The federal government has banned a neo-Nazi group, formerly known as the National Socialist Network (NSN), adding it to the prohibited hate group list.
Under hate group laws introduced after the Bondi Beach terror attack, a new legal framework was established that allows the home affairs minister to ban groups found to be engaging in or advocating hate crimes based on race, nationality or ethnic origin.
The NSN, Australia's most prominent white supremacist group, announced in January this year that it was disbanding in its entirety in response to the legislation, along with its "co-projects" White Australia, the White Australia Party and the European Australian Movement.
On Friday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said a strict process had taken place, initiated by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, with the initial threshold for further investigation met in late April.
"Today, the organisation that would be colloquially known as the neo-Nazis, but it's gone through different names — the European Australian movement, the National Socialist Network, and White Australia — has been listed as the second prohibited hate group under the changes that were made to the criminal code," he said.
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He explained that supporting, funding, training, recruiting, joining or directing the group would be a criminal offence from midnight.
It will carry 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 have seen around our country," he said.
"It sends a clear message to people who believe in racial supremacy that their views have no place in Australia."
He noted that even if the organisation reforms under a new name, it will remain listed following a "simple regulation change".
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim welcomed the announcement, saying it "will send a much-needed message that these groups and their hateful, racist ideology has no place in Australia".
“The ECAJ has been calling for this measure since 2021. We told a parliamentary committee at the time that groups like NSN were operating at a level just below the threshold required to list them as a terrorist organisation, but were using social media in the same way as terrorist groups to groom and recruit impressionable young men to join them.
"It doesn’t matter what they call themselves, or how they structure themselves, these groups use all the well-known techniques of thuggery and menace that Nazis have always used against Jewish communities and other groups they have targeted."
It is the second time the new hate speech laws have been invoked, following the banning of Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir in March.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has also been banned in other countries, including Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom.
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