‘Communication Breakdown’ Blamed For Parliament Neo-Nazi Rally

As the public reel from a blatant neo-Nazi event on the steps of Parliament House over the weekend, police are citing a “communication breakdown” as the reason behind the event going ahead.

Marching for a ‘White Australia’ and holding a banner that read “Abolish the Jewish Lobby”, over 70 neo-Nazis members of the National Socialist Network (NSN) gathered in front of the NSW parliament on Saturday 8 November.

The National Socialist Network (NSN) logo was plastered on their shoulders in ‘blacked-out’ outfits, showing the extremists’ fearlessness and boldness.

 On Saturday afternoon, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said he was unaware of the protest, calling it a “communication error”, despite reports of organisers lodging a Form1 last month, notifying police of the event. 

On Monday morning, Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane and Wentworth MP Allegra Spender reported the social media circulation of rape and death threats against them to Police, after they spoke out against the action.

“I won’t stop speaking up when I am calling out this kind of behaviour,” Sloane said.

“It’s revolting. And no public figure, no person, whether they’re a public figure or an individual, should be subjected to this kind of vile abuse.”

On Nine’s Today show, Premier Chris Minns claimed he wasn’t aware of the rally approval that was given by the police.

“I don’t know the circumstances of how that march or protest was approved. I know the NSW Police commissioner wasn’t aware of it, and he’s looking at it, holding an inquiry into those circumstances so that it doesn’t happen again,” Minns said. 

He announced a review of why the rally hadn’t been opposed by police, considering a similar inquiry had been followed after high-profile pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney previously.

Not rallies but “acts of hate speech” says Jewish Council

The same recent pro-Palestine rally protest, where a pro-Palestine activist and former Greens candidate, Hannah Thomas, was injured.

On Sunday, she Thomas said she was “sickened” by police approval for the neo-Nazi event and shocked by the “clear double-standard” shown by the police.

“Senior police told officers to show us zero tolerance that morning, and that’s what they did,” she said.

“That’s the approach we got, compared to Nazis who have arranged to do whatever they want in front of NSW parliament.” 

Thomas was one of five protesters arrested at an early morning pro-Palestine protest in June at SEC Plating in Belmore, with her lawyers alleging she was punched in the face by a NSW police officer.

She was taken to hospital that morning, where she required emergency surgery. She has since undergone another round of surgery, and may permanently lose vision in her right eye.

Sarah Schwartz, the chief executive of the Jewish Council of Australia, told ABC TV, the act should be seen as “hate speech” and clearly “antisemitic”. 

“These neo-Nazi actors in Australia are committed to pulling offensive stunts that aim to get headlines and media attention … these are not rallies. They’re acts of hate speech, and they should be considered as such.”

On Monday, Lanyon defended the police’s decision not to oppose the rally. 

“As I said, I find it completely abhorrent what these groups stand for, but we have to operate as police within legislation,” he said.

Despite new laws that took effect in August, the rally was allowed. Those laws make it illegal to deliberately spread hatred against people because of their race, nationality or ethno-religious background.