Neo-Nazis, represented by former Liberal MP Peter King, failed to obtain a court injunction that would have temporarily shielded them from arrest under Australia's new federal hate speech laws. The High Court rejected their request for a delay until the constitutional challenge is heard in September. The group, led by Thomas Sewell, faces potential prison sentences of up to 15 years. Despite being banned, members have continued to operate under new names like 'White Australia,' and Sewell has submitted paperwork to register a political party.
Neo-Nazis have lost a bid to temporarily shield themselves from arrest under new federal hate speech laws , as they mount a constitutional challenge in the High Court – represented by a former Liberal MP.
On Thursday, the High Court threw out their bid for an injunction against laws outlawing them as a hate group – including a reprieve from any potential arrests – until the case is resolved in September. Thomas Sewell outside court in Melbourne late last year with Jimeone Roberts and Nathan Bull of his neo-Nazi group.in an attempt to escape the government’s crackdown on extremism under which its members and supporters potentially faced up to 15 years in prison.
But last month, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke banned the group anyway, noting members had continued to organise covertly, “phoenixing” under new names such as White Australia. , and so banning their organisation infringes on the implied right to political freedom in Australia. They say it lacks judicial review, opening “the door to tyranny”. Thomas Sewell, leader of the NSN and its political offshoot White Australia, is being represented by prominent barrister and former Liberal MP Peter King.
King once sat in the seat of Wentworth in Sydney – a seat now held by independent Allegra Spender, who was herself the subject of alleged threats last yearit had dissolved entirely in January, Sewell has since admitted that the group continued with its plans to form a neo-Nazi party, submitting the paperwork to register the “White Australia” party – with Sewell as party president – to the Australian Electoral Commission on Anzac Day.to knock back such an application because the agency has to stay apolitical. Being a designated hate group is not grounds to reject a party registration, the AEC confirmed to this masthead, which could be used as a loophole in the new laws.
But the AEC said White Australia had not provided the details of the 1500 members it needs to register as a party, with the group citing concerns those members would be “doxxed”. As a result, the AEC confirmed its application was rejected officially today.
“The AEC communicated with the applicant early today to formally advise that their party registration application could not progress in its current form,” an AEC spokesman said. Those behind White Australia are free to re-submit their application at any time, but registration typically takes about three months to process if successful.
That’s unlikely to happen before the High Court showdown in September, though the court could yet decide the group is a political party without AEC registration.a war chest of more than $150,000 for his efforts to challenge the laws in court, bragging on livestreams to followers of a prominent barrister with political connections agreeing to represent them. The injunction filed by the neo-Nazi group called on the court to stay the new designation and “restrain” authorities from investigating or prosecuting the group for its “membership, political association, political communication, party registration, campaign activities or distribution of electoral matters” until the case concluded.
Last week, NSW state MP Stephen Lawrence despaired that the new federal laws had been rushed through as knee-jerk policy after the Bondi terror attack, and could have unintended, Draconian consequences – not least of all handing the neo-Nazis a monumental win in the High Court.
“Imagine the optics,” Lawrence said in NSW parliament. “An avowed Nazi leader on the steps of the High Court of Australia, launching the White Australia Party on the day the court strikes down as unconstitutional these new laws aimed directly at him and his group. ”members helping the group plot its next move into politics from a secret mansion gifted to Sewell in Melbourne.
The group says it intends to stand candidates in upcoming state and federal elections, but Sewell has told followersas “everyday Australians” concerned about immigration to recruit followers and use political expression as a shield against hate speech laws. Court documents show Sewell’s constitutional challenge to the laws will draw on the example of one of his ideological enemies – the Communist Party of Australia, which was resurrected by the High Court in 1951 after the Menzies government banned it.
The federal government has also designated Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a hate group under the new laws, again at the recommendation of spy agency ASIO. Brittany Busch
Neo-Nazis High Court Hate Speech Laws Injunction Thomas Sewell White Australia Peter King Political Party Registration AEC Constitutional Challenge
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