Condemnation after neo-Nazis march in Adelaide
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says all but one of the 16 people arrested after neo-Nazi rally in Adelaide at the weekend came from interstate.
One man was charged with using a Nazi symbol after the protest in front of a war memorial and march through Adelaide’s CBD on Sunday.
He was part of a group of 15 men and one youth carrying Australian flags and dressed in black who were arrested following the march. The alleged members of the National Socialist Network will appear in court on Tuesday.
“As a society, I think that it demonstrates the need for us to place a high value collectively on a civil political discourse, rather than an extreme one,” Malinauskas told the ABC on Tuesday.
“I wasn’t surprised to learn that of the 16 arrests, only one person was from South Australia and the rest were scattered from all over the country and for whatever reason, decided to convene in Adelaide.”
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On Monday, SA Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the state would crack down on “imported hatred” and continue to use new anti-extremism laws, which he said were some of the country’s strongest.
He said there was no tolerance for “these sorts of extreme attitudes, the hatred, the division, the bigotry and the cowardice”.
“Just last year, laws came into effect that ban the use of Nazi symbols, or the Nazi salute people to face a $20,000 fine or a year in jail,” he said.
“The sort of hatred and division we’ve seen imported from extremists from interstate should not be tolerated.”
The group marched through central Adelaide on Australia Day. Photos: Facebook
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also condemned the Adelaide march.
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“They were horrific scenes yesterday to have people openly identifying as neo-Nazis and fascists – white supremacists marching through the street,” he said on Monday, in comments carried by the Seven Network and other media.
“I congratulate the South Australian Police on the action they took.
“It’s a phenomenon, unfortunately, we have seen in other parts of the industrialised world as well.
“There is no place for this hateful ideology here in Australia or, indeed, anywhere else.”
Most of the men arrested on Sunday were charged with failing to cease loitering and carrying an article of disguise. A 25-year-old from Western Australia was charged under the new laws with using a Nazi symbol.
“I think we can all take a degree of comfort in just how quickly the police were able to understand what was going on and handle the matter,” Maher said.
“I think most South Australians are completely appalled at what we see from these right wing groups.”
Adelaide’s Survival Day rally was delayed to ensure the groups did not cross paths.
At a national cabinet meeting last Tuesday, leaders from all states and territories and the federal government discussed antisemitism.
“I know that there is a push to look for a better database nationally, because these people do cross state borders, and also looking at what different laws we have in different states,” Maher said.
He said the weekend arrests were a “very good example” of the need for a national database.
On January 11, a group of masked activists was reported for carrying an article of disguise, after they stood on a bridge in the Adelaide CBD with a sign calling for mass deportations.
– with AAP
