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Australia’s most prominent neo-Nazi groups will disband within a week as the federal government announces new hate speech laws after the Bondi terrorist attack.
The National Socialist Network announced on Tuesday in a Telegram post that it will shut down as an organisation to avoid past and present members being prosecuted for recruiting people to spread racial hatred.
The disbandment will also apply to aligned groups White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the White Australia Party.
Fears members could be targeted for performing Nazi or ‘Roman’ salutes were other reasons given for the hasty wind-down.
Next week, parliament is set to debate new legislation that would empower the federal government to officially designate hate groups, even if they don’t meet the current criteria for terrorist classification.
“The National Socialist Network will be fully disbanded before 11:59pm Sunday the 18th of January 2026,” the group said in the Telegram post.
“If the laws pass, there will no way (sic) to avoid the organisation being banned.”
Organisers, supporters and recruiters of listed groups face 15 years in prison under the proposed laws while members face seven.
Disseminating ideas of superiority over or hatred of another person or group because of their race, colour or national and ethnic origin is also an offence.
The disbandment is likely a fatal blow to any chance of the group achieving mainstream political recognition after the White Australia Party previously announced it had reached enough members to form a registered party.
NSW leader Jack Eltis recently announced on November 21 that their White Australia Party’s federal initiative has garnered over 1,500 sign-ups.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has said that, while the news of the National Socialist Network’s disbandment was welcome, the fight against bigotry “never ends”.
“Despite their efforts to spread hate, we remain committed to deporting individuals and dismantling organizations that harbor animosity towards Australia,” he told ABC News.
ASIO chief says ‘problematic’ individuals will continue to be monitored
The federal laws are being pushed through quickly as a response to the Bondi attack, but other jurisdictions were already cracking down on the National Socialist Network’s activities.
The group’s leader Thomas Sewell is facing charges relating to two incidents in August, including allegedly leading a group attack on a sacred First Nations site in Melbourne where several people were assaulted.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) chief Mike Burgess told a parliamentary committee hearing on Tuesday that his agency has considered how to respond to neo-Nazi groups disbanding.
“Of course, the individuals don’t cease to exist, they’re still there in society, and obviously the problematic ones we will continue to watch if they continue to be problematic,” he said.
