Dr James Saleam (commonly referred to as 'Jim' Saleam) (born in 1955) is an Australian far-right activist and the current chairman of the Australia First Party. Saleam was a former member of the short-lived National Socialist Party of Australia in the early 1970s.[1]
Saleam co-founded National Action (NA) on Anzac Day, 1982. National Action eventually imploded due to Saleam's criminal actions which included insurance fraud[2] and for organising a shotgun attack on ANC representative Eddie Funde by two NA members.[3] Saleam served jail terms for both crimes. He pleaded not guilty to both charges, claiming that he was set up by police.[3] This claim was rejected by the courts. Saleam maintains his innocence.
On his release from prison, Saleam earned a PhD in politics from the University of Sydney by writing a thesis entitled The Other Radicalism: An Inquiry Into Contemporary Australian Extreme Right Ideology, Politics And Organization 1975-1995. [1]
Saleam has acted as a mentor for the Patriotic Youth League and was the Secretary of the Sydney branch of the Australia First Party (AFP) between 2002 to 2007. In August 2007 he was expelled from the party by AFP president Diane Teasdale and later established Australia First (NSW) as a separate entity and incorporated the AFP NSW membership into the new party with himself as the party chairman. He is also the co-organiser along with Welf Herfurth, of the Sydney Forum, a right wing conference that is held annual in Sydney.
Saleam is currently self-employed and divorced with two children.[4] There have been various claims in the media that Saleam's family originally came from Lebanon/Syria [5] and in June 2007 government naturalisation documents were published which claim to be proof.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Arab-Australians Today cites the case of Davis Saleam, explaining "In contrast to other Asians, limited numbers of Syrians had, for example, been allowed to enter the country despite the Immigration Restriction Act...Police responses show there was some confusion as to whether Syrian/Lebanese were white or coloured...some Syrian/Lebanese were obviously perceived to be coloured or, at the least, not entirely white."[13] Saleam maintains he is of Greek ethnicity.[14]
