Editing New Guard

{{Short description|Australian fascist paramilitary organisation}}
{{about|the 1930s Australian political organisation|the later group of the same name|New Guard (2015–2018)|the novel by Robert Muchamore|New Guard (novel)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = New Guard
| logo             = New Guard emblem.svg
| caption          = 
| other_name       = 
| leader           = [[Eric Campbell (political activist)|Eric Campbell]]
| foundation       = {{start date and age|16 March 1931}}
| dates            = {{Circa}} 1931–1935
| dissolved        = {{end date and age|1935}}
| merger           = 
| split            = [[Old Guard (Australia)|Old Guard]]
| predecessor      = 
| merged           = 
| successor        = 
| country          = [[Australia]]
| allegiance       = 
| motives          = 
| area             = {{flag|New South Wales}}
| headquarters     = [[Sydney]], New South Wales
| newspaper        = 
| ideology         = {{unbulleted list|
 |[[Fascism]]<ref name=TNR>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Eric |date=1934 |title=The New Road |url= |publisher=Briton Publishing Limited }}</ref>  
 |{{•}}[[Militarism]] 
 |{{•}}[[Monarchism]]<ref name=TNR/>  
 |{{•}}[[Anti-socialism]]<ref name=TNR/> 
 |{{•}}[[Anti-communism]]<ref name=TNR/> 
 |{{•}}[[Christian fascism]]
 |{{•}}[[Corporatism#Fascist corporatism|Fascist corporatism]]<ref name=TNR/> 
 |{{•}}[[Australian nationalism]]
}}
| position         = [[Far-right politics|Far-right]]
| anthem           = 
| crimes           = 
| attacks          = 
| status           = 
| size             = {{Circa}} 50,000 (1931)<br>{{Circa}} 80,000 (1932)<ref name="Evans">{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Richard |title=W. J. MacKay and the NSW Police, 1910–1948: A Dangerous Man |date=August 30, 2022 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-10921-8 |pages=83–107 |edition=1st |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10921-8 |language=en |access-date=March 25, 2025 |chapter='Fascism, with Modifications': The New Guard, the 'Old Guard', and Challenges to State Power, 1931–32 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10921-8_5}}</ref><br>{{Circa}} 1,500 (1933)<ref name="Evans" />
| revenue          = 
| financing        = 
| partof           = 
| allies           = 
| opponents        = {{plainlist|
* {{nowrap|[[New South Wales Labor Party|New South Wales Labor]]}}
* [[Lang Labor]]
}}
| battles          = 
| flag             = [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|135px|border]]
| website          = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
{{Far-right politics in Australia|expanded=Defunct organisations}}
The '''New Guard''' was an Australian fascist [[paramilitary]] organisation during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="fascist">{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Andrew |title=The New Guard and the Labour Movement, 1931-35 |journal=Labour History |date=2005 |volume=89 |issue=89 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.2307/27516075 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |access-date=5 November 2020 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |jstor=27516075 |quote=Though largely confined to one city, Eric Campbell had succeeded in building the most significant fascist organisation in Australia|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=Nerida/> It was the largest and most successful [[fascist]] organisation in Australian history.<ref name="fascist"/>

The New Guard, known for its violent agitation against [[Premier of New South Wales|NSW Premier]] [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Jack Lang]], was founded and led by [[Eric Campbell (political activist)|Eric Campbell]]. At its peak, membership was estimated to be around 50,000. The group's membership was predominantly made up of [[Anglo]]-[[Protestant]], [[monarchist]] and [[anti-communist]] elements.<ref name="fascist"/> 
 
The organisation attracted great publicity when member Captain [[Francis de Groot]], on horseback and at Campbell's direction, upstaged Lang in cutting the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]] in protest at the latter's anti-monarchist ideology.

After [[1932 New South Wales constitutional crisis|Lang's dismissal in 1932]], the New Guard's membership declined rapidly. Campbell met with fascists and [[National Socialists]] such as [[Sir Oswald Mosley]] and [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] and, in 1934, published his manifesto ''The New Road'', signalling an ideological transition towards  [[Italy|Italian]] [[corporate statism]]. As the [[Centre Party (New South Wales)|Centre Party]], it unsuccessfully contested five seats at the [[1935 New South Wales state election]]. The party failed to win a single seat, polling 0.60 per cent of the vote. Following the election, Campbell withdrew from public life. Both the party and the New Guard disbanded shortly afterwards.

