At an anti-immigration rally in Sydney on Saturday, a man in a wide-brimmed hat handed out teal pamphlets for a new political venture aiming to capitalise on the crowd’s concerns.
“The major parties have failed us and the minor parties are too fragmented,” the Reform Australia flyer read. “Join us to be election ready.”
Reform Australia was just one of many political hopefuls at the Put Australia First event – there were plenty of One Nation and Libertarian T-shirts in the crowd – but it is the newest and perhaps the most mysterious.
Reform UK, led by anti-immigration populist Nigel Farage, said there were no links between itself and the Australian outfit despite the similar name and colour scheme, and the pamphlet bore no authorisation. It is not yet a registered political party with the Australian Electoral Commission.
But the digital footprint offers clues about who may be involved.
The Reform Australia website is registered to Walter Villatora, a former Liberal party branch president in Warringah, one-time hopeful for preselection and backer of former prime minister Tony Abbott.
The Australian Financial Review first reported the link in September. Guardian Australia understands he is no longer the president of the party’s branch in Condamine on Sydney’s north shore but remains listed internally as a Liberal member. Villatora says he has left the party.
Reached by phone, Villatora declined to answer questions and said he would call “when we’re ready to do media”. A recruitment email sent in late November pitches Reform Australia as a “big tent”. On the website, it suggests “our supposed conservative party has lost its way, abandoning the values of hard work, family, and freedom”.
Villatora has diverse interests. Business records show he is the co-owner of the company behind Turning Point Australia, a local franchise of the late Charlie Kirk’s conservative outfit, run by Joel Jammal. Back in 2022, before Villatora was a shareholder, Turning Point promoted “An Evening with Nigel Farage” as part of the firebrand’s Australian tour.
Jammal told Guardian Australia he is not involved with Reform Australia – despite being named as tech support on one of the website registrations – and that all business ties with Villatora are amicably being ended this year due to the Reform project.
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“Turning Point Australia is a third party campaigner not a political party and therefore we maintain our own strict standards of separation with political parties,” Jammal said. “I wish Walter all the best with Reform.”
Villtatora said he “concluded” his involvement with Turning Point Australia to focus on Reform Australia and maintain Turning Point Australia’s independence.
On Facebook, Reform Australia is already running ads featuring one-time Liberal candidate for the 2025 federal election, Ben Britton – and has shared content supportive of March for Australia and nuclear power, as well as Turning Point videos about child grooming and other topics.
Britton was dumped from the Liberal campaign in April after he told Jammal’s podcast that women should not serve in defence combat positions due to the physical impact on their bodies, among other claims.
Britton did not respond to Guardian Australia’s questions.
Confusingly, there is also a website called Reform Au, which web and business records link to Queensland man Luke Ashwood. Despite there being two separate websites, the “join” button on Reform Au redirects to Villatora’s website.
Ashwood did not respond to a request for comment.
Scott Morrison’s former chief political strategist and political consultancy Wolf & Smith founding partner Yaron Finkelstein said an Australian Reform party would struggle to make waves like its UK counterpart.
“Not only did Brexit provide a springboard for Farage’s political ambitions, his political brand was 20 years in the making. Who is the Australian version of that?” he said.
“Very few new political parties, or independents, have the ground game to capitalise on their generic support. Even the UK Reform party knows it has to build a proper grassroots presence.”
Support for the most prominent rightwing minor party locally, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, has soared to almost 20% since the May federal election. While it has a distant chance at any real power in parliament, One Nation’s surging popularity has already influenced some within the Coalition to pivot further right on energy and immigration policies – and a parade of other minor parties are also eager to step in.
Ben Raue, an election analyst, said there was a “structural incentive” for right-wing fringe groups to consolidate votes.
“I’m sure the people forming this party are trying to say, ‘Oh, we need a party like Reform in Australia’,” he said. “The answer is: we may not have a party with that name, but we have lots of parties like that.”
