Neo-Nazi group marches into pro and anti-transgender protest in Melbourne’s CBD
A group of protesters who did the Nazi salute on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on the weekend should be included on the list of terror organisations, the Greens say.
Victoria
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The Greens are calling for more “dangerous and violent” right wing groups to be urgently listed as terrorist organisations.
Only three of the 29 federally listed terror organisations are far-right groups, with no new additions made since 2021.
ASIO Director-General Michael Burgess last month said ideological groups could not be listed unless they were “advocating or conducting acts of terrorism”.
But Greens justice spokesman, Senator David Shoebridge said the group doing the Nazi salute on the steps of the Victorian Parliament appear to meet the criteria.
“The response of our government should be a clear and unequivocal condemnation of Nazi ideology and violence and this needs to include listing dangerous and violent right wing groups as a matter of urgency,” Senator Shoebridge said.
“Listing organisations plays a very important public education and deterrent role, and should be viewed as a core part of the process of responding to violent threats from Nazis and other right wing extremists.”
Senator Shoebridge also raised concerns about four far-right groups including the Proud Boys, which were listed overseas but not in Australia.
Around 30 per cent of ASIO’s workload comes from nationalist and racist violent extremism.
Greens LGBTIQ+ spokesperson, Stephen Bates, has demanded Immigration Minister Andrew Giles kick speaker Kellie Jay Keen “out of the country”.
“Trans people are being thrown under the bus by people who want to see them eradicated from society and by Nazi groups,” Mr Bates said.
“They have come here solely to stoke hate and violence.”
Queer advocate ‘terrified’ after rally
A trans activist has revealed they are “terrified” after Saturday’s anti-transgender rally attended by neo-Nazis.
Stylist and non-binary activist Deni Todorovic said what had happened was “beyond dangerous”.
Their comments come as the Victorian government work to fast track a ban on the Nazi salute.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes confirmed the government’s move to outlaw the public display of the salute – which has received bipartisan support.
Todorovic, who faced recent criticism for becoming a Seafolly swimwear ambassador, on social media said: “As I sit here crying into my phone catching up on the news of the Neo-Nazi Anti-Trans protests that took place in Melbourne over the weekend, I feel terrified.”
Todorovic implored people to look around them, as one in four people were queer.
“1 in 4. So chances are even if you think you don’t have proximity to Queerness – you do.
“ … if 1 in 4 people are Queer the person sitting next to you at work or at the back of your maths class or at the opposite end of the dinner table, could very well at some point in their life go on their own gender journey.
“So if you think these protests won’t affect you or someone you know and love, you’re wrong. This abhorrent rhetoric that trans people are here to prey on children, has to stop.
“It’s beyond dangerous. We’re already statically more inclined to take our own lives, but now the world is trying to erase us altogether.
“Something has to change. My heart hurts. Sending love to all Trans people in Australia and to the people who love them.”
The government’s move to ban the Nazi salute will be support by the Opposition with Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto saying his party would support the legislation.
“We need to take this very seriously,” Mr Pesutto said.
It comes after a group of masked men stormed the steps of the state parliament to perform the offensive gesture.
“Victorians have zero tolerance of this behaviour and so do we. That’s why we’ll expand our nation-leading legislation banning the Nazi Hakenkreuz to include the Nazi salute — because everyone deserves to feel safe, welcome and included in Victoria,” Ms Symes said in a statement on Monday morning.
“We’ll look at how this can be done carefully, with considered consultation with a variety of groups and will have more to say on the details of this legislation as we undertake that.
“The behaviour we saw on the weekend was disgraceful and cowardly — it’s clear this symbol is being used to incite hatred not just towards Jewish people but our LGBTIQ community and other minority groups.
“While we wish making these laws wasn’t necessary and it will take some work, we want to be clear — we will always challenge antisemitism, hatred and racism from taking root in Victoria.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich said ugly scenes over the weekend showed that the “monster of Neo-Nazism has been unleashed on the streets of Melbourne”.
“Our brave Diggers, who sacrificed their lives to defeat Hitler must be turning in their graves when they see that Victorian law is protecting white supremacists who are spitting on their memory and plunging a knife into the heart of our democracy,” he said.
Dr Abramovich said the legislation was long overdue.
“The time for talking is over. Now is the time to criminalise this hateful symbol of genocide,” he said.