==History==
===Old Guard===
In response to the election of [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Jack Lang]] as [[Premier of New South Wales]], and rising pressure from [[trade unionists]], counter-movements began to rise in opposition to the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]]. Among them was the [[Old Guard (Australia)|Old Guard]], a secret organisation purported to exist as early as 1917, which at the time of the Great Depression was administrated primarily by businessmen Roger Goldfinch and Robert Gillespie, among other anonymous committee members. The Old Guard was a coalition of imperial [[loyalists]], devoted to the British Empire and ready to act preemptively to prevent a socialist revolution from taking place. At the height of its popularity the organisation enjoyed close ties with the [[New South Wales Police Force|NSW Police Force]], [[Attorney-General's Department (Australia)|Attorney-General's Department]] and the [[Department of Defence (Australia)|Department of Defence]], and boasted 30,000 members comprising strongly of rural New South Welshmen and wealthy [[Protestant]] [[Anglo-Saxons]].

===Old-New Guard schism===
Among the Old Guard's members was [[World War I]] veteran [[Eric Campbell (political activist)|Eric Campbell]], an [[army officer]] and former gunner with the [[First Australian Imperial Force]]. Campbell had been introduced to the Old Guard by John Scott, a fellow member of the board of Sydney insurance company Sun Insurance.<ref name=AmosDict /><ref name=Nerida />

Over time, Campbell grew discontented with the Old Guard. The organisation was sworn to absolute secrecy of membership, and was divided into cells as to conceal the identity of its leadership. Campbell disagreed with this arrangement, asserting that the uncommunicative nature of its leadership to its members, mostly returned servicemen, was ill-fitting to their nature as soldiers. He believed that without clear authority and direction, the Old Guard would be unable to retain members. Unable to convince the committee to change its administrative strategy, he and John Scott left the Old Guard. A week after Campbell's resignation, he and others from the Old Guard agreed, in mid-February, to form a separate body which would be diametrically opposed to the Old Guard's secrecy and what they considered its inaction.<ref name=MooreSAP>{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Andrew|title=The Secret Army and the Premier|date=1989|publisher=New South Wales University Press|isbn=0868402834|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/19290792}}</ref>{{rp|140}}

The New Guard was officially formed on 16 March 1931, built on a common ideological system of [[monarchism]], [[classic liberalism]] and [[anti-communism]]. Campbell was voted Chief Commander.<ref name=AmosDict /><ref name=Nerida /> Within a few weeks its membership had swelled.<ref name=Nerida>{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=Nerida |title=Unfurling Sydney's radical past |url=https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/unfurling-sydneys-radical-past |website=Justice & Police Museum |date=11 October 2018 |publisher=NSW State Government |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref><ref name=Howard>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Howard |first1=Frederick |title=Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles Edward (1897–1935) |id2=kingsford-smith-sir-charles-edward-6964 |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref>

