Tony Burke reviewing anti-hate laws and says South African neo-Nazi will not be allowed back into Australia
The Albanese government is reviewing anti-hate laws after a neo-Nazi protest in Sydney, with the New South Wales government also moving to ban white supremacist slogans and chants after police authorised the demonstration outside state parliament.The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said a South African neo-Nazi whose visa was cancelled will not be allowed back into the Australian community, accusing members of the National Socialist Network of seeking to cloak their “bigotry in patriotism”.Asked if he was looking at broader legislative reforms to address rising neo-Nazi sentiment, Burke did not say what reforms security agencies were considering, but flagged ongoing discussions inside intelligence and law enforcement agencies.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“There’s significant powers we handle, but as you’d expect, there are conversations that I’m having with my department to make sure that all the laws that we have are fit for purpose,” Burke told ABC radio on Wednesday.“I’m always pressure testing with Asio, with the Australian Federal Police, with the Criminal Intelligence Commission and with Austrac… just to make sure that our laws are fit for purpose.”Matthew Gruter, a South African national, had his visa cancelled by Burke on Monday and was taken into detention early on Tuesday in a pre-dawn immigration operation. A member of the group White Australia, also known as the National Socialist Network, Gruter was quoted by the organisation on Tuesday as intending to fight his deportation “via every possible angle”.Guardian Australia understands Gruter’s appeal options are limited, after Burke personally intervened to cancel his visa, which leaves fewer grounds for challenge. Burke’s decision can be contested in the federal court, but cannot be assessed in a merits review in the Administrative Review Tribunal.Prof Mary Crock, an immigration and citizenship law expert at the University of Sydney, said: “The minister has these god-like powers to cancel visas and exclude people deemed to be controversial people or visitors who have breached character or conduct provisions.”Speaking generally about immigration law, Crock added: “if you’re on a temporary visa, you’re here on a short lead and you have to watch what you do. We don’t have a right to free speech in this country.”Burke told RN that Gruter could leave voluntarily or would be deported.“But he’s not heading back into the Australian community … this bloke, for whatever reason, has decided that he can arrive in Australia and then tell a whole lot of Australian citizens that they’re not welcome here. Well, the person who’s not welcome is him and he can leave,” he said.The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has proposed extending a ban on Nazi symbols to include other public displays of support for Nazi ideology, including chants or slogans. Offenders would face up to a year’s imprisonment or a maximum fine of $11,000; penalties would be doubled for those who commit offences near a synagogue, a Jewish school or the Sydney Jewish Museum.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionNSW police would also be able to order someone to reveal their identity to aid an investigation into an alleged Nazi offence. Minns said the bill would empower police discretion to decide what constituted a Nazi slogan or chant, and the power to make arrests whether a protest is authorised or not.The neo-Nazi group lodged a form 1 application for their rally, which was approved by police.The NSW bill will referred to an inquiry, and is not expected not pass this year.Burke said federal authorities continued reviewing the immigration status of other people involved in neo-Nazi activity, but said “most of them are homegrown, sadly.”NSW police confirmed on Wednesday that no charges had yet been laid in relation to this month’s rally, at which the Hitler Youth chant “blood and honour” was allegedly used.
