The Nazi salute along with the display of all related insignia will be explicitly outlawed in Australia’s most populous state, after alleged white supremacists conducted a series of protests over this year’s Australia Day long weekend.
New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns has stated clearly that he intends to toughen laws to ban the Nazi salute.
“Explicitly the swastika is illegal in NSW, there’s a question as to whether a Nazi salute is as well,” Mr. Minns told reporters.
“I want to make it clear though that [salute] is not acceptable in NSW and if the current laws don’t cover it, we'll move legislation to make it illegal.”
Mr. Minns said those taking part in such protests may be exposed to public scrutiny.
“Police have the right to take off your balaclava and to expose you and your identity so that everyone you know, your family and friends, your employer, your co-workers will know that you’re a racist.”
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Mr. Minns’ announcement comes after a specific incident on Jan. 26 where a group of 61 masked men dressed in all black were spotted boarding a train in Sydney’s Lower North Shore.
The group of men were found to be heading towards the CBD to launch a counter-demonstration against the “Invasion Day” rallies being held in Central.
A supplied image shows leader of the National Socialist Network Thomas Sewell with a group of men dressed in black near North Sydney train station in Sydney on Jan. 26, 2024. A group of about 40 men in balaclavas are being held in North Sydney by police after swarming a train and waving Australian flags. AAP Image/Supplied
The men were intercepted by several police officers at North Sydney station before reaching the CBD. Once told they were forbidden from continuing their journey, they left.
Earlier that day, the same group of men were seen marching along the Pacific Highway at St. Leonards holding a banner reading, “Australia for White Man.” The protest was accompanied by a strong police presence of multiple police cars.
The banner also identified the men as part of the National Socialist Network—an amalgamation of both the Lads Society and the Antipodean Resistance, two white nationalist collectives based in Melbourne.
The group is led by Thomas Sewell, a notorious Australian neo-Nazi who spent a brief stint in prison after an altercation with a group of hikers in a Victorian national park.
A well-known ringleader of far-right extremist circles, Mr. Sewell—a former Australian Defence Force (ADF) infantryman—had previously attempted to recruit the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch Mosque shootings, Brendon Tarrant, into his ranks but he refused.
He was also arrested in 2021 after assaulting a security guard at Channel Nine’s Melbourne Headquarters.
Mr. Sewell, who was disgruntled at his feature in A Current Affair segment documenting far-right extremism, arrived at the Nine offices demanding to speak to producers.
After being told to vacate the premises, Mr. Sewell was filmed calling a security guard a “monkey” before repeatedly striking him in the face.
Counter-Terrorism Bill
In Nov. 2023, the Albanese government banned all Nazi insignia, including the salute, at a federal level by introducing the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment.The bill altered both the Crimes Act 1914 and Criminal Code Act 1995 to introduce criminal offences for banned Nazi symbols.
At the time, the number of reported hate crimes had reached a level warranting government concern after Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 incursion stoked several high-profile demonstrations.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said upon announcing the amendment that it would make “a good bill even better.”
“When introducing the bill, I said that if we needed to go further we would. And today the government delivers on that promise,” Mr. Dreyfus said in a speech.
“There is no place in Australia for hatred, violence and antisemitism. There is no place in Australia for symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust. And there is no place in Australia for evil and offensive acts that celebrate Nazi ideology.”
Mr. Dreyfus also outlined certain exceptions to the law.
“When introducing criminal laws, it’s important to ensure that offences do not interfere with the legitimate rights of journalists to report on such matters. That’s why the original bill contains specific exemptions for journalists along with religious, academic, educational, artistic, literary, journalistic or scientific purposes.”