===Anti-leftist action (1931-32)===
[[Image:De Groot cutting the ribbon.jpg|thumb|300px|Captain de Groot declares the Sydney Harbour Bridge open in March 1932.]]
The New Guard was a paramilitary group,<ref name=Nerida /><ref name=Sparrow>{{cite web |last1=Sparrow |first1=Jeff |title=If you oppose Reclaim Australia, remember fascism wasn't always a freakshow |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/22/if-you-oppose-reclaim-australia-remember-fascism-wasnt-always-a-freakshow|website=The Guardian|date=22 July 2015 |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Blamires |first1=Cyprian |last2=Jackson |first2=Paul |title=World Fascism: A-K - Volume 1 of World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, California, United States |isbn=978-1576079409 |page=66}}</ref> its military capability was extremely limited and vastly overstated by its leadership.<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|148–150}}  It was amateurish, ineffectual and likened to the [[Keystone Cops]].<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|147}}  During the initial growth of the movement, Campbell was able to attract many ex-soldiers and ex-commanders to the movement,<ref>{{cite web |title=1932 Starvation Debenture |url=http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/starvation/index.html |website=The NSW Migration Heritage Centre at the Powerhouse Museum |publisher=New South Wales Government |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref> with ex-military making up the majority of the group's membership,<ref>{{cite web |title=1918 – 1939 PLAGUES, PANDEMICS AND BRIDGES |url=http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime-history/1918-1939/index.html |website=The NSW Migration Heritage Centre at the Powerhouse Museum|publisher=NSW State Government |access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref> including the likes of early aviator [[Charles Kingsford Smith]]<ref name=Howard /><ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|145}} and [[List of mayors of North Sydney|North Sydney Mayor]] [[Hubert Primrose]].<ref name=Primrose /> As general commanding officer, Campbell organised it on military lines. He claimed that, in an 'emergency', it could maintain essential services including Bunnerong power house and the police attested to the Guard's efficiency. With a peak membership of over 50,000,<ref>{{cite web |title=New Guard Movement, 1931–35 |url=http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs183.aspx |website=National Archives of Australia |publisher=Federal Australian Government |access-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305044027/http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs183.aspx |archive-date=5 March 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Guard rallied in public, broke up 'Communist' meetings, drilled,<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|161}} vilified the Labor Party and demanded the deportation of Communists.<ref name=Sparrow /> Campbell and his New Guard proceeded to secure connections and weapons<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|161}} so that, in the event of a statewide communist revolt in which the police had become ineffective, he could seize control of essential services and keep them operational. An attempt to clothe its members in uniforms failed, however, when the Guard could not go through with its order for lack of funds.<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|153}} Campbell's naïve offer to step in to break a seamen's strike in October 1931 was rebuffed by shipowners.<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|150}}

====Violent clashes====
Assisted by motorcar, the New Guard developed a strategy of regularly disrupting left-wing workers' meetings, spending much of the 1932 summer doing so.<ref name=Moore>{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Andrew |title=The New Guard and the Labour Movement, 1931-35 |journal=Labour History |issue=89 |publisher=Jstor |jstor=27516075 |year=2005 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.2307/27516075 }}</ref>{{rp|55–72}} During December 1931, Captain [[Francis de Groot]] organised around 1,000 New Guardsmen to attack leftist meetings. On 11 December 1931, three policemen were injured in a fight between New Guardsmen and communists in Darlinghurst. On 13 February 1932, 700 New Guardsmen practised military drills in [[Belmore, New South Wales|Belmore]] and a number of journalists who attempted to document the drills were assaulted. A few days later, 13 members of the New Guard were arrested after violently disrupting a political meeting in [[Coffs Harbour]]. Violent attacks on leftist meetings continued for weeks as part of a 'general mobilisation'.<ref name=Moore/>{{rp|55–72}}

De Groot had stated that he 'felt that, the best reply to force, was greater force' and by May 1932 Campbell had started inciting street brawls, and came close to staging a coup d'état against the Lang government.<ref name=Moore />{{rp|63}} Against this backdrop, the state Labor party formed a number of militias including the [[Workers Defence Corps|Workers' Defence Army]] (WDA), the Labor Defence Corps (LDC) and the Australian Labor Army (ALA), formed by Lang's supporters.<ref name=Moore/>{{rp|55–72}} Street fights between Lang's Labor Army and fascist paramilitary groups, including Sir [[Thomas Blamey]]'s Victorian-based "White Army, also known as the [[League of National Security]],<ref name=Cathcart1>{{cite book|last=Cathcart|first=Michael|title=Defending the National Tuckshop|date=1988|publisher=McPhee Gribble Publishers|isbn=014011629X|edition=1st}}</ref>{{rp|56–7}} and the New Guard became increasingly common as the New Guard attempted to discredit the left by starting brawls or other breaches of the peace.<ref name=Cathcart>{{cite book |last1=Cathcart |first1=Michael |title=Defending the National Tuckshop: Australia's Secret Army Intrigue of 1931 |date=25 August 1988 |publisher=McPhee Gribble Publishers |location=Melbourne |isbn=978-0869140772 |edition=Second }}</ref>

