Neo-nazi group banned under Australia’s new hate laws

A group colloquially known as the Neo-nazis had been listed as a hate group in Australia under laws introduced in response to the Bondi massacre.

Making the announcement on Friday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the group had gone by different names, including the European Australian Movement, the National Socialist Network, and White Australia.

From midnight supporting, funding, training, recruiting or joining the group is outlawed.

Mr Burke said a series of thresholds has been met to list them as a prohibited hate group under a strict process initiated by ASIO and followed by a ministerial decision.

“The ministerial decision has to be made with the approval of the Attorney General, and then there also has to be consultation with the Opposition,” Mr Burke said.

“All of these steps have been met.”

The neo-Nazi group is the second to be listed as prohibited, after extremist Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir was banned in March.

Mr Burke said the Government had lowered the threshold in the criminal code to be able to deal with prohibited hate groups in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

He said after the legislation went through the parliament in January, the White Australia group had claimed it had “disbanded” but was still engaging in concerning behaviour.

“Effectively what they did, for want of a better term, is they ‘phoenixed’,” he said.

“(They) changed their name, but didn’t change the fact that they were still an organisation and were still engaging in the exact sort of behavior that met the thresholds for this legislation.

“Today the process has been completed and takes effect at midnight tonight.

“This means that supporting, funding, training, recruiting, joining, or directing this group constitutes a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

“None of this will stop bigoted people from having horrific ideologies.

“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.

“It sends a clear message to people who believe in racial supremacy that their views have no place in modern Australia.

“The neo-Nazis have gone after almost every different group you can imagine, whether people are Jewish, whether they are Muslim, whether people are of Asian heritage, whether they’re First Nations.

“They’ve engaged in a series of examples of bigotry, all of which fit with their white supremacist ideology. It’s been made clear today that under Australian law they are now a banned organisation.”