Draft:Drew Pavlou
Drew Pavlou (1999–) is a Turkish-Australian far-right grifter. He gained notoriety in 2020 for protesting against the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the University of Queensland, for which he was temporarily suspended.[1] While initially holding liberal beliefs, since 2025 Pavlou has increasingly expressed far-right views, such as anti-immigration, racism, and nationalism. He is notoriously active on Twitter, posting multiple times a day.
Biography[edit]
Pavlou was born in 1999 in Australia. His parents are of Turkish-Greek-Cypriot descent. Pavlou's grandparents were migrants who moved from Cyprus to Australia in the 1960s.[2]
His family moved to Brisbane when he was two years old, and have lived there since.
Views[edit]
Initially, Pavlou had relatively liberal political views.[1] before turning to reactionary conservatism since 2024.
Immigration[edit]
He wants to reduce immigration "by 90%".[3]:9:00 One of the reasons for this change is he believes the false "great replacement" conspiracy theory, or a variation of it, arguing that European Australians are being wiped out by immigrants.
Israel-Palestine conflict[edit]
Since the October 7 attacks in 2023, Pavlou has increasingly become more radical in his support for Israel and opposition to Palestine.[citation needed]
Russia-Ukraine conflict[edit]
Pavlou supports Ukraine.[citation needed]
Political support[edit]
Pavlou voted for the Australian Labor Party in the Queensland state election of 2024.
On August 23, 2025, Pavlou declared his support for Andrew Hastie,[4] a member of the Liberal Party of Australia (no, not that kind of liberal) and climate change-denier. The reason? Not due to his anti-China and anti-climate change policies (though Pavlou likely agrees with them), but after seeing Hastie recite St Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V (play)
from heart, asserting it shows a "profound love of Western history and civilisation".
The same day, Pavlou described his "current political views" as "Churchill, De Gaulle
, Lee Kuan Yew, Andrew Hastie,"[5] despite these four figures all having radically opposed and somewhat incompatible political views (such as famously democratic LKY). Remember: the main reason he supports LKY is because his wallet was stolen and the Australian justice system was apparently too soft for not giving the death penalty for the thief.[6]
Activism[edit]
Pavlou is most well known for his outspoken criticism against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and its repression of the Uigurs, Hong Kongers, and other ethnic minorities in China. He supports sanctioning the People's Republic of China, and nationally recognizing Taiwan as the sole China instead.[1]
Anti-CCP protests[edit]
In July 2019, Pavlou held a protest at University of Queensland (UQ), against the perceived influence of the CCP and Chinese government in the university.[7]
2022 Brisbane protest[edit]
In May 2022, Pavlou held another protest against the Chinese consulate in Brisbane. During this protest, Pavlou held a sign reading "Nothing happened on June 4, 1989, change my mind." On May 17, 2022, he received two fines from the Brisbane City Council collectively amounting to $1000, due to not receiving a permit for political advertising: the protest was part of his campaign for senate, the Drew Pavlou Democratic Alliance (see below).[8]
Instead of paying the $1000 fee, which was "just not fair" according to Pavlou, he appealed the fee in the Brisbane Magistrates Court: not once, but twice. He first appealed in October 2023, claiming the "right to free speech". The two fines were upheld, and he additionally he pay legal fees for the Brisbane City Council, bringing the fee up to $3,113.50. In May 2024, Pavlou appealed again for the second time, but was once again rejected: the fees were increased to $10,000.[8]
Despite this, in an attempt to garner sympathy from misinformed users and freedom-loving™ conservatives, Pavlou spread disinformation about his own activity on Twitter by claiming he was "arrested for holding a blank sign," despite his sign ironically expressing rhetoric he advocated against (Tiananmen Square massacre denial). Pavlou had not applied for the permit to hold a political event in the Council. His sign was also deemed "political advertising" which he had not received the proper permit for and was "easily obtainable", according to the judge who ruled over Pavlou's trial.[8]
On July 27, 2025, Pavlou announced he would willingly surrender to the Australian court and go to prison due to his inability to pay the now $24k fine, "as a matter of principle".[9] On August 6, Pavlou said that the courts had rejected his offer.[10]
Melbourne CBD video[edit]
On August 1, 2025, Pavlou published a video where he visited Melbourne, Australia (satirically titled "NAARM-CORE").[note 1] In the video, he walked around the Melbourne central business district (CBD) and counted the number of Chinese-language real estate firms and bubble tea shops, describing the mere existence of a couple of Chinese-language shops as the "yookayification" of Australia. He also claimed that the establishments "exclude English speakers". What Pavlou failed to mention (or may simply have been ignorant of), was the area his video was filmed in was a historic Chinese ethnic enclave (Chinatown) with a large Chinese community. Moreover, many of the bubble tea establishments in the video were Taiwanese brands, which is ironic as Pavlou claims to be a supporter of the Taiwanese people.[11] A director of one of the Chinese firms featured in Pavlou's video refuted his false claim, saying "While many of our team members are multilingual and we occasionally use Chinese language materials to assist clients who prefer it, we also regularly produce and distribute all our marketing materials — including flyers and brochures — in English."[12] But he's not racist, he has a Chinese friend.[1]
Political party[edit]
He founded the Drew Pavlou Democratic Alliance in 2021, an anti-CCP political party. The party contested the 2022 Australian federal election but failed to win a seat. The party was deregistered in November 2023.
