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December 7, 2012
Peter Munro and Shelly Horton

‘Our culture is better than the Muslim culture” … Nick Folkes of the Australian Protectionist Party. Photo: James Alcock
WHEN right-wing extremists gather for an end-of-year knees-up, it’s BYO food and bile. Or as the online invitation reads: ”Please bring some nibbles.”
The Australian Protectionist Party wants people to roll up for ”a few Xmas drinks and cheer” at the December meeting of the Ironbark Social Club, which bills itself as ”a friendly monthly get together where Conservatives, Nationalists, Constitutionalists, Anthropogenic climate change sceptics and Australians concerned about where this country is headed can discuss issues of concern in a PC-free environment”.
Such friendly gatherings have previously railed against ”terrorists in the guise of refugees”, ”illegal” asylum seekers and the ”great global warming swindle”. Sounds friendly as hell. The contact for interested party-goers is Nick Folkes, pictured, an industrial painter from Rozelle who has previously stood as a candidate for the far-right Protectionist Party, chasing the xenophobic vote with gusto. Folkes has preached that Leichhardt Council be declared a ”sharia-free zone” and that the council scrap grants to multicultural groups. ”Our culture is better than the Muslim culture, it is better than the African culture,” he said this year about migrants. ”At the end of the day, why did they come here? There must be something wrong with their culture.” Well something is wrong here, but we suspect the source is more likely to be found among the ”like-minded people” of the Ironbark Social Club.
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Contact diary@smh.com.au or 92822029 or on Twitter @mrpetermunro
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