Australia has identified a neo-Nazi network as the second organization to be banned under its new law criminalizing hate groups and support for them. The group, formerly known as the National Socialist Network and sometimes called White Australia, had announced it would disband after the government passed the law in January, which allows certain organizations to be outlawed.
Background of the Law
The law was enacted in response to the antisemitic attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach in December, in which 15 people were killed. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters in Canberra on Friday that the National Socialist Network "changed their name, but didn't change the fact that they were still an organization and were still engaging in the same sort of behavior that met the thresholds for this legislation."
Penalties and Scope
The ban, effective from the end of Friday, makes it illegal to support, fund, train, recruit, join, or direct the group, including if it reforms under a new name. Violators face up to 15 years in prison. The Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir was the first to be banned under this law in March. Both groups were publicly identified by lawmakers as primary targets of the policy.
The law allows hate groups that do not meet Australia's definition of a terrorist organization to be banned, part of a raft of measures to curtail antisemitic hatred after the Bondi massacre targeting Jews.
Designation Process
The national security agency ASIO decides whether an organization meets the threshold to be designated as a hate group, with a government minister then approving the prohibition. Criteria include behavior that could increase the risk of violence and advocacy for or engagement in hate crimes.
Burke stated, "None of this will stop bigoted people from having horrific ideologies. But it does prevent this group from organizing, from meeting, and prevents some of the sorts of horrific, bigoted rallies that we've seen around our country."
Founder Faces Charges
National Socialist Network founder Thomas Sewell is awaiting trial on charges of allegedly leading an attack on an Indigenous protest camp last August. Black-clad men stormed the camp in Melbourne during an anti-immigration rally, injuring three. Sewell has pleaded not guilty to five counts. An independent inquiry into the 2019 Christchurch mosque murders in New Zealand found that Sewell had attempted to recruit the gunman, Brenton Tarrant, to another white nationalist group two years before the attack.
Burke dismissed suggestions that the National Socialist Network had disbanded. A post to the group's Telegram channel in January said it would dissolve to avoid arrests, according to Australian news outlets. The minister said his government is prepared for legal challenges from outlawed groups.
In 2024, before the Bondi shooting, Australia enacted a nationwide ban on Nazi salutes and the display of swastikas and other Nazi symbols, following a wave of antisemitic crimes targeting synagogues, Jewish businesses, and schools in Sydney and Melbourne.
