Australia’s most notorious neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network, has been listed as an illegal hate group by the federal government.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the decision was made under hate speech legislation introduced after the Bondi massacre.
As of midnight, it is now a criminal offence to join or provide support to the far-right group, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The organisation has operated under several names, including White Australia and the European Australian Movement.
Government says group remains active
The neo-Nazi group announced in January that it would disband in an apparent attempt to avoid the new laws.
However, authorities say its members have continued to be active.
Burke said he made the decision based on advice from Australian spy agency ASIO, which found the group was “engaged in behaviour that increase risks of violence”.
“Today, the organisation that would be colloquially known as the neo-Nazis, but has gone through different names – the European Australian Movement, the National Socialist Network (NSN) and White Australia – has been listed as the second prohibited hate group under the changes that were made to the Criminal Code,” Burke said.
“This sends a clear message to those who believe in racial supremacy that their views are not welcome in Australian society.”
The group has sparked outrage through public demonstrations, including marches through Melbourne’s CBD and rallies outside the NSW parliament. Members have also attended anti-trans protest rallies.
The NSN is the second hate group to be banned under the legislation, following Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir in March.
“Horrific, bigoted rallies”
Burke said criminalising the National Socialist Network would not “stop bigoted people from having ideas”.
“But it does prevent this group from organising, from meeting, and prevents some of the sorts of horrific, bigoted rallies that we’ve seen around our country,” he said.
In January, leaders of the NSN announced they were “shutting down all operations” to “mitigate the risk of individuals being arrested and charged under these new draconian laws.”
But Burke said the group had not successfully avoided the legislation and warned it would not be able to evade the law by changing its name.
“Effectively, what they did, for want of a better term, is phoenix,” he said, referring to the practice of insolvent companies reappearing under a new name.
“They thought by announcing that they had disbanded, that they had evaded these laws — they haven’t.”
Burke said the group remained “an organisation and still engaged in the exact sort of behaviour that met the threshold for this legislation”.
NSN plans High Court challenge
NSN leader Thomas Sewell announced on Friday that members of the group plan to challenge the hate laws in the High Court, according to ABC News.
The group has reportedly crowdfunded more than $150,000 to fund the legal challenge.
ASIO director general Mike Burgess said last November that he feared the NSN’s “increasingly violent propaganda” could inspire political violence.
“At its core, the National Socialist Network is anti-immigrant, anti-Indigenous, anti-gay, anti-Jew, anti-Islam and anti-anything that does not fit its white anglo-centric worldview,” he said.
Burgess said he was “deeply concerned” by the group’s “hateful, divisive rhetoric and increasingly violent propaganda, and the growing likelihood these things will prompt spontaneous violence, particularly in response to perceived provocation.”
The listing marks a significant escalation in Australia’s response to organised far-right extremism and sends a clear message that groups promoting racial supremacy and hate-fuelled violence will face serious legal consequences.
