Dr. James Saleam, commonly known as Jim, has been an nationalist activist in Australia since the 1970s. He joined the student group National Resistance (formally established in July 1977); which then reformed as the National Alliance (established in January 1978) where he became the National Organiser. The National Alliance amalgamated with the Immigration Control Association and the Progressive Conservative Party (the ICA's electoral organisation) in April 1981 to form the short-lived Progressive Nationalist Party; Saleam then became one of the founders of National Action in 1982. [1]

Jim Saleam

In February 1982, Jim Saleam took part in a meeting of nationalist activists (in Glebe, a suburb east of Sydney) where a decision was made to form a new nationalist organisation (National Action was just one of several names put forward); and was subsequently a founding member at National Action's inaugural assembly on 25th April (Anzac Day) 1982 in Sydney. The early NA had no National Chairman, being run by a Sydney-based committee, consisting of Jim Saleam, Eddie Azzopardi, Boris Link, and David Merrett. In the formative period for National Action, Saleam was a national organiser from April 1982 to July 1983, then became the organisation's first National Chairman in July 1983 by agreement of the majority of members, being confirmed by the party's First National Conference in June 1984. During his time as National Chairman, Saleam wrote a great deal of the ideological underpinnings for modern Australian nationalism, including many pamphlets and leaflets, as well as articles in the magazine Audacity. [2]

He remained as National Action's National Chairman for most of the organisation's existence, excepting April 1987 to April 1988 when Mark Slinys was National Chairman (Saleam had stepped down to concentrate on some legal problems), and November 1989 to February 1990 when NA was run by a National Directorate (consisting of representatives of the three largest state branches; an arrangement that was not constitutionally ratified, but that existed in practice). [3]

Following what Dr. Saleam alleges was a frame-up by the notorious NSW Special Branch, he was charged by police with "possession of a shotgun, as an accessory before the fact to malicious damage, and to hire, procure and command persons to committ feloy", in relation to an attack that had been carried out in January 1989 upon the home of one Eddie Funde, a black South African quasi-diplomatic representative of the black terrorist group, the African National Congress. Saleam was remanded in jail from 1st November to 7th December 1989, but in a highly unusual move - one which Dr. Saleam says points to the unsoundness of the later conviction - he was released on bail until the trial. After he was convicted, Saleam spent another four years in jail, from 14th May 1991 to 4th May 1995. [4]

National Action split in 1990, with one NA centred in Sydney, and another NA centred in Adelaide. During Saleam's time in jail, the Sydney-centred National Action faded away from the public scene.

In 2001, Saleam completed his work "The Other Radicalism: An Inquiry Into Contemporary Australian Extreme Right Ideology, Politics And Organization 1975-1995", for which he was awarded his Phd. This Doctorate Of Philosophy thesis can be found in the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney, as well as on Dr. Saleam's internet site (http://www.alphalink.com.au/~radnat/otherradicalism/index.html). [5]

Also in 2001, Dr. Saleam, with several leading nationalists in Sydney, founded the Sydney Forum, a public event held annually, consisting of several influential speakers covering a variety of topics of interest to Australian nationalists and patriots. He has since joined the Australia First Party in Sydney and is still active in nationalist circles. [6]