“It is an unacceptable reality that in 2023 our parliament has yet to act on this outrage. This terrifying salute, that celebrates Hitler and the crimes committed by his regime has no place in our society.
“These hardcore bigots are using this evil gesture as a rallying cry and have weaponised the salute to intimidate and terrorise the community.”
Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Daniel Aghion welcomed the move to ban the Nazi salute.
“The actions of Nazi thugs over the weekend has shocked the entire Victorian community, not just Jews,” he said.
“It should not be lost in the debate that, on this occasion, the proximate target of this hateful conduct was transgender people and not Jews.”
Mr Aghion said there needed to be a “broader discussion about vilification of all minorities” which leads to criminalisation of such offences.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Daniel Aghion welcomed the move to ban the Nazi salute.
“The actions of Nazi thugs over the weekend has shocked the entire Victorian community, not just Jews,” he said.
“It should not be lost in the debate that, on this occasion, the proximate target of this hateful conduct was transgender people and not Jews.”
Mr Aghion said there needed to be a “broader discussion about vilification of all minorities” which leads to criminalisation of such offences.
Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation director David Slucki said a “broader approach” is needed to combat the rise of the far-right movement in Victoria.
“Banning the Nazi salute will help to reduce the presence of Nazi symbolism in public places, but it will do little to eradicate Nazism, which thrives in online spaces,” he said.
“It is shocking, but not surprising, to see neo-Nazis targeting trans people in Melbourne over the weekend. Among the Nazis’ earliest target groups were queer people throughout Germany.
“These Nazis will continue to target vulnerable groups and it is incumbent on political and community leaders not to use those groups as political pawns, which only empowers these groups.
“Governments must support the rights of trans people and the Queer community to show that this kind of hatred will not be tolerated in Victoria.”
Macnamara MP Josh Burns welcomed the announcement from Ms Symes, saying it was not the first time the Victorian government had shown “strong leadership against neo-Nazi bigotry”.
“After becoming the first state to ban the swastika, salutes to the Nazi regime will be outlawed in Vic,” he wrote on Twitter.
“This is an important step and similar reform should be considered across Aus.”
Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan on Sunday said the actions of the group of neo-Nazis, who had crashed a demonstration between pro-transgender and anti-transgender activists, had “absolutely no place here in Victoria”.
“What we saw in Melbourne’s CBD yesterday were a bunch of cowards, acting in a cowardly and disgraceful way, with the sole purpose of trying to intimidate people going about their business in the centre of Melbourne,” she said.
“The Attorney-General and the (Multicultural Affairs) Minister will be looking at what further action could be taken to address this sort of behaviour.”
It is now an offence to intentionally display the Nazi symbol, after legislation passed in June last year came into effect on December 29.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday said Nazis would never be welcome in Victoria.
“Not on Parliament’s steps. Not anywhere,” he posted on Twitter.
The government has been considering outlawing the salute for months, with the Herald Sun in January revealing that Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes had spoken with the chairman of the Anti-Defamation commission, Dr Dvir Abramovich, about the ban.
Multicultural Affairs Colin Brooks, who said banning offensive symbols and gestures was “important”, confirmed he had spoken with Ms Symes on Saturday about what further work “could be done in that space”.
“My personal view is that we need to pull the noxious weed of Nazism out by the roots though, not just those heads of the roots, not just by dealing with the symbols and gestures,” he said.
“We’ll continue to look at ways to do that, but this is a real, insidious, hateful ideology and we need to deal with the root causes of it.”
A female police officer was allegedly placed in a headlock while another was allegedly slapped on the neck in a clash between pro-transgender and anti-transgender activists on Saturday.
A Point Cook man, 22, was arrested for allegedly putting the officer in a headlock and taking her to the ground, while a Thornbury woman, 23, was arrested for the alleged slapping.
If convicted, the two protesters are expected to face six month mandatory jail sentences for allegedly assaulting police.
A third person, a 22-year-old from Preston, was also arrested for unlawful assault.
Victoria Police said it was a dynamic demonstration.
“Some of these groups failed to engage with police in the lead-up to the protest, or altered their plans without notice, resulting in the potential for multiple clashes between the opposing groups,” a police spokeswoman said.
“Consequently, officers were required to form many lines between the different groups to protect the safety of all involved, stop breaches of the peace and prevent any physical violence.”
The two police officers were not injured.
It came as masked men performed Nazi salutes in Melbourne’s CBD while they crashed the demonstration between pro-transgender and anti-transgender activists.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Parliament House on Spring St about midday.
