opposition to the far-right is more central to far-left identity than vice versa. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement served as primary catalysts for activity, with the far-right weaponising the pandemic to promote anti-China and xenophobic narratives, while the far-left focused on labour rights and police violence. The study notes that far-right groups were more likely to promote violence against the left than the far-left was against the right.

• Opposition to the far-right is more central to the identity and online activity of the far-left than opposition to the far-left is to the far-right. Discussion about the far-right accounted for 17% of far-left page output, whereas discussion about the far-left made up only 7% of far-right output.
• The COVID-19 pandemic was a primary driver of activity for both groups, but with opposing ideological focuses: the far-right used the virus to promote hostility toward China and support border closures, while the far-left focused on the pandemic's impact on the economy and workers' rights.
• The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement triggered a sharp increase in antagonistic online mobilisation in June 2020. Far-right groups attempted to discredit the movement as violent, while far-left groups used it to highlight police brutality against minorities in Australia and internationally.
• Far-right narratives regarding the far-left often employ interchangeable labels such as 'communist', 'socialist', 'Marxist', or 'Antifa' as generic descriptors for any political opponent. These groups also portray mainstream media and institutions like universities as complicit in 'Marxist indoctrination'.
• Far-right groups demonstrated a higher propensity to promote violence against their political opponents compared to far-left groups. Analysis identified numerous calls for violence in far-right comment sections, including threats to 'shoot first' or 'burn' individuals, while calls for violence from the far-left were described as 'very rare'.
• A small number of highly active pages and groups drive the majority of the reciprocal antagonistic content. For example, one single group was responsible for 67% of all far-right group posts concerning the far-left.

APA

Guerin, C., Davey, J., Peucker, M., & Fisher, T. J. (2020). THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA’S POLITICAL FRINGES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT. Institute for Strategic Dialogue. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Interplay-Between-Australia_final-1.pdf

Chicago

Guerin, Cécile, Jacob Davey, Mario Peucker, and Thomas J. Fisher. THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA’S POLITICAL FRINGES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT. Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2020. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Interplay-Between-Australia_final-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Guerin |first1=Cécile |last2=Davey |first2=Jacob |last3=Peucker |first3=Mario |last4=Fisher |first4=Thomas J. |title=THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA’S POLITICAL FRINGES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT |publisher=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |date=November 2020 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Interplay-Between-Australia_final-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{guerin2020interplay, author = {Guerin, Cécile and Davey, Jacob and Peucker, Mario and Fisher, Thomas J.}, title = {{THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA’S POLITICAL FRINGES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Interplay-Between-Australia_final-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }