The Australian English-Speaking Union has opened an internal investigation into its Victorian branch after it gave a $2,000 grant to The National Observer, an online publication described as white nationalist. The ABC investigation also found links between ESU Victoria and the far-right British Australian Community, and financial documents showed the branch held more than $16 million in cash and assets.
The ABC said its investigation didn’t suggest that all ESU Victoria members share or support white nationalist views. The Australian English-Speaking Union began its investigation after the ABC alerted it to the grant.
The grant and the outlet
ESU Victoria said the grant application relied on The National Observer’s stated provision of independent podcasts promoting Australian culture, heritage and language. The funding request sought lapel microphones and website development.
The National Observer has published material advocating the removal of non-citizens and the departure of some Australians with dual citizenship. An anonymous article, titled “Australian Remigration — What it would look like, and how it could be achieved tomorrow”, called for the “accelerated removal of non-citizens” and incentives for the permanent “departure” of some dual citizens. Another recent article asked, “Are White Australians being replaced?”
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, while representatives of far-right European political parties have discussed pro-nationalist politics.
During an episode with a campaigner for Germany’s Alternative for Germany, or AfD, 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.
Links and past support
Company documents show the British Australian Community, or BAC, 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 corporate membership and associated benefits ceased to operate in 2016. The branch had previously funded a BAC campaign opposing the renaming of places and monuments to recognise Indigenous heritage and sponsored the BAC’s annual “Britfest” event. It told the ABC it doesn’t have a current financial relationship with the group.
The BAC describes itself as working to “promote and defend the interests of Anglo-Celtic Australians”. It has advocated remigration, defined in the report as deportation of people of non-European heritage, and called for immigration policies designed to cap and reduce ethnic diversity in Australia. In a 2024 press release, it proposed a government Department of Emigration to manage “the diplomatic and logistical dimensions of mass negative migration”.
Investigation and oversight
ESU Australia said it took the matter seriously. A spokesperson said: “AESU is a non-partisan, non-political organisation. We do not engage in political advocacy, nor do we support donations to political organisations or to any organisation that does not uphold the ESU's purpose and mission.” ESU Victoria said the branch and BAC were separate entities and reiterated its support for freedom of expression.
Extremism researcher Josh Roose, from Deakin University, said ESU Victoria appeared to share some “traditionalist pseudo-intellectual elements” of the far right or extreme right. He said the branch’s activities, including the grant, risked crossing into funding political activism and called on the Australian government to review its aims, mission and activities.
“When you're platforming white nationalists ... there's a very, very thin line here as to what's acceptable and it certainly warrants further investigation,” Roose said. He also warned that a charity using tax breaks to achieve a political purpose would have moved beyond its remit.
The global English-Speaking Union operates across 50 countries and was founded more than 100 years ago by British journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench. ESU Victoria’s activities include poetry competitions and helping schoolchildren practise public speaking. Its website defines English-speaking people as “people of the British Isles and their descendants who settled in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America”.