The rally attracted a heavy police presence in the area including officers from the public order response team and the mounted branch.
The group of men, dressed in black, performed multiple Nazi salutes while holding a sign that read: “Destroy Paedo Freaks.”
Among the crowd was neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell, who founded the far-right European Australia Movement.
Sewell, 29, was convicted and sentenced to 150 hours of community work in January after punching a Channel 9 security guard.
Last year he duped a Melbourne beer hall into hosting a celebration of Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
Prior to their arrival, Kellie-Jay Keen, a British trans-exclusionary women’s activist, had been speaking on the Spring St steps.
Her visit attracted supporters as well as counter-protesters.
Ms Keen, also known as Posie Parker, has been travelling across Australia and New Zealand on a tour titled “Let Women Speak”.
Her tour hosts public events to discuss transgender laws and policy and has been sponsored by Binary Australia — an organisation dedicated to the idea that “biological sex plays an important role in our society”.
Ms Keen’s gatherings have caused occasionally violent clashes between trans-inclusionary activists and her own fans across the country, with a strong police presence at each rally.
Over the past week, Ms Keen has held events in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
On Saturday she was surrounded by people holding signs emblazoned with slogans including “men can never be lesbians” and “woman is a fact not a gender identity”.
Other notable presences at the rally included the divisive Katherine Deves, known for her vehement campaigning against trans women being allowed in women-only spaces.
Ms Deves shared pictures of the rally to social media, calling her opposition “anti-woman protesters” and observing “armed and mounted police holding back aggressive protesters to protect the women and supporters at a women’s rights rally”.
The protesting groups, separated by dozens of Victoria Police officers, hurled abuse at each other as tensions escalated.
One angry protester, who was riling up another rival group, was seen being kicked and having her hair pulled.
Victoria Police said in a statement: “There is a highly visible police presence in the area to ensure there are no breaches of the peace and to keep the community safe.”
Paramedics treated several distressed protesters after they were pepper sprayed by police.
Kellie-Jay Keen was angrily confronted by opposing protesters as police were forced to separate the two.
One group of organisers for the push against Ms Keen, the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism, posted on Facebook.
“Let’s make it clear that Melbourne is an anti-fascist, anti-sexist and pro-LGBTI town,” the post read.
“The growing confidence of the far-right internationally, and their use of transphobia and sexism to recruit to their ranks and as crucial issues they fight for must be opposed.
“Posie Parker is actively trying to build links between these far-right forces and broader anti-trans activists around the world.
“This is unacceptable. If we want to counter these politics, and the confidence of the right to build around them, then we need to take to the streets.”
As crowds began to disperse, a small group of anti-vax protesters remained on the steps of Parliament House, spreading inaudible chants.
Federal Labor MP Josh Burns said it was “time for us to consider whether tougher laws are needed”.
“The ugly alliance between anti-trans bullies and neo-Nazis on display in the city was extremely confronting,” he said.
“Both groups seek to bully and blame minority groups in their dark ideology.
“Scapegoating minority groups is their business model, and it has no place in Australia.”
Mr Burns said the conduct of right-wing protesters was “bigoted, and it should be called out”.
Former Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick, who claimed to be pushed by a police officer while the neo-Nazi group paraded down the street, told the Herald Sun he was concerned the alt-right demonstrators “were given a platform”.
Mr Meddick was on Saturday night feeling “all over the place” about being allegedly pushed along by police, who at the time had their backs to the men performing Nazi salutes, footage shows.
He added it was “outrageous” that police then allowed the white supremacists onto the steps of parliament.
“The line of police officers facing us had these Nazis to their backs … these are people who espouse violent rhetoric. They could’ve easily charged through those police and there was nothing the police could’ve done about it,” he said.
“Police escorted them onto the steps of parliament. The seat of democracy and human rights in this state was used as a platform for Nazis – willingly. It’s outrageous.
“I’ve spoken to some of my friends in the Jewish community and they are absolutely fearful of a new wave of antisemitism.”
Mr Meddick also called on the Andrews government to follow-up its banning of the swastika by outlawing neo-Nazi organisations altogether.
“The Andrews government did a fantastic thing, I was pleased to back, in banning the swastika.
“I’ve been saying for years though, and I said at the time, it doesn’t go far enough.
“These white supremacist organisations … it should be illegal to be a member of.”
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