Though the New Guard sought to work as a supplement to the police in the event of a socialist revolution,<ref name="The New Guard">{{cite web |title=The New Guard |url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1110591&isAv=N |website=National Archives of Australia |publisher=Federal Australian Government |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> they were significantly opposed under orders from the Lang government. Of particular use to Lang in opposing the New Guard was William John MacKay, who was appointed Acting Metropolitan Superintendent following the 'Battle of Bankstown' on 26 February 1932.<ref name=Moore/>{{rp|55–72}} Following MacKay's commencement of a campaign of surveillance and legal persecution, the New Guard attempted to measure the strength of the Sydney police force by organising many small unapproved street meetings across the city in an attempt to stretch their men thin. When forced to disperse by police, each group of New Guardsmen would peacefully disperse and simply reform nearby. According to a contact Campbell had in the [[NSW Police Force]], the police were reporting large street gatherings and were requesting reinforcements from all over the city.<ref name=Cathcart/>

====Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge====
On 19 March 1932, the New Guard interrupted the much-anticipated opening of the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]]. The New Guard had wanted to have [[Philip Game|Sir Philip Game]] open the bridge on behalf of [[George V|King George V]], but Lang refused, stating that "I will open it myself, it'll be cheaper". The New Guard declared that Lang would not perform the ceremony, with Campbell calling Lang a 'tyrant and scoundrel' and declaring that Lang would never open the Harbour Bridge. Rumours began to circulate of a plot to kidnap Lang.<ref name=AmosDict /><ref name=Nerida /><ref>{{cite web |title=A Year to Remember 1932: Harbour Bridge opening controversy |url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/year-remember-1932-harbour-bridge-opening-controversy |website=National Film and Sound Archive of Australia |publisher=Australian Federal Government |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref>

During the opening ceremony, army officer and zone commander [[Francis de Groot]] upstaged Jack Lang by slashing the ceremonial ribbon with his sword. De Groot was supplied with a horse by fellow New Guardsmen Albert Reichard and he rode to the ceremony in his World War I [[15th The King's Hussars|15th Hussars]] uniform, managing to slash the ribbon before Lang. De Groot was pulled from his horse and detained, later being fined £9 (equivalent to $859.99 in 2017). The Mayor of North Sydney, Hubert Primrose, an official participant at the opening ceremony, was also a member of the New Guard.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nicastri |first1=Danielle |title=Sydney Harbour Bridge and New Guard play starring role in history of heritage-listed Pymble home Lanosa |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/sydney-harbour-bridge-and-new-guard-play-starring-role-in-history-of-heritagelisted-pymble-home-lanosa/news-story/6a2e995843a3f49781b56d2136542d60 |website=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref><ref name=AmosDict>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Amos |first1=Keith |title=Campbell, Eric (1893–1970) |id2=campbell-eric-5487 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>

====Assault on Jock Garden====
On 6 May 1932, Trades and Labour Council secretary [[Jock Garden|John (Jock) Garden]], an influential member of Lang's inner circle, was assaulted by members a New Guard faction known as the Fascist Legion.<ref name=Nerida /><ref name=SMH>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16862115 |title=FASCIST LEGION. |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=29,437 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=10 May 1932 |access-date=24 April 2019 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Garden was assaulted at his home by eight hooded men in [[Ku Klux Klan]]-like gowns.<ref name=SMH /><ref>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Nairn |first1=Bede |title=Garden, John Smith (Jock) (1882–1968) |id2=garden-john-smith-jock-6274 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> The incident caused massive resignations from the New Guard.<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|134–5}}

===Decline===
====1932 constitutional crisis====
{{Main|1932 New South Wales constitutional crisis}}
On 13 May 1932, Lang was [[1932 New South Wales constitutional crisis|dismissed]] from his premiership. Along with an inner faction of the New Guard's involvement in orchestrating the bashing of [[Communist Party of Australia]] founder Jock Garden, the New Guard began to lose popularity as the organisation's purpose was perceived as having been fulfilled. The activities of militant splinter groups emerging from the New Guard, such as the Fascist Legion, also contributed to a rush of resignations which began even before Lang's dismissal.<ref name=MooreSAP />

