IN BRIEF
- The Home Affairs Minister declared the neo-nazi organisation a prohibited hate group after advice from ASIO.
- The Judge noted that the conditions in which the neo-nazi group relied on the injunction “were of its own making”.
The Neo-Nazi group known as White Australia, formerly operating under the name National Socialist Network, has hit a roadblock in its effort to gain temporary immunity from being designated as an illegal hate group. However, the High Court may address this contentious issue as early as June.
Seeking to challenge the government’s hate speech laws, the organization has filed for an injunction aimed at preventing the Home Affairs Minister from declaring it unlawful. The group contends that this legal maneuver is necessary to avoid potential arrests and imprisonments under the current legislation.
Thomas Sewell, a prominent figure within the group, articulated the intent behind the legal action in a Telegram post prior to the proceedings. Sewell emphasized that the injunction is crucial to halt the government from employing hate speech laws against him while the High Court evaluates the constitutional validity of the legislation.
Despite the group’s urgency, Justice Jayne Jagot of the High Court indicated that the matter could be addressed in upcoming weeks, rather than immediately. During a directions hearing held on Thursday, she remarked that Sewell had been aware of the impending threat of the White Australia Party being classified as a prohibited hate group.
“Mr Sewell had been on notice that the White Australia Party was likely to be specified a prohibited hate group,” she said during a directions hearing on Thursday.
“The circumstances on which the party relied for interlocutory relief … were of its own making.”
The next hearing will be held between 2 June and 5 June, when the application to block the listing could be decided.
A two-day final hearing at which the constitutionality of the hate speech legislation will be discussed is scheduled for early September.
White Australia has been seeking to establish itself as a political force aiming to run in the next federal election.
Asked whether he wanted the matter to be dealt with before the deadline for candidates to run in the 2026 Victorian election, White Australia’s barrister Peter King said that was not critical.
“I’m instructed that the Victorian election deadline, as it were, is not critical … the validity and entitlement of their political party … is critical,” he told the court.
After receiving advice from spy agency ASIO, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke declared the neo-Nazi organisation a prohibited hate group under laws passed following the Bondi Beach terror attack.
White Australia’s predecessor, the National Socialist Network, announced it was disbanding when the hate laws were introduced.
In reality, Mr Burke said, the group had “phoenixed” — changing its name to White Australia and continuing operations with largely the same members.
Under the government’s declaration, it is now a crime to support, fund or join the group.
Islamist organisation Hizbut Tahrir has also been banned under the post-Bondi laws.
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