Quotes[edit]
Pavlou explaining why he was forced by "the communists" to become a conservative:[13]
"Being a liberal on X is like being in a pressure cooker. You get attacked by both the communists and the neo-Nazis.
But the communists were always the ones with the most bloodlust for me. Which is why I had to become conservative to protect myself. Anything else was suicidal."
Pavlou, who believes immigrants and descendants of immigrants who commit crimes should be deported, explaining why he — a descendant of Cypriot immigrants — should be exempt from the law:[9]
"I have written to authorities to inform them that I will peacefully surrender and accept arrest and imprisonment for contempt of court on August 6th rather than pay the $23,000 fine for holding a blank sign outside the Chinese Consulate.
They can make me a political prisoner in Australia, if this is what they want.
I will comply fully with authorities and the court throughout this entire process as I am a law abiding, God fearing Australian citizen. I am a peaceful law abiding man peacefully practicing civil disobedience and non-compliance according to my conscience."
In a live debate on Twitter, where he debated an Australian neo-Nazi (alias "bbq"), Drew learns he is not one of the good ones:[3]:8:59–9:21s
Pavlou: Here's where you're being stupid. I literally want to reduce immigration by 90%. I have conservative values on this stuff. And you're treating me like as— like I'm a racial enemy, which is fucking r*tarded [sic]
bbq: Mmm, I— Look, I want mass deportations mate —
Pavlou: So you wanna deport me?
bbq: I would deport you Drew...
Pavlou: Why?
bbq: ...yes I would.
Pavlou: Why? I- I literally- I literally have conservative values on migration, I want to keep the country [Australia] demographically European...
Pavlou is shocked that Mehdi Hasan called Charlie Kirk, a supporter of the January 6 coup, fascist:[14]
"This is extraordinarily dangerous rhetoric because Charlie Kirk was a standard Trump conservative.
If you call Charlie Kirk a fascist, that makes practically all 78 million Trump voters fascist. And from that point you are close to calling for mass killings.
External links[edit]
- Drew Pavlou
on Wikipedia
- Drew Pavlou on Instagram
- Drew Pavlou on Twitter
- Drew Pavlou on YouTube
References[edit]
- ↑ The area of and around Melbourne is known as "Naarm" in local Indigenous Australian languages
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Knott, Matthew (July 14, 2023). "Activist or attention hog? Drew has an obsession. His dad wishes he'd drop it". The Sydney Morning Herald
. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ "The boy who kicked the hornet's nest". The Australian. May 30, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pavlou, Drew (August 20, 2025). ""Greek Australians Must Go" | Debating an Australian Nazi". YouTube. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew (August 23, 2025). "Andrew Hastie for PM. He will save Australia". Instagram. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew. "My current political views: Churchill, De Gaulle, Lee Kuan Yew, Andrew Hastie".
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew (July 10, 2025). ""Had my wallet stolen so I'm changing my Twitter profile pic and cover photo to Lee Kuan Yew for 24 hours to protest the criminal justice system's failure to just simply kill criminals"". Retrieved September 21, 2025.
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ignored (help) - ↑ Bengali, Shashank; Petrakis, Maria (December 21, 2020). "An Australian student denounced his university's ties to China. Then he became a target". Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Sato, Kenji (May 24, 2024). "Drew Pavlou left owing $10k after second failed appeal over Brisbane City Council fines". ABC News. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Pavlou, Drew (July 27, 2025). "BREAKING: I am surrendering to the Australian courts and will serve prison time for the crime of holding a blank sign outside the Chinese Consulate..." Twitter. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew (August 6, 2025). "LEGAL UPDATE: No jail time at this point. I went to court and spoke to the lawyers for the Brisbane City Council. I made a formal offer to the Council to go to prison to clear the $24,000 debt related to the blank sign protest. They rejected my offer to go to jail". Twitter. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew (August 1, 2025). "NAARM CORE: Visiting Australia's Most Left-Wing City". YouTube. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Smith, Rohan (August 9, 2025). "'English speakers excluded': Chinese agents hit back at divisive real estate video". News.com.au. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew (September 14, 2025). "Being a liberal on X is like being in a pressure cooker. You get attacked by both the communists and the neo-Nazis. But the communists were always the ones with the most bloodlust for me. Which is why I had to become conservative to protect myself. Anything else was suicidal". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 21, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
- ↑ Pavlou, Drew (September 16, 2025). "This is extraordinarily dangerous rhetoric because Charlie Kirk was a standard Trump conservative. If you call Charlie Kirk a fascist, that makes practically all 78 million Trump voters fascist. And from that point you are close to calling for mass killings. Which is just insanely disrespectful as somebody who migrated to America just 10 years ago". Twitter. Retrieved September 21, 2025.