By mid-1932, the New Guard was largely a spent force. With their main objective complete – the removal of Lang from office – the New Guard continued to lose members as it drifted into the mid-1930s. Even de Groot left the organisation in November 1932, pursuing collaboration with the Melbourne-based League of National Security by which the White Army was also known.<ref name=Cathcart1 />{{rp|46}} It was during this time that Campbell began to outline more fully his political beliefs, producing a series of broadcasts in which he developed a "complete credo for a fascist State", most notably incorporating a "non-elective cabinet or commission, a corporative assembly, vocational franchise and a charter of liberty". He also stated his intentions to contest the next state election, a date for which had not yet been set.<ref name=Amos76>{{cite book |last=Amos |first=Keith |date=1976 |title=The New Guard Movement 1931-1935 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=978-0-522-84092-6 }}</ref>{{rp|95}}

====1933: Exploration into fascism====
Campbell's memoirs state that due to the New Guard's opposition to party politics and unwillingness to align themselves with either side, they were often dubbed "fascists". Though the New Guard bore resemblance to the militant [[Blackshirts]] in [[Italy]], its strong adherence to [[individualism]] found it disqualified it from this definition. Campbell was curious to learn about fascism from the source however, so in 1933 during an overseas business trip, he met with [[Sir Oswald Mosley]] and wife [[Lady Cynthia Mosley|Lady Cynthia]] at their [[London]] home to discuss the matter. His experience was overall positive, and while unimpressed with the members of Mosley's [[British Union of Fascists]], he was reminded of his own New Guardmen when he attended an [[Imperial Fascist League]] meeting.

With Mosley's recommendations he later progressed to [[Berlin]] where, unable to meet [[Chancellor of Germany]] [[Adolf Hitler]], he was able to see [[Hitler Cabinet|Foreign Affairs Minister]] [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]], as well as [[Alfred Rosenberg]]. In [[Rome]] he was likewise unable to see [[Mussolini]], instead meeting with [[National Fascist Party|Secretary]] [[Achille Starace]], though their mutual unintelligibility and failure to use [[French language|French]] as a medium was no use. Nevertheless, Campbell's tour across the fascist powers of [[Europe]] left him deeply impressed with the ideology. However, on his return to Australia, Campbell's support for an "openly pro-fascist policy" was met with strong opposition from the Guard's "anti-fascist moderates".<ref name=Amos76 />{{rp|97}} These attempts to establish the movement as what historian Keith Amos dubs "Australia's first fascist party" are thought to hastened the decline of the New Guard, with many previous members unhappy with the ideological progression that had taken place.<ref name=Amos76 />{{rp|92}} One year later he would pen his manifesto ''The New Road'' which put forward his case for an Australian application of [[Italy|Italian]] [[corporate statism]].

====1935 state election====
{{Main|Centre Party (New South Wales)}}
One idea expressed in Campbell's manifesto was that the emergence of a "centre party" in Australia was inevitable. While initially satisfied by the prospects of a [[United Australia Party]]-led purging of communism and other socialistic and anti-communist dogmas from the continent, Campbell had realised that the central tenets of the New Guard could not be fulfilled due to those politicians' ineffectiveness in bringing them about. Becoming fully dissatisfied with the politics that had, in his words, "degenerated into a number of sordid business undertakings",<ref>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Eric |date=1934 |title=The New Road |url=https://archive.org/details/TheNewRoadEricCampbell |location=Sydney |publisher=Briton Publications |page=[https://archive.org/details/TheNewRoadEricCampbell/page/n33 39]}}</ref> the New Guard entered into party politics.

The [[Centre Party (New South Wales)|Centre Party]] was officially established in December 1933 at a meeting of over 1,000 people, with ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' reporting that 100 branches of the party would be established.<ref>(5 December 1933). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19331205&id=c_NUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8JEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5227,4181572 "NEW PARTY: ADJUNCT OF NEW GUARD"] – ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved 3 July 2014.</ref> The majority of the shrinking organisation endorsed its move into electoral politics, which was, according to Campbell, "necessitated by the failure of the UAP governments, at both federal and state levels, to accede to the New Guard's demands".<ref name=Amos76 />{{rp|98}} Due to a lack of time needed to organise the campaign, the party did not contest the September 1934 federal election. An August 1934 meeting of the New Guard reaffirmed Campbell as leader, and resolved to "make itself felt in the next State elections".<ref>(2 August 1934). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19340802&id=d-FjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9ZEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1935,428865 "NEW GUARD: Colonel Campbell Re-elected Leader"] – ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved 12 June 2014.</ref>

