The Goldilocks Method: Nativist/White Nationalis Recruitment and 8:32 Lawfare

Part 2 — Lawfare, Canon Law, and the Nativist Goldilocks

On August 18, 2025, the ABC’s Four Corners aired its investigation “Lawfare”, exposing the rise of pseudo-legal arguments in Australian courts and the growing influence of groups often branded as sovereign citizens. Western Australia’s Chief Justice Peter Quinlan warned that these claims are becoming a serious threat to societal stability.

But here’s the problem: they are not sovereign citizens. What we are dealing with in Australia is something far more adaptive and deeply rooted in our own political soil — nativists playing Goldilocks.

Where the US sovereign citizen movement has a relatively coherent mythology, Australian nativists borrow and remix. They test different sources of authority against the state, discarding what feels “too cold” or “too hot,” and holding on to what feels “just right” for their political theatre:

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Jody Lowe was approached by the ABC to interview for the Lawfare episode, but he declined.

In this video he says, "pulling up there with their tents and that sort of stuff — this is what we’re working on, this is what we believe in. This is my… I call it the Goldilocks Method.

Some of the public–private members’ associations, trusts, private trusts — to get yourself into safer ground. Some of the constitutional groups, common law groups, sheriff groups — they are already invested."

Parts of Jody Lowe’s convoy to Canberra heavily signal International Democracy Union (IDU) and National Endowment for Democracy messaging. The picture linking to footage shows Rebecca Walker — better known online as Bec Freedom — in attendance. She is a white nationalist and the national organiser of the August 31st event, and her presence alongside Jody Lowe is telling, indicating that the March for Australia network is actively invested in the Goldilocks strategy. They appear to be testing frameworks of authority until they find a formula that can be used for recruitment.

"That was only in May 2024. He doesn’t have a Christian or Catholic basis in religion, obviously—I’d imagine, unless he converted when he came to this country, if he’s got one at all. So how, or why, would he understand anything to do with common law, which obviously comes back through that line of religion that underpins our Constitution?" — Jody Lowe

In this episode of The White Rabbit, he also discusses speaking with Bec Freedom around August 31st.

In this live video, Jody Lowe talks about flags and Anzac, while also reaching out in an attempt to speak with Bec Freedom and Matthew Trihey.

In Tasmania, both Ryan James and Cush Allison have demonstrated an alignment with the principles and teachings of Jody Lowe.

The current Lift the Tone campaign in Tasmania cannot be viewed in isolation. It appears to be the product of coordinated interference by groups such as 8:32 and their associated networks, which are openly hostile to democratic institutions and local government processes. These groups are not acting as independent or ordinary community voices, but what appears to be part of a broader white nationalist movement that has deliberately targeted local councils as a point of leverage.

Clear patterns of cross-promotion, shared narratives, and personnel overlap between “watchdog” initiatives like We Are Watching You Local Councils Australia and media streams such as Courage Is The Cure. Cush Allison and Julie Sladden are active across both council forums and far-right media platforms, this kind of coordinated campaigning is not about genuine ratepayer engagement but about laundering white nationalist/nativists narratives through the appearance of community concern.

The consequence is that councils are being pressured into altering how they engage with residents, often under the guise of improving respect or civility, when in reality these changes disproportionately benefit outside agitators. Most of the time councils are not dealing with authentic local ratepayers, but with organised active clubs from other municipalities, who deliberately flood council channels to create the impression of grassroots concern. The Lift the Tone campaign is the latest expression of this manipulation, reframing active club disruption as a problem of tone rather than one of infiltration.

Given that councillors, elected representatives, and even staff have appeared in these spaces and may have provided legitimacy to these networks, there is now a compelling case for an inquiry. The links between officeholders and these coordinated active club groups raise serious questions of conflict of interest, democratic integrity, and public safety.

Councillors should be required to disclose any affiliations with organisations, active clubs or networks that operate with a hostile intent towards democracy. Ratepayers deserve transparency and accountability when it comes to the decision-making of their representatives.

It is no longer sufficient to treat this as a question of isolated behaviour or overzealous community activism. What is unfolding is a deliberate and coordinated campaign of interference, drawing on active club narratives, and councils risk being manipulated into making decisions that silence genuine community voices.

An inquiry into councillors, elected representatives, and their staff is essential to restore confidence in local democracy and to ensure that public institutions are not co-opted by active club networks masquerading as community advocates.

Jody Lowe pitched his Goldilocks Method to John Larter and Graham Hood. The screenshot comes from the Church and State Freedom Marathon, where Graham “Hoodie” Hood types in the chat, “in the trenches with you Dave, God bless.” At the same time, NSW MP John Ruddick is being interviewed—he also spoke at the NSW August 31st event. In this setting, Dave Pellowe is raising money to fund a court case against Welcome to Country.

Millicent and Martin Sedra from Echo Church attended the Church and State Conference in Tasmania. The Sedras can seen standing alongside Travis Johnson, a known white nationalist who openly stated that they “came to take over,” as well as Donald Trump’s spiritual advisor. This convergence highlights how international Christian nationalist figures, local religious leaders, and active clubs are aligning in the same spaces, creating a pipeline between U.S. Project 2025–style politics and Tasmanian governance. The presence of Johnson in this setting underscores that the agenda is not about faith or community renewal, but foreign interference and embedding authoritarian and exclusionary ideologies within mainstream political and religious forums, using the veneer of church gatherings to legitimise white nationalist objectives.

There is an urgent need for the Tasmanian Parliament to investigate foreign interference linked to Church and State Ministries, QAnon and active club movements. These imported narratives carry an authoritarian agenda that aligns with projects such as Project 2025.

A parliamentary inquiry is essential to identify how foreign disinformation enters Tasmanian networks, the mechanisms through which it spreads, and whether any elected representatives or parliamentary staff are involved in amplifying it. Without transparency, Tasmania’s councils, communities, and state governance remain vulnerable to manipulation by movements that are neither grassroots nor Australian in origin.