‘Australia First’ is a good slogan that has been adopted by several quite different political ideologies. This book deals with the movement that began in a small way before 1914, developed slowly from about 1936, and came to an abrupt and inglorious end in March 1942. It grew out of the Victorian Socialist Party and the Rationalist Association 

At first it attracted literary figures such as Xavier Herbert, Eleanor Dark, Miles Franklin. When it became heavily political, there were among its members and associates three former Communist Party members and one Nazi Party member; some worked for the Labor Party, some for the United Australia Party (later Liberal Party), while there were strong links with the Social Credit Party. One was a paid agent of the Japanese. Some were connected with Theosophy, some with Odinism, and in Victoria most were Irish Catholics with links to Archbishop Mannix and Sinn Fein.