At the [[1935 New South Wales state election|May 1935 New South Wales state election]], the Centre Party contested five out of the 90 [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]] districts, all in suburban [[Sydney]], and polled 0.60 percent of the total vote.<ref>{{cite NSW election |year=1935 |district=Totals |title=1935 Election Totals: Overall Election Results |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref> In two seats, [[Electoral district of Hornsby|Hornsby]], contested by Fergus Munro, and [[Electoral district of Lane Cove|Lane Cove]], contested by Campbell, only the Centre Party and the [[United Australia Party]] fielded candidates, with the former polling over 15 percent of the vote in both seats.<ref>{{cite NSW election |year=1935 |district=Hornsby |title=Hornsby - 1935 (Roll: 21,380) |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite NSW election |year=1935 |district=Lane Cove |title=Lane Cove - 1935 (Roll: 19,409) |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref> In the other seats it contested, the Centre Party candidates failed to poll more than 5 percent of the vote.<ref name="Arncliffe - 1935 Roll: 19,229">{{cite NSW election |year=1935 |district=Arncliffe |title=Arncliffe - 1935 (Roll: 19,229) |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite NSW election |year=1935 |district=Concord |title=Concord - 1935 (Roll: 18,676) |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite NSW election |year=1935 |district=Georges River |title=George's River - 1935 (Roll: 22,136) |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref> The party's relatively high vote in Hornsby and Lane Cove is thought to have represented "merely the level of protest against [UAP Premier] Stevens" in the absence of other candidates.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In [[Electoral district of Arncliffe|Arncliffe]], the only seat that required a preference distribution, the majority (56.78%) of Centre Party preferences flowed to the United Australia candidate, [[Horace Harper]], who was defeated by [[Australian Labor Party (NSW)|Labor]]'s [[Joseph Cahill]], a future premier.<ref name="Arncliffe - 1935 Roll: 19,229"/> Enoch Jones, the candidate for Arncliffe, later served as a [[City of Rockdale]] councillor,<ref>24 March 1944). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19440324&id=VL5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o5YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3639,4947293 "D.P. CANDIDATES CHOSEN"] – ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved from Google News, 12 June 2014.</ref> and [[Candidates of the New South Wales state election, 1944|contested]] the [[Electoral district of Rockdale|seat of Rockdale]] for the [[Liberal Democratic Party (New South Wales)|Liberal Democrats]] at the [[1944 New South Wales state election|1944 state election]].<ref>{{cite NSW election |year=CandidateIndexes |district=CandidateIndex29 |title=Index to Candidates: Jacobs to Kassim |accessdate=25 June 2020}}</ref> Additionally, Aubrey Murphy, the candidate in Concord, served on two occasions as mayor of the [[City of Blue Mountains|Blue Mountains City Council]] in the 1950s,<ref>[http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/councillors/pastandcurrentelectedmayors Past and Current Elected Mayors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621002933/http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/councillors/pastandcurrentelectedmayors |date=21 June 2014 }} – Blue Mountains City Council. Retrieved 12 June 2014.</ref> and was named an [[Member of the Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in the 1960 [[New Year Honours]].<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1086636 MURPHY, Aubrey Frederick Carlile] – It's An Honour. Retrieved 12 June 2014.</ref>

