Graeme Campbell

A short biography


Graeme Campbell was born in Abingdon, a town in Oxfordshire, England. He came to Australia as a child, and was educated at Urrbrae Agricultural High School in South Australia. For nearly 12 years he pursued a variety of occupations (contract driller, fencing contractor, pastoralist on the Nullarbor), before moving to Kalgoorlie, where he worked for Great Boulder Mines and then in his own business.

In 1980 he was elected as the federal Member for Kalgoorlie (for the Australian Labor Party), representing the largest electorate in Australia (in fact, perhaps the largest electorate in the entire world), covering approximately 2.5 million square kilometres, and held the seat in the five successive elections with increasing majorities.

Often referred to as a maverick, he was a firm supporter of the mining industry, was a proponent of uranium mining, voted against his party on the gold tax issue in 1988, was a vocal critic of the Mabo decision (regarding Aboriginal land claims), and criticised sanctions against the pro-apartheid government in South Africa. He gave a speech at the national seminar of the Australian League of Rights (regarded as a "far-right group") in October 1993 and in May 1995, for which he was attacked in the media.

Campbell criticised the immigration and multiculturalism policies of his own Labor Government, and was critical of the political, economic and cultural internationalism being imposed upon Australia. In the period 1994-1995, lent his support to the Australians Against Further Immigration Party (particularly in two by-elections, in Mackellar and Warringah - both safe Liberal Party seats in Sydney), and used his position to speak out on the need for true Australian independence; it was for this and other political "sins" (that is, honest appraisals of internationalism) that he gained many enemies in the ALP.

Graeme Campbell, with Mark Uhlmann, co-authored the book Australia Betrayed: How Australian democracy has been undermined and our naive trust betrayed (published by Foundation Press, Perth, 1995).

Campbell was punished by his party for speaking out - he was disendorsed by the ALP just before the 1996 federal election. He resigned from the Labor Party (quite possibly before they had the chance to expel him); and re-contested his seat as an Independent, and won, but was defeated at the following federal election in 1998.

Graeme Campbell founded the original Australia First Party in Western Australia in June 1996 (now based in Shepparton; not to be confused with the recently created rival Australia First Party based in Sydney), but soon afterwards the AFP was overshadowed by the rise of Pauline Hanson in the media and the forming of her One Nation party. Graeme joined Pauline Hanson's One Nation in June 2001, and was hopeful of strengthening the forces of patriotism in Australia. However, the various internal strifes and political mistakes of the One Nation Party meant that this did not come to fruition.

Campbell has since stood several times for election: As a One Nation candidate for Western Australia (Senate) in 2001, as an independent candidate for Kalgoorlie (House of Representatives) in 2004, and as an independent candidate for Western Australia (Senate) in 2007. He is now not a part of any political party.

Graeme Campbell continues to campaign to awaken the Australian People to the trials that lay before them.




Articles by Graeme Campbell