‘Fear and misery’ if Neo-Nazism not stamped out

Religious leaders and politicians have slammed the ‘disturbing growth’ of Australia’s neo-Nazis in the wake of October 7 as one of NSW’s top cops says they are ‘toxic’ to society.

NSW NSN members take part in an ‘active session’ with a portrait of Hitler on April 20.

Religious leaders and politicians have warned of “fear and misery” if the disturbing growth of neo-Nazi anti-Semitism and influence after October 7 was not stamped out, as one of NSW’s top cops called them “toxic” to society.

The Australian revealed on Monday the abhorrent anti-Semitic language of some of the movement’s most influential figures, and the rapid increase in followers concurrent with that hardening rhetoric.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the organisation had warned about the “disturbing growth” in neo-Nazi activity before the explosion of anti-Semitism after October 7, urging authorities to throw the book at it. “Since those attacks, we have witnessed an anti-Semitic moment that has unified the far-left, far-right and radical Islam in a shared belief in myths about Jewish power and bloodlust, and a desire to drive Jews from public life,” he said.

Mr Ryvchin, whose organisation made a submission to a senate committee into the issue, said conspiracy theories that had given neo-Nazis a “sense of mission” and ability to “seduce” vulnerable people were now also rampant in “mainstream pro-Palestinian discourse”.

“If we don’t develop the right set of law and policy responses, we will soon find our society degraded by the fear and misery that always accompanies anti-Semitism,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference after a stabbing at the University of Sydney on Tuesday, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton slammed rampant extremism and radical content on social media.

Joel Davis, left, and Thomas Sewell cut a swastika cake on April 20 at a birthday party for Adolf Hitler at a gathering in Victoria.

“(We have) concerns about youth being radicalised online, they are embracing violent ideologies and moving towards violence,” he said.

Mr Walton said extreme right-wing and neo-Nazi consumption was a “very negative and toxic element of society”, and that vulnerable people often reached out online looking for a way to “identify”, interacted with the ideology and then “could fall into extremism”.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said it was “absolutely critical that hate speech laws are rigorously enforced against these extremist groups before they become even more emboldened”.

Murray Norman, CEO of Faith NSW – a coalition of the state’s faiths – said right-wing extremism needed to be tackled as a “matter of urgency”.