With the exception of occasional speaking engagements, Campbell largely withdrew from public life following the election,<ref name=AmosDict /> and spent most of the rest of his life in country New South Wales, where he was president of the Burrangong Shire Council in 1949 and 1950 (now part of [[Young Shire]]).<ref>''"The Young Municipal Council and Burrangong Shire amalgamated in 1980…"'' Ray Christison (2008). ''[http://www.young.nsw.gov.au/images/news/YSC-%20thematic%20history.pdf Thematic History of Young Shire] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621022941/http://www.young.nsw.gov.au/images/news/YSC-%20thematic%20history.pdf |date=21 June 2014 }}'', p. 75. Retrieved 7 July 2014.</ref> Campbell's 1965 autobiographical account of his involvement in the New Guard, ''The Rallying Point'', considered "confused", "highly unreliable" and a work of "historical fiction" by Moore in any event,<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|139–140}} does not mention the Centre Party at all.<ref>{{cite book |first=Eric |last=Campbell | author-link = Eric Campbell (Australian political activist) | title=The Rallying Point |publisher=Melbourne University Press |year=1962 |isbn=9781862876231 }}</ref> Later writers have suggested that the party's lack of success at the 1935 election represented "an electoral brick-wall", with the party overall a "failure" and Campbell's movement having "lost most of its drive".{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Organisation==
[[File:New Guard member.jpeg|left|thumb|219x219px|The costume of a New Guard member, obtained from a defendant in the [[Jock Garden|Garden]] case.]]
At its inception, the administrative structure of the New Guard consisted of an Organising Committee led by a chairman with powers to add more committee members by way of a unanimous vote. This committee would be tasked with the recruitment of members and their separation by localities across the Sydney and regional New South Wales areas. Following the meeting at Cahill's, the structure of the organisation was revised in an attempt to exercise "practical democracy". The power allotted to each position in the New Guard changed as the organisation was built.

The area of Greater Sydney would be broken down into four independent Zones: '''A Zone''', consisting of the land north of [[Port Jackson|Sydney Harbour]]; '''B Zone''', covering the [[Eastern Suburbs (Sydney)|Eastern Suburbs]] as well as from the coastline down to [[Maroubra, New South Wales|Maroubra]]; '''C Zone''', incorporating the [[Southern Sydney|Southern Suburbs]] down to and including the [[Sutherland Shire]]; and '''D Zone''', including the [[Greater Western Sydney|Western Suburbs]] to the west of [[Parramatta]]. These Zones would be divided into Divisions and then subdivided into Localities. As part of Campbell's practical democratic solution, each Locality would operate as independent units where a few hundred New Guardsmen would select for themselves a Locality Commanders and Administrator to handle affairs, and each Locality would frequently meet at Locality Conventions to discuss and vote on matters. The Locality Commanders of each Division would select Divisional Commanders, and said Divisional Commanders would meet to pick the Zone Commander for their respective Zone. Divisional and Zone Commanders would only assume active command positions when more than one of their respective subdivisions were active in a particular objective, therefore making Localities especially independent in the operation of the New Guard.<ref name="The New Guard"/>

The executive branch of the New Guard was the General Council, consisting of the leading Chief Commander and four Zone Commanders with equal voting power. The General Council was only to make decisions regarding major executive matters, and questions regarding routine and defensive emergencies would be directed to the Chief Commander, or Deputy Chief Commander if the former was absent. During the period of structural preparation the Chief Commander was to not interfere in the movement's formation, and only assume complete executive involvement once the Locality system was completely established. To put checks on the General Council's power, Campbell formed the Council of Action, consisting of the Chief Commander and Divisional Commanders; the Chief Commander would be deprived of a vote.

Intelligence on the New Guard's political rivals would be collected by the individual Localities and submitted to the Chief of the Intelligence Branch for collation. While being essential to the New Guard's functionality, it was sometimes inaccurate in its intelligence gathering; flawed analysis of the political demographics of Sydney claimed that there were 252,473 Communists in ten Sydney electorates alone.<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|147}}

As Campbell allowed considerable independence for the Localities and permitted members to associate freely with any political party so long that the New Guard's central values were upheld, splinter groups such as the Fascist Legion (also known as the Pack of Cards) formed. Legion members wore [[Ku Klux Klan]]-style gowns and hoods at their own internal meetings in order to guarantee anonymity, adopting pseudonyms based on particular playing cards in a [[standard 52-card deck]] (excluding queens). Keeping with the theme of playing cards, the Fascist Legion's leader was led by "the Joker". Its membership was estimated at 49. Besides investigating disloyalty and laxity within the New Guard, they purportedly engaged in targeted operations such as the aforementioned attack on Jock Garden. They were reported to be planning kidnappings and police arm store raids. The activity of splinter groups such as the Fascist Legion contributed to the bleeding of members in the lead-up to Lang's dismissal by [[Philip Game|Sir Philip Game]].

