The organisation, whose membership is unknown, is led by Thomas Sewell,[1][6][7] former ADF member, Neo-Nazi,[6] and convicted criminal.[8] The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) released a report on 5 October 2022, in which it classified the National Socialist Network as a "white nationalist," "antisemitic," and "neo-Nazi" group.[9]
Activities
2020
The group, adhering to its proclaimed methods of gaining attention and membership, has had numerous physical and intentionally provocative incidents. In 2020 a group of NSN members in Melbourne did a Nazi salute with a neo-Nazi flag at Swinburne University. A photo of the salute on their Facebook page read: "NSN would like to thank the student body and faculty for letting us promote National Socialism on campus without opposition. Swinburne for the White man!" A university spokesperson responded: "Swinburne University of Technology abhors the comments, and the symbols depicted in the photograph taken on our campus. The views and ideas of groups such as this run counter to everything our university stands for, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms."[10]
On the Australia Day weekend in January 2021, the National Socialist Network, a new group created by members of the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society under the latter's leader Thomas Sewell, were observed parading Nazi paraphernalia and harassing bystanders at several locations around the Grampians National Park in Victoria. One Halls Gap resident said: "There were 40 white males, many with skinheads, some chanting ‘white power’".[11] They were reported to have chanted "sieg heil" and "white power", burnt a cross, and posted stickers saying "Australia For The White Man".[12]
Concerned citizens reported them to the police, who confronted the group and later collected video evidence from security videos. Victoria Police's Counter Terrorism Command and ASIO were notified, and the incident was widely covered in the media.[11] One antisemitism expert called for the group to be branded a terrorist group, saying, "We know that there is a direct link between incitement, between vilification … and shooting rampages that we saw not just in Christchurch, but in other places".[12]
2022
After a group of neo-Nazis had posted photographs of themselves giving fascist salutes outside the Adelaide Holocaust Museum, concerns were raised about the activities of groups such as the National Socialist Network in South Australia. On 2 September 2022, SA Minister for Multicultural Affairs Zoe Bettison said there would be a Parliamentary inquiry into "neo-Nazi symbols, the activities of extremist groups, discrimination faced by targeted groups and the prohibition on symbols in other states".[13]
2023
In early January 2023, flyers belonging to the National Socialist Network were found in East Brisbane, Queensland.[14]
On 13 January 2023, a Melbourne Magistrates Court sentenced Thomas Sewell to 150 hours of community service to be completed in 18 months.[15]
On 18 March 2023, approximately 30 members of the NSN, including Thomas Sewell,[17] attended a rally in Melbourne in support of Britishanti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who spoke at the rally while visiting the city on her Australian and New Zealand tour. Members of the NSN marched down Spring Street, displayed a banner, performed Nazi salutes on the stairs of Parliament House, and referred to transgender people as paedophiles. A counterprotest attendeded by many transgender rights protesters clashed with the group. While the police, including several mounted officers, attempted to separate the two groups, there were some interactions (many of which were violent), and it was reported that pepper spray was used at least once.[18] The events were condemned by the Labor Party,[19] the Liberal Party[20] and the Greens.[21]
On 13 May, neo-Nazi and anti-fascist groups clashed in Melbourne at an anti-immigration rally, organised by NSN.[22][23] Police made several arrests on both sides, while also deploying capsicum spray. A police officer was also hit with pepper spray.[22] Federal government minister Chris Bowen labelled the rally "unspeakably un-Australian", calling the neo-Nazis who participated a "fringe of political lunatics who have no place in modern Australia".[23] The rally was also condemned across both sides of the Victorian Parliament, described as "toxic bigotry and hate" and "disgraceful and cowardly".[22]
On 15 September 2023, a dozen NSN activists were chased several blocks up High Street in Thornbury by antifascist activists chanting, "Nazi scum! Nazi scum!",[24] after the former attempted to gatecrash an antifascist fundraiser.[25] The event was hosted by Melbourne SHARPs, with 25% of proceeds going to Black Peoples Union, "in order to pay the rent and show solidarity with Indigenous sovereignty, liberation and their need for urgent mutual aid".[24] One witness told Nine News that some of the masked neo-Nazis were armed with knives.[24] No arrests were made, as most involved scattered down side streets. One neo-Nazi hid in the Thornbury theater for 2 hours before being evicted by security.[24] The crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $9,800.[24]
On 13 October 2023, after the candlelight vigil event for Israelis kidnapped by Hamas and ahead of pro-Palestinian protests in the city, the group gathered outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, displaying an antisemitic banner at the station entrance under police surveillance; then the group members went inside the station, performing Roman salutes while going down an escalator, and boarded a Werribee Line train. While on the train they asked passengers whether they are Jewish or not, handed out NSN's "business cards" and another racist flier; they also sung the Australian national anthem as well as a white racist anthem. After the incident, State officials including Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the action and described them as "cowardly neo-Nazis". The State of Victoria subsequently passed legislation banning public displays of the Roman salute which took effect on 21 October of the same year.[26][27]
On 3 December, around 40 members of the NSN, led by Thomas Sewell, marched through the streets of Ballarat on the 169th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade. The group displayed a banner with the phrase, "Australia For The White Man" as they marched in through the city.[28] A 15-year-old boy was questioned over his use of the Nazi salute in support of the group.[29] Some residents condemned the march as 'frightening'.[29]
2024
On 26 January 2024, Australia Day, a group of NSN members, led by Thomas Sewell, was detained by New South Wales Police at the North Sydney railway station. An officer issued Sewell and his group a legal order banning them from attending any Australia Day events in the City of Sydney, citing a risk to public safety and Sewell's history of crime and public order incidents.[30][31]
In late March 2024, members of the NSN Riverina chapter distributed recruitment flyers across the town of Wagga Wagga. NSW Police stated they were investigating the matter.[32][33]
^ abMcKenzie, Nick; Tozer, Joel (27 January 2021). "Neo-Nazis go bush: Grampians gathering highlights rise of Australia's far right". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022. According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend.
^Dabbas, Maria (24 September 2023). "Campaign continues against Melbourne's neo-Nazi gym". Red Flag. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023. Saturday's protest followed a recent attempt by NSN members to disrupt an anti-fascist fundraiser for the White Rose Society and the Black People's Union at Cafe Gummo, a left-wing gathering place in Thornbury. Though they intended to intimidate, the handful of Nazis instead were forced to flee up High Street.
