Published: 21 March 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
The Australian Army is investigating serving soldiers with neo-Nazi links and Victoria is strengthening its anti-vilification laws after a weekend which saw a burst of neo-Nazi activity.
Victoria will strengthen its anti-vilification laws to ban the Nazi salute following the far-Right protest that occurred at Parliament House on Saturday, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes has confirmed.
“The behaviour we saw on the weekend was disgraceful and cowardly,” Symes said in a statement on Monday.
“It’s clear this symbol is being used to incite hatred not just towards Jewish people but our LGBTIQ+ community and other minority groups.
“Victorians have zero tolerance of this behaviour and so do we. That’s why we’ll expand our nation-leading legislation banning the Nazi hakenkreuz (swastika) to include the Nazi salute – because everyone deserves to feel safe, welcome and included in Victoria.”
The Opposition has committed to supporting the legislation. It is also moving to expel controversial Liberal MP Moira Deeming from the parliamentary party room after she attended Saturday’s rally.
About 30 men from the National Socialist Network performed Nazi salutes on the steps of the Victorian parliament as part of a demonstration opposing transgender rights.
The group clashed with hundreds of demonstrators who were rallying in favour of transgender rights.
The group included white supremacist Thomas Sewell, who was recently convicted of recklessly causing injury in relation to an attack on a security guard and was addressed by by British anti-trans rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.
Jewish leaders welcomed the move to ban the Nazi salute.
“The actions of Nazi thugs over the weekend has shocked the entire Victorian community, not just Jews,” said President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria Daniel Aghion KC.
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s Director of Community and International Affairs, Jeremy Jones, described the neo-Nazi behaviour as “an appalling sight – and one for which there must be consequences and effective action”.
“Even though they are few in number and have no political or social influence, the thugs and miscreants who made the Nazi salute did so to intimidate, bully and challenge the intrinsic values of our liberal democracy,” said Jones, who has researched and written on the far-Right for more than 30 years.
“In their case, hatred and anger come before any political considerations, but they have chosen to append themselves to a particularly vile and evil ideology, as they feel this will cause the most upset and uproar.”
Army, police investigate neo-Nazis in the ranks
The Australian Army has launched an urgent investigation after discovering serving soldiers have links to neo-Nazi groups.
The inquiry was triggered by an investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald into white supremacist groups.
The Nationalist Socialist Network is one of the key groups identified by the newspaper’s investigation as promoting a “white revolution” in Australia.
The investigation found recordings and conversations from encrypted forums that reveal an emerging cohort of Australian extremist leaders seeking to access firearms and ridiculing law enforcement.
It unearthed links between extremist groups and Australian Defence Force members, as well as state police forces. The Queensland Police also launched an inquiry into connections between two serving police and alleged white supremacists.
The investigation also established the identities of emerging or previously unknown neo-Nazi leaders around the country, some with a keen interest in obtaining firearms and training in their use.
At least three soldiers appear to have joined the military after being active members or liaising closely with white supremacist groups, including those monitored by Australian security and intelligence agencies.
One soldier’s social media footprint reveals his involvement with a white supremacist group called Operation Werewolf.
A security briefing seen by the investigation described Operation Werewolf as a group that “strives for Aryan supremacy”, with Australian members who “undertake survivalist training including unarmed combat, weapons training and hunting”.
Before joining the military, a second serving soldier attended a training camp for neo-Nazi group Antipodean Resistance, which advocates a race war and has been the subject of intensive ASIO investigations. This soldier previously socialised with at least two members of Australia’s largest neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network.
READ MORE
Victoria to ban Nazi salutes after far-Right rally (The Age)
Nazi salutes performed on steps of Victorian parliament as protesters clash over trans rights (SBS)
Spring Street in Melbourne's city centre was blocked to traffic as hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the Victorian Parliament.
Soldiers of hate: Army investigates neo-Nazis in its ranks (SMH)
The Australian Army has launched an urgent investigation after discovering serving soldiers have links to neo-Nazi groups.
Top Photo: Neo-Nazi protesters face-off with transgender rights supporters outside Parliament House in Melbourne on Saturday. (AAP Image/James Ross)
