Neo-Nazis drop ‘Hitler’ flyers in Brisbane letterboxes

Leaflets with an image of Adolf Hitler that encourage ‘white ­Australians’ to join neo-Nazi movements have been distributed in inner-city suburbs across Brisbane city.

The flyers were dropped in several Brisbane suburbs. Picture: Brendan Radke

Leaflets with an image of Adolf Hitler that encourage “white ­Australians” to join neo-Nazi movements have been distributed in inner-city suburbs across Brisbane city.

Two flyers, seemingly by two different groups, were dropped in the letterboxes of homes in the northern suburbs of Ashgrove, Herston, Red Hill and Newstead in January.

A black-and-white image of Hitler, digitally altered to recreate US “I Want You” World War II-era recruitment posters, calls for “all white Australians” to join the National Socialist Movement alongside a claim that “every aspect of The Media is Jewish”.

A second poster by a group called the European Australian Movement claimed to “have many great things planned to secure our future in this land”.

Flyers for neo-Nazi groups that have been dropped into letterboxes across Brisbane suburbs.

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said he had received complaints from community members about the material. He said anti-Semitism had been on the rise since the outbreak in October of the Israel-Hamas war.

“This stomach-churning flyer proves we have an Australian Nazi party actively recruiting in our nation,“ he said.

“Who would have thought that in 2024 Hitler’s evil face would be featured in a leaflet being dropped into people’s letterboxes by white supremacists, actively promoting their genocidal world view through this well-orchestrated blitz of hate?”

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich. Picture: Josie Hayden

A profile for NSMAustralia on alternate social media platform Gab.com claimed to have dropped the same flyers around the southside suburb of Stones Corner on Australia Day, coinciding with an attempted meeting of white ­supremacists in Sydney.

Queensland officially banned distribution, publication and public display of hate symbols, such as Nazi flags and tattoos, in October, with those found guilty to face six months’ jail.

State Premier Steven Miles said the reforms demonstrated that such “abhorrent behaviour” would not be tolerated. “I am appalled to see these vile messages of hate in our streets,” he said. “There is absolutely no place for this kind of behaviour in Queensland.

“We are an inclusive society, with thriving multicultural communities that make an incredible contribution to our state, and every Queenslander deserves to feel safe.”

Dr Abramovich believes a ban on such groups should now be considered following the recent escalation in neo-Nazi behaviour.

“There is a direct link between such radicalisation and lethal attacks, and at any point this ugly rhetoric can cross the line into real-world killing because one of their members, who is absorbing this poison, may come to believe any action is justified to save the white race from their “enemies”,” he said. “This is a whole-of-society challenge that demands a priority response from the police and the state government.”