TRANSCRIPT
There are concerns about a possible rise in neo-Nazism in Australia, following incidents across three consecutive days in Sydney's north.
The first incident occurred on Australia Day, when around 60 hooded men, mostly wearing black masks and clothes, were intercepted at North Sydney station by more than 20 police officers.
Police said the group concealed their faces and were carrying shields and a flag, with six arrested and a further 55 men fined for offensive behaviour.
Police then broke up a gathering on Saturday evening in North Turramurra, issuing a public safety order extension, before again being forced to intervene at another demonstration in Sydney's north shore on Sunday morning.
Thirty-year-old self-appointed leader Thomas Sewell heads the far-right group known as the National Socialist Network, and was filmed being served by officers with a legal order banning him from attending any Australia Day events in Sydney.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the group on Saturday, highlighting an ASIO warning about the rise of right-wing extremism.
"And on Australia Day, where we commemorate everything that is great about this country, we have a responsibility to look to what unites us, not what divides us. And I say to these people, quite frankly, look at yourself. There is nothing to be got in this country through hatred."
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has since pledged to extend legislation in the state to outlaw racist Nazi ideology and white power symbols.
He praised the swift actions of police in stopping the group in what he called difficult circumstances.
"Everyone in Sydney has a right to feel safe, that's where the government's priority and agenda has been so that these idiots, as well as their leaders who obviously have this form of demented ideology, is confronted with the full force of the law and zero tolerance is shown."
There has been speculation that the group travelled from Victoria, which has seen a number of neo-Nazi incidents in recent months.
Dr Kaz Ross is an independent researcher into far-right extremism, and debunks this idea.
She says more members of the group were from New South Wales than Victoria, citing a long-standing presence of neo-Nazism in New South Wales.
"In actual fact, what we could see on the weekend it is a national issue where Neo-Nazis from across Australia met in Sydney. And in fact there were more neo-Nazis from New South Wales than Victoria on the weekend. So I think Sydneysiders should be worried and should recognise that they also have an ongoing neo-Nazi problem."
Greg Barton is Professor of Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University, and says while these isolated incidents are horrific they don't pose an immediate threat to Australia's safety.
He says the National Socialist Network has been around for a long time and hasn't succeeded in growing dramatically.
"So as to why the National Socialist movement did this stunt - and it is a stunt, this is typically what they do, they dress up provocatively, and do Hitler salutes and try and have a swastika flag, or something else that's just in your face provocative in a public place - of course Friday we had Australia Day, the next day we had Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is 79 years after the closing of Auschwitz, which is really evocative. it's a long weekend of course with Australia Day. So from their point of view this is the time when people are paying attention to these kinds of stunts. And another weekend perhaps they wouldn't have got the same attention."
But that's not to say they aren't indicative of a bigger problem with far-right political movements globally.
Professor Barton says governments worldwide are witnessing a rise in popularity of white supremacist and far-right ideologies, citing what he describes as fascist nationalism under Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and concerns over Donald Trump's anti-democratic sentiment in the United States, as examples.
"The bad news is there are bigger issues domestically and globally that we need to pay attention to. The reason I think we do need to be worried is, if we look at the epicentre of Nazism and now neo-Nazism, it's Germany. We saw large rallies protesting against the mainstream political party - Alternative für Deutschland - which has grown so strongly that it will likely increasingly play a role in future governments. That's really disturbing."
Dr Ross agrees.
She says a lot of people don't realise this group is linked to a global network of far-right extremists, who aren't as interested in politics and adopt more of a tribe mentality.
"They're interested in setting up a new society. So they don't follow the electoral politics quite so closely but the model that they use is a model that is very successful in Europe, called the active club model. And it's a model that comes out of California actually, where men get together to, they call it 'train and tribe': train as in learn to fight, get fit, and tribe as in forming a tribe, forming a group. So the 'train and tribe' philosophy of the active club model has been really really successful in Europe. Some of the leaders from here have actually recently been in Poland for the national meet-up day of nationalists."
In 2022, the New South Wales government became the second state after Victoria in Australia to ban Nazi symbols, including intentionally waving a Nazi flag or displaying memorabilia bearing Nazi swastikas.
These acts can result in jail time for up to a year, along with a fine of over $100,000.
Premier Minns has refused to comment on reports that members of the group were public servants, and said he'd leave matters of identification up to the police.
But he says it's being tested in court whether existing legislation might be applied to hand gestures tied to such fascist ideology, adding that if the legal barrier isn't clear the government will move legislation to outlaw racist Nazi ideology and white supremacist symbols in New South Wales.
"I think we need to make sure that we have rules and laws in place to protect the very special nature of our community."
Laws such as banning the Nazi salute are important for helping police press charges, as Professor Barton explains, but he insists defending democracy should be our bigger focus as an Australian society.
"Defending democracy, not our party against their party, but all of us. So democracy needs a diversity of opinions. Classically that comes across a political spectrum of left to centre to right. Those are all legitimate ideas that need to be respected and preserved. But we need to be really cautious of those on the extreme of the spectrum, and at one point extremes of the spectrum join up. So people can be acting in the name of an allegedly far left cause and end up doing far right tactics: the sort of demonising, dehumanising of the other is sort of the point of meeting."
Dr Ross adds that community support is vital in preventing young men in particular from becoming radicalised by such far-right extreme ideologies.
She says while laws can help demonise the actions of such groups, Australia is in desperate need of support programs to prevent radicalisation.
"I think the best way we can combat them is we need support for families, that's one thing for sure. Because if you have a teenage son and you see he is becoming radicalised there are no family support programs. Who are you going to turn to? You're not going to call the national security hotline on your own son. For me that is what's missing in Australia. We can talk about strong laws, and whether the laws are used, implemented or not implemented. But ultimately to really deal with this kind of extremism and recruiting we need many many more resources for supporting the people around those young men, and helping them pull the young men away from this kind of group."
