This report investigates the convergence of pseudolaw, cultism, conspirituality, and Indigenous identity fraud in Australia, with a particular focus on the Central Coast and Sydney regions of New South Wales (NSW). These overlapping movements collectively threaten the integrity of the Australian legal system, distort public discourse, and directly undermine the sovereignty, cultural authority, and self-determination of legitimate Aboriginal communities (Cooke, 2025; Hobbs, 2025; Day & Carlson, 2023).
Pseudolaw and the Sovereign Citizen Movement
The Sovereign Citizen (SovCit) movement, which denies the legitimacy of government authority, relies on “pseudolaw”: fictional legal interpretations often based on the Magna Carta or idiosyncratic readings of common law (Hobbs, 2025; Parker & Mckenzie, 2023). These tactics have created significant strain on Australia’s legal system, with frivolous and disruptive claims resulting in criminal charges, financial loss, and court delays (Dametto, 2022). More dangerously, the movement has evolved into a radicalised and sometimes violent network, with links to domestic terrorism, including the 2022 Queensland police killings (Hobbs, 2025; Parker & Mckenzie, 2023).
Of particular concern is the growing overlap between sovereign citizen rhetoric and Aboriginal sovereignty discourse. Non-Indigenous people increasingly misuse terms like “sovereignty” to legitimize their rejection of state law, while some Indigenous individuals, often unknowingly, adopt pseudolegal frameworks that risk delegitimizing genuine claims to self-determination (Hobbs, 2025).
Conspirituality and Cultic Dynamics
Conspirituality—a fusion of conspiracy theories and New Age beliefs—has flourished in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Day & Carlson, 2023). Its adherents see themselves as enlightened truth-holders resisting a corrupt global elite, often drawing on Indigenous-sounding language to frame their worldview as natural or sacred (Wikipedia, n.d.). This belief system often feeds into cultic dynamics, which are characterized by coercive control, manipulation, and psychological abuse (Parliament of Victoria, 2025). Tactics such as love bombing, information control, emotional isolation, and financial exploitation are used to recruit and control followers.
Cultic groups often present themselves as benign environmental or wellness initiatives. However, they frequently operate with deceptive intent, masking their real objectives under layers of pseudospiritual and conspiratorial ideology (Parliament of Victoria, 2025). The psychological and social harm caused to members and their families can be profound, with some groups linked to abuse, coercion, and even death.
Indigenous Identity Fraud (Pretendianism)
Pretendianism—the false claim to Aboriginal identity—is identified as a form of neocolonial violence (Deloria, 1998; Andersen, 2025). Such individuals gain access to funding, recognition, and institutional authority meant for Aboriginal people, distorting history, diverting resources, and weakening community trust (Cooke, 2025). The GuriNgai group exemplifies this trend. Despite having no genealogical or cultural link to historical Aboriginal figures like Bungaree, they have received government contracts and recognition, undermining the authority of legitimate organisations like the Darkinjung and Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Councils (Coast Community News, 2021b; GuriNgai.org, 2024b).
False identity claims also reinforce the dangerous myth that Indigenous identity is a matter of personal belief or ancestry alone, rather than being determined by community recognition, kinship, and cultural practice (Andersen, 2025). This weakens the legitimacy of actual Aboriginal governance structures and legal rights.
Settler Environmentalism as a Tool of Dispossession
Settler conspiritualist movements frequently weaponize environmental narratives to oppose Aboriginal-led development under the guise of protecting “sacred lands” or “natural sites” (Day & Carlson, 2023; GuriNgai.org, 2025g). Campaigns such as “Save Kincumber Wetlands” and “Saving Kariong Sacred Lands” have been used to undermine Aboriginal land rights through misinformation, spiritual mimicry, and theatrical protest (Reddit, 2025d; GuriNgai.org, 2025e). These campaigns are often rooted in hoaxes like the Kariong Glyphs, a set of debunked “Egyptian hieroglyphs” that nonetheless continue to inspire pseudoscientific and conspiratorial beliefs (OceaniaChronicle, 2021; Wikipedia, n.d.).
Jake Cassar and the Coast Environmental Alliance (CEA) represent a convergence of environmentalism, identity fraud, and conspiratorial activism. CEA and its members claim custodianship over Aboriginal-owned lands, assert spiritual authority, and attempt to delegitimise Aboriginal land councils. Their misinformation campaigns have real-world impacts, such as the NSW government reclaiming $36 million in funding from Hornsby Shire Council due to delays caused by engagement with the GuriNgai group (GuriNgai.org, 2024b).
Institutional Complicity and Cultural Harm
The report highlights how local governments and media institutions have, through poor due diligence and uncritical platforming, legitimized fraudulent claims. Hornsby Shire Council’s repeated engagement with the GuriNgai group, despite strong opposition from Aboriginal organisations, is a case in point (GuriNgai.org, 2024b). This institutional complicity enables the continued marginalisation of legitimate Aboriginal voices and diverts resources from community-based initiatives.
Additionally, proposals like the “Patyegarang Proposal,” meant to support Aboriginal cultural centres and housing, are undermined by the influence of identity fraud and settler mimicry in planning processes. Without robust verification mechanisms and meaningful consultation, the renewable energy transition risks becoming another vehicle for green colonialism (GuriNgai.org, 2025b; Cooke, 2025).
Conclusion and Recommendations
Pseudolaw, cultism, conspirituality, and Indigenous identity fraud collectively function as an ecosystem of settler simulation that distorts public understanding, undermines cultural authority, and facilitates ongoing colonial dispossession. This convergence exploits legal ambiguity, spiritual aesthetics, and public misinformation to produce both tangible harms (e.g., diverted funds, unreliable heritage studies) and deeper epistemic violence (e.g., erasure of Aboriginal narratives and governance) (Cooke, 2025; Moreton-Robinson, 2015).
The report recommends the implementation of Indigenous-led identity verification systems, legal reforms to counter pseudolaw, robust media literacy education, and strict institutional accountability mechanisms. Environmental and development projects must centre Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, ensuring Indigenous communities are not only consulted but empowered to lead. Only through a coordinated and Indigenous-led response can Australia dismantle these settler simulations and reaffirm the cultural and political sovereignty of its First Peoples.
Bungaree.org 
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