==Membership==
Standards for New Guard membership had prospective members picked irrespective of class, financial situation or party affiliations, so long as they were of good character. For maximal utility, the membership system was split into three groups:

*'''A class''' - Members who were physically able,<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|145}} and could be employed for operations both within Localities and outside its boundaries if needed
*'''B class''' - Members with technical qualifications, regardless of age, who could assist in the maintenance of essential services such as water, electricity and transport services, among others, in the event of a socialist revolution
*'''C class''' - Members that due to their age or personality could only be trusted to handle operations within their own Locality

New Guardsmen of their own Locality were encouraged to participate during Locality Conventions to decide matters specific to their area. A member was not kept within the organisation against their will, as they could leave at any time for any reason. This was to ensure that the New Guard could preserve its democratic, voluntary elements established at its founding.

Estimates of the New Guard's membership count are contradictory. A report conducted by the NSW Police in September 1931 found 87,000 had sought membership and by December of the same year there were 39,000 card-carrying members<ref name=Cathcart1 />{{rp|38}} – with 3,000 residing in the country centres of regional NSW.<ref name=MooreSAP />{{rp|147}} For practical reasons, Campbell's internal estimations of membership count focused on those that the New Guard could rely on in the event of a socialist revolution. In that he estimated the figure at 20,000. For propaganda reasons, the New Guard's membership was often publicly exaggerated, as when Campbell foreshadowed a procession of 100,000 men along [[Macquarie Street, Sydney|Macquarie Street]] to present a petition to Sir Game.

===Notable members===
*[[Hubert Primrose]], former [[List of mayors of North Sydney|Mayor of North Sydney]]<ref name=Primrose>{{cite web |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/primrose-hubert-leslie-8117|title=Primrose, Hubert Leslie (1880–1942)|last=Moore|first=Andrew|date=1988|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>
*[[Charles Kingsford Smith]] and [[Charles Ulm]], early Australian aviators<ref name=Howard /><ref>{{Citation |last=Campbell|first=Eric|year=1965|title=The Rallying Point: My Story of the New Guard|publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne|page=100}}</ref>
*[[Francis de Groot]], interloper at opening of the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/de-groot-francis-edward-frank-12881|title=De Groot, Francis Edward (Frank) (1888–1969)|last=Moore|first=Andrew|date=2005|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>
*[[Tom Walsh (trade unionist)|Tom Walsh]], former [[trade unionist]] and husband of [[suffragette]] [[Adela Pankhurst]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Coleman|first=Verna|year=1996|title=Adela Pankhurst: The Wayward Suffragette 1885-1961|publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Melbourne|page=127|isbn=978-0-522-84728-4}}</ref>
*[[Herbert Lloyd]], [[Major general (Australia)|Major General]] of the [[Australian Army]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lloyd-herbert-william-10842|title=Lloyd, Herbert William (1883–1957)|last=Perry|first=Warren|date=2000|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>
*[[Julian Howard Ashton]], prominent journalist and writer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ashton-julian-howard-5072|title=Ashton, Julian Howard (1877–1964)|last=Harper|first=Katherine|date=1979|website=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Australian nationalism]]
*[[Australia First Movement]]
*[[Far-right politics in Australia]]
*[[Loyalism]]
*[[Opposition to trade unions]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last=Amos |first=Keith |date=1976 |title=The New Guard Movement 1931-1935 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=978-0-522-84092-6 }}
*{{cite book |last=Clune |first=David |date=2009 |title=The Governors of New South Wales 1788-2010 |location=Annandale, NSW |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-743-6 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hagan |first=Jim |date=1991 |title=A History of the Labor Party in New South Wales, 1891-1991 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Longman Cheshire |isbn=978-0-582-86969-1 }}
*{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Andrew |date=1989 |title=The Secret Army and the Premier: Conservative Paramilitary Organisations in New South Wales 1930-32 |location=Kensington, NSW |publisher=New South Wales University Press |isbn=0868402834}}
*{{cite book |last=Nairn |first=Bede |date=1986 |title=The "Big Fella": Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party 1891-1949 |location=Carlton, VIC |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=978-0-522-84406-1 }}

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[[Category:1930s in Sydney]]
[[Category:1931 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Anti-communist organizations]]
[[Category:Christian fascism]]
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[[Category:Organizations established in 1931]]
[[Category:Monarchism in Australia]]
[[Category:Monarchist organizations]]
[[Category:Paramilitary organisations based in Australia]]
[[Category:Proto-fascism]]