The Puzzled Patriots: The Story of the Australia First Movement

In March 1942, 16 Australian-born men were secretly interned in Sydney. Most were members of the Australia First movement, a tiny fringe group whose philosophy comprised a chauvinistic Australianism, spiced with anti-British, quasi-Fascist and anti-Semitic overtones.

They were a cranky group, but were they traitors? Bruce Muirden investgates the background to this odd movement of Australia Firsters, the individuals who belonged to it, and the nature of the 'threat' they posed. He paints a disquieting picture of what can happen to civil liberties when ordinary legal processes are suspended on gounds of 'security', and even the writ of habeas corpus does not run.