A disbanded Neo-Nazi organisation allegedly involved in last year's attacks on Camp Sovereignty has officially been labelled a terrorist group by the Australian government.
On Friday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the white supremacist organisation formerly known as the National Socialist Network (NSN), and now known as 'White Australia', will officially be listed as a hate group under the Criminal Code — the second such listing under the new prohibited hate group framework.
"There is a very strict process for this to happen. This process can only occur when it is initiated by ASIO...a ministerial decision has to follow," the Minister said at a press conference.
"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 and all of these steps have been met."
Mr Burke said the listing will take effect from midnight, meaning "supporting, funding, training, recruiting, joining or directing this group constitutes a criminal offence with maximum penalty of 15 years in prison".
"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," Mr Burke said.
View this post on Instagram
The NSN has been accused of attacking Camp Sovereignty in August last year. Established in 2006 by Krautungalung Elder Robbie Thorpe, Camp Sovereignty is a peaceful site for community gathering, reflection and ceremony, and is also the resting place of repatriated remains of 38 Aboriginal Victorians.
The attacks followed a series of anti-immigration rallies held nationwide. Footage showed about 40 men dressed in black — many allegedly linked to the NSN and some carrying flagpoles and sticks — storming the Indigenous camp at Melbourne's Kings Domain.
Seven men accused of involvement in the attack have pleaded not guilty to affray charges and will appear in Melbourne's County Court in June.
NSN leader and figurehead Thomas Sewell has already been committed to stand trial over the alleged attacks.
In Parliament, federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy described the attack as "hateful violence".
"These kinds of attacks — be they on religious institutions or be they on these culturally significant Aboriginal sites; use hate and violence to divide us. But we will not let them divide us," she said last year.
So far, the Australian Federal Police has declined to charge any NSN member with a hate crime, despite many — including more than 20 federal crossbench MPs — arguing the attacks fit the criteria.
The NSN claimed it had disbanded in January ahead of hate speech legislation introduced into parliament in the wake of the Bondi Junction stabbing attack, having previously indicated it intended to form a political party.
