Paranoia and the Far Right in 1970s Rural New South Wales

Abstract

ABSTRACT When Gough Whitlam’s Labor government won re-election in 1974, Nora Opferkuch, a Coonabarabran farmer, wrote to the Attorney-General Lionel Murphy. After congratulating him on the party’s success, she warned him of the parlous state of political life in the Central New South Wales town. “No one dares speak Politics in Coonabarabran now,” she wrote. The town was in the grip of a fascist conspiracy that had resulted in a terrible crime. Opferkuch’s letter opens up an under-examined area of Australian political culture—the activities of the far right. Using interviews and newspaper reports, as well as Opferkuch’s letter, this article explores the veracity of her allegations. It reveals the impact on a rural town of social change led by a resurgent political party with a vision for Australia at odds with that of the ruling elite. It also extends understandings of Australian political culture, including the role of politics in the everyday life of a rural town, and explores the impact of the political past on contemporary events.