‘Saving Australia’: global populism and the rhetoric of the Australian Christian Right

This article examines how the intersection between the Christian Right and populism takes shape in Australia. It analyses how Australian Christian Right (ACR) actors mobilise the ideology, rhetoric, and discursive strategies of global populism, especially from the US and the UK, and localise them in Australia. While the Australian socio-religious context differs in significant ways, the mobility of ACR leaders and politicians, who travel to preach, present, and participate in conferences and meetings with their international counterparts, sees them well integrated into the global movement. This article demonstrates that the Christian-inflected populist discourses of civilisationism, religious freedom, and white supremacy have been (re-)co-opted by leaders of the ACR, including former political leaders. These themes have been woven together to serve as a legitimating frame for their political claims-making in a secular and increasingly religiously diverse and non-religious society.