Key Points
- Men in black balaclavas appearing to be neo-Nazis gathered three times in Sydney.
- An independent researcher says Sydney has a long association with nationalists and neo-Nazis.
- State and federal politicians have condemned the far-right group and praised police for their response.
The first reports about with black masks broke on the afternoon of Australia Day.
A group of about 60 men in balaclavas boarded a train at Sydney's Artarmon station at about 11:30am on Friday and was intercepted by police at North Sydney.
Six people were arrested and taken to Chatswood police station, and a further 55 men were fined for offensive behaviour.
On Saturday evening police broke up another gathering in North Turramurra and issued an extension of a public safety order.
A group of about 60 men in balaclavas boarded the train at Artarmon station at about 11:30 am on Friday Source: AAP / Transport for NSW
"Over the weekend, there was an attempt to appropriate and effectively hijack the Australia Day celebrations in Sydney by the far right," said Josh Roose, associate professor of politics at Deakin University.
"This is a group that has, for the last half-decade or more sought to associate themselves with symbolic days and symbolic historic moments in Australia."
Some members of the group refer to themselves as neo-Nazis and that is how politicians and experts have referred to them.
Among the group stopped on Friday was Thomas Sewell, the 30-year-old self-appointed leader of the National Socialist Network.
Commenting on the weekend event, NSW Premier Chris Minns said that many of the group who gathered at the Sydney park were from interstate and "importing hate into NSW".
"Police have the right to take off your balaclava and to expose you and your identity so that everyone you know, your family and friends, your employer, your co-workers will know that you're a racist," Minns told Nine's Today.
He said the state wants to "name and shame" the men.
'It's not just a Victorian problem'
However, Dr Kaz Ross, an independent researcher into right-wing extremism, says it's "not about importing hate" as neo-Nazis are already in NSW.
Roose added: "The Nazis have always had a presence in Australia, including in Sydney, New South Wales. And there are many extremist groups in New South Wales.
"Nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon in its current form. The New South Wales government and police did act very cleverly and quite well in shutting that down."
In 2021, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess told a parliamentary inquiry that religiously motivated extremists, as well as the "evolving" threat posed by extremists driven by nationalist and racist views, meant the terrorist threat level in Australia remained "probable".
What is the National Socialist Network?
The National Socialist Network is reported to be Australia's largest white supremacist group and has held rallies in Ballarat on the anniversary of the Eureka Stockade - where in 1854 miners rebelled against how the British were running the then colony of Victoria.
Other events have included a rally in support of anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.
Roose said even though the Nazis have always had a presence in Australia, including in Sydney, "far-right nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon in its current form".
"The base of the National Socialist Network with this particular group is primarily located in Victoria. That's where they formed and have the strongest numbers. But they've also got a presence in Queensland," he said.
"They converged on Sydney in an attempt to gain media publicity as there's a lot of symbolic sites, that, if they had have been able to get near them, would have been good propaganda value."
"They draw inspiration from one another through sharing of material and information, in particular on encrypted messaging apps like Telegram but also, more recently, Twitter," Roose said. "They go on each other's podcasts and programs to talk."
However, he is confident those groups do not have any significant support or following within mainstream Australian society.
"They have been overwhelmingly rejected and not been able to build a mass movement in Australia, which is their core aim. Their core aim is to build a large movement of white Australians."
Neo-Nazi activity 'rightly condemned'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “horrified by those images” of men in black balaclavas swarming a train at Artarmon on 26 January.
"I don't want to see people in balaclavas dressed in black from head to toe who are engaged in neo-Nazi activity in this country," he said.
"It has no place, and it has rightly been condemned by all decent people."
