Neo-Nazi group outlawed under anti-hate legislation
A neo-Nazi community has become the second group to be effectively banned under anti-hate laws in Australia.
The group, which goes by many names including the European Australia movement, the National Socialist Network and White Australia, has been listed as a banned hate group, Home Secretary Tony Burke announced on Friday, after taking advice from spy agency ASIO.
“This means that supporting, financing, training, recruiting, participating or directing this group constitutes a criminal offense with a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment,” Mr Burke told reporters in Parliament House.
While this move won’t stop people from holding bigoted views, it will stop them from holding meetings and rallies.
“This sends a clear message to people who believe in racial supremacy that their views have no place in Australia,” Mr Burke said.
Mr Burke said the group had become “phoenixed” and changed its name to avoid scrutiny, but it still had many of the same members and carried out the same activities.
The White Australia movement became the second group to fall afoul of anti-hate laws passed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, after the Islamist collective Hizbut Tahrir was listed as a banned hate group in March.
Mr Burke said he was first informed on April 22 that White Australia would likely meet the threshold for listing because it had engaged in conduct that increased the risk of violence and advocated or was involved in hate crimes.
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