Cossomby,
Nope, the UPF have no ties whatsoever to the conservatives, the Liberals or any other group, they operate independently, as do Socialist Alternative and ANTIFA.
UPF activism ground to a halt at the end of January because the members had exhausted their personal savings and maxed their credit cards, they receive no funding or assistance from conservatives or anyone else.
I was there and the footage shown on all the news services validates my report, UPF were certainly ready for a fight but they were attacked first by a gang of Muslim men and ANTIFA who were definitely bent on doing them harm. The Muslims then attacked the UPF as they were trying to leave to go home via a laneway through the old Pentridge prison and the main reason these fights occurred was because the police in their riot gear couldn't run as fast as the protestors and the mounted units were stretched thin.
It's my personal view that if the police had had officers on bicycles as well, as they do in the U.S the situation might have been easier to control.
I saw half a dozen violent confrontations over the two hours or so of the rally, only two involved the UPF, the rest were the result of Muslims and ANTIFA attacking police.

Just as a further note these "flagpoles" seen being swung by brawlers in the news footage are actually lengths of plastic electrical conduit, wooden poles have been banned from rallies for years.

Jay: Actually it's irrelevant who has ties to what.

You were clear: one mob, the United Patriots Front set out 'to provoke' the other mob into 'riotous behaviour' in order to discredit 'the many social justice groups'.

Just one bunch of young thugs provoking another bunch of young thugs, both wearing masks. Each side trying to justify their anti-social behaviour with motherhood statements: nationalism / social justice.

Unacceptable.

Cosssomby,
Yes, That's about the size of it but the UPF, though thoroughly prepared for a fight followed Police instructions, it was the ANTIFA and Muslims gangs who broke the Police line and threw the first punches.
I've been to all the major rallies over the last 12 months bar the Melton one in November, about half the time on each side of the police lines, in 100% of cases the violence has been instigated by the Left, it's their long standing bad reputation which the UPF has been seeking to exploit.

"The United Patriots Front (UPF), otherwise known as Fortitude, is a populist far-right street protest movement and Facebook group based in Australia which opposes immigration, multiculturalism and Islam.[3][4] It is a splinter group from the anti-Islamic Reclaim Australia group, formed after a dispute between Shermon Burgess and Reclaim Australia organisers.[5][6] The group has been described as a hate group."
Wikipedia.

Yes Jay Of Melbourne belongs to this racist hate group who were responsible for the "Ban All Mosques" banners at two AFL matches that was roundly condemned by almost all groups in Australian society at the time.

Jay certainly comes across as a reasonable, personable contributor to this forum, and appears to be intelligent. This makes him even more dangerous, in my opinion, than the mindless thugs that do the dirty work for him and other good old boy members of that delightful group.

"The leader of the United Patriots Front, Blair Cottrell, said the rally was an "initial success" but then "the police happened".

"They prevented us from doing what we wanted to do, which was to move up that street to counter the opposition," he said.

He said he wanted to counter the opposing group "in the same way that they do, with force and terror"."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-28/coburg-anti-racism-rally-protesters-take-to-melbourne-streets/7455832

Well this Cottrell bloke sounds like a very peaceful and reasonable sort of fella (sarcasm).

As it turns out, he's a convicted arsonist and stalker as well as a neo-Nazi and woman beater. And this is the bloke they have leading the UPF, so presumably he's the one of best character... makes you wonder what the rest of the thugs have on their rap sheets.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/blair-cottrell-leader-of-aussie-patriots-upf-wanted-hitler-in-the-classroom-20151016-gkbbvz.html

//I can only speak for the Nationalist side but we have some great young guys coming up//

Yeah, your mates sound like top blokes Jay (more sarcasm).

Suse,
I may have expressed support for UPF in their early months (ie before they embraced some fundamental lies) but I'm not a member of their group, never have been and if you'd care to read through the articles on the UNA site you'll see a deep distrust, even contempt among Nationalists for their methods.
Here's our latest piece:
http://unitednationalistsaustralia.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/chris-shortiss-video-sorts-the-nationalists-from-the-zionists/

I gratefully accept your characterisation of myself as "intelligent" and "dangerous", it's exactly the effect we're looking for.