One of Australia’s most visible neo-Nazi organisations has announced plans to dissolve faced with the rapid passage of new federal anti-hate crime legislation.
In a message circulated on Telegram this week, the National Socialist Network said it would wind up all activity within days, citing fears that existing and former members could face prosecution under laws designed to criminalise the organisation and its methods of recruitment.
The decision is intended to take effect before mid-January and, according to the group, is an attempt to limit legal exposure rather than an ideological retreat.
Led by Thomas Sewell and Jacob Hersant, the NSN was formed in 2020 from earlier Australian far-right cells such as the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance.
Provocative
It has used provocative public demonstrations and high-visibility stunts like Nazi salutes, rallies and symbols to attract attention and members.
The recent announcement also covers a cluster of interconnected organisations that have operated under different banners in recent years, including White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the White Australia Party.
These groups have shared organisers, symbols and personnel, and have functioned as part of a single neo-nazi ecosystem.
Proscribing extremists
Federal legislation due to be debated in parliament would grant the government new powers to proscribe extremist organisations even if they do not meet the current legal definition of terrorist groups. This has been prompted by the recent terrorist attack at Bondi and growing pressure from state authorities.
Under the proposed legislation, individuals who organise, promote or recruit for designated groups could face lengthy prison sentences, with criminal liability extending to ordinary membership.
The laws would also strengthen offences relating to the promotion of racial supremacy or hostility on the grounds of race or ethnic origin.
The National Socialist Network claims that even ‘symbolic’ acts, such as Nazi salutes or their rebranded equivalents, could become grounds for prosecution. Similar gestures have already been banned or tightly restricted in several Australian states.
Ambition extinguished
Only weeks ago, the White Australia Party was claiming it had enough supporters to seek registration as a political party. That ambition now looks effectively extinguished.
The federal government has argued that the new laws are necessary to close gaps exposed by the Bondi attack, but the crackdown did not emerge in a vacuum.
State governments had already begun tightening controls on the National Socialist Network following a series of provocative actions, including a demonstration outside the New South Wales parliament late last year that caused widespread public outrage.
In Victoria, the group has been under sustained scrutiny after its leader, Thomas Sewell, was charged over two separate incidents last August.
One involved a violent coordinated assault at a site of cultural significance to First Nations people in Melbourne, an episode that drew widespread condemnation.
Prominent NSN member Joel Davis, a regular visitor to the UK as a guest of Mark Collett’s Patriotic Alternative, is currently held in prison, denied bail since November for comments in a Telegram post and a podcast.
His lawyer claims he is being subjected to unusually harsh conditions including solitary confinement. Davis was a guest speaker at the PA annual conference in 2023.
Sewell has been interviewed on Collett’s online Patriotic Weekly review three times in the last year.
The NSN have also been cited as a source of inspiration by the UK’s White Vanguard, who, like NSN, focus on provocative photo opportunities and stunts.
