ESU Victoria gave $2,000 to The National Observer, an online publication described as white nationalist, while holding more than $16 million in cash and assets, according to financial documents cited by the ABC. The Australian English-Speaking Union has opened an internal investigation after the ABC alerted it to the grant.
The grant application sought money for lapel microphones and website development. ESU Victoria said it relied on The National Observer to provide independent podcasts promoting Australian culture, heritage and language. The branch said the publication was responsible for the podcast content and defended Australians’ common law freedom of expression.
The Grant and Its Recipient
The National Observer published an anonymous article titled “Australian Remigration — What it would look like, and how it could be achieved tomorrow”. It called for the “accelerated removal of non-citizens” and incentives for the permanent “departure” of some Australians with dual citizenship. Another article asked, “Are White Australians being replaced? The media says it's a conspiracy theory, the data says otherwise”.
The publication’s weekly podcast is hosted by its founder, who uses the name “John Lawson”. In November 2025, Lawson interviewed Eric Orwoll, founder of the US “whites only” enclave Return to the Land, about applying its ideas in Australia. Australian white nationalists have also appeared on the podcast, airing racist and antisemitic views. Representatives of far-right European political parties have discussed pro-nationalist politics on the program.
During an episode with a campaigner for Germany’s Alternative for Germany, an Australian host said the publication aimed to “try and build a young elite who have these right-wing ideas” and hoped the movement could replicate the AfD’s electoral success.
Institutional Ties and Public Purpose
Company documents show the British Australian Community and ESU Victoria share a building in Ascot Vale, in Melbourne’s inner north-west. ESU Victoria president Robert Furlan previously served as a BAC secretary. A post in a BAC social media group said all BAC members had automatically been associate members of ESU Victoria since 2016. ESU Victoria said the BAC had historically been a corporate member, but its membership and associated benefits ceased to operate in 2016.
The branch previously funded a BAC campaign opposing the renaming of places and monuments to recognise Indigenous heritage, and sponsored the group’s annual “Britfest” event. ESU Victoria told the ABC it had no current financial relationship with the BAC. It said the organisations were separate and reiterated its support for freedom of expression.
The BAC says it exists to “promote and defend the interests of Anglo-Celtic Australians”. It has used white nationalist rhetoric and advocated remigration, defined in the report as deportation of people of non-European heritage. In a 2024 post on X, it said Anglo-Celtics were “under siege” from the “threat” of “mass indiscriminate immigration”. A 2024 press release urged then-opposition leader Peter Dutton to “initiate the orderly remigration of recent arrivals wishing to return to their homelands”. It also proposed policies to “cap and reduce ethnic diversity” and create a government department to manage mass deportations.
Investigation and Charity Oversight
ESU Australia said it had opened an internal investigation and didn’t support donations to political organisations or organisations that failed to uphold the ESU’s purpose and mission. It described itself as non-partisan and non-political. The global English-Speaking Union operates across 50 countries. ESU Victoria’s activities include poetry competitions and helping schoolchildren practise public speaking.
Extremism researcher Josh Roose of Deakin University said the branch appeared to share “traditionalist pseudo-intellectual elements” of the far right or extreme right. He said the branch’s definition of English-speaking people appeared narrowly focused on white countries and described its activities, including the grant, as risking a crossing into political activism.
Roose called for a government review of ESU Victoria’s aims, mission and activities. He said charities serve the greater good and warned that using charitable status and tax breaks to achieve political purposes would move an organisation beyond its remit. The ABC investigation said it didn’t suggest that all ESU Victoria members shared or supported white nationalist views.