‘Unmask them now': Police powers questioned as neo-Nazis flex their muscles
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'We're not afraid of these goons – but we won't tolerate them either.'
In footage posted to social media of the CBD march, police vehicles can be seen gathering at the corner of Bourke and Swanston streets in front of the group, before reversing out of the way of the march and allowing the neo-Nazis to proceed east along Bourke Street.
A 26-year-old man confronted the group and was allegedly assaulted. The man, of no fixed address, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A number of police vehicles followed the neo-Nazis as they walked to Flagstaff Gardens, before they were dispersed about 1.25am.
When asked why the protest was allowed to proceed, a spokeswoman for Victoria Police said officers were 'quick to respond to ensure public order was maintained'.
'No arrests were made throughout the protest and police had a strong presence to maintain community safety and to prevent any breach of the peace,' the spokeswoman said.
'Victoria Police respects the right to protest; however, there is absolutely no place for antisemitic, racist or hate-based behaviour in our society and police will not tolerate such activity.'
Deakin University Associate Professor Joshua Roose, an expert in right-wing extremists, said there was limited action available to police to disperse the group, in the absence of banning face coverings or requiring protest permits.
He said the group's choice to rally late at night is a deliberate tactic, timed for when police resources are stretched thin.
'The group would be attempting to use this march to gain publicity for their national meeting today, build this sense of a movement, and inflate their numbers,' Roose said, adding they likely included members from across the country.
'They have these snap rallies where they will show up unexpectedly in a location, often in the dead of night and then attempt to use that for online propaganda and any residual media coverage.
'In this case, they revel in being able to march through Melbourne without being arrested or intercepted by police.'
He said that while protest permits would not be needed in an ideal democracy, the 'highly polarised political environment' means the government should consider them.
Members of the NSN gathered before midday at a property outside a town north-west of Melbourne ahead of the group's 'national conference'. Organisers have claimed up to 250 people are attending the conference, which they said was due to run until Monday.
Wearing black attire, those involved with the group stood at the end of a country laneway next to a caravan park, using binoculars and a drone to watch police and media gathered on a main road nearby.
One shirtless man, wearing a jumper adorned with a picture of Adolf Hitler tied around his waist, walked down the lane towards police alongside two other people.
He used a walkie-talkie before returning to the bigger group further down the road.
A journalist and photographer, who remained inside their vehicle, were allegedly assaulted by members of the network in the lead-up to the meeting.
Police said the man and woman, who sustained minor injuries, were able to leave the area and report the matter to nearby police.
Opposition police spokesman David Southwick claimed Victoria had become the 'hate state' with extremists free to march through the city and police unable to stop them.
'To see last night – police pretty much having to chaperone the protesters because they can't arrest them – what's that about?'
Southwick said the government needed to urgently introduce a protest permit system, as well as bolster police's move-on powers.
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'These extremists are gutless cowards. They cover their faces, hide their identities. The government promised laws to ensure that people can't cover their faces at protests. Where are those laws now?' he said.
Legal activist groups have disputed claims that police need more powers, arguing the issue is being used as an excuse to expand police authority.
Anthony Kelly from Melbourne Activist Legal Support, a group which regularly attends protests as a legal observer, said police already had the powers they needed to shut down neo-Nazi gatherings.
'The actions and banners are highly provocative and by themselves form a breach of the peace,' he said.
'The police can act on these if they have sufficient resources for mass arrests and attention to the issue. But in the past they have failed to focus on these actors as a problem, so they have been able to operate with a degree of impunity.'
Victoria's new police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush last month ruled out pushing for protest permits, saying they have failed to be a game-changer in jurisdictions such as NSW, where they were introduced to curb violence and hate speech by neo-Nazi groups and some pro-Palestine groups.
'We've had a look at it and it's not something we're going to drive towards,' Bush said. 'We've had a look at other jurisdictions that do that, and it's not the game-breaker.'
Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the scenes of intimidation had no place in Victoria, accusing the government of allowing hateful behaviour to thrive.
'The actions of alleged neo-Nazis is not unexpected when you have a government that is afraid to take a stand against weekly racist protests in Melbourne,' he said in a statement.
'Protesters are now travelling from interstate to join these hateful rallies.'
Saturday morning's CBD march was led by white supremacist leader Thomas Sewell, and members of the group hoisted banners stating 'White man fight back' and flew the Australian and National Socialist Network flags.
Sewell was found guilty of attacking a Channel Nine security guard outside the network's headquarters in March 2021. He was also jailed for 37 days after pleading guilty to a separate attack on three bushwalkers who filmed his group at the Cathedral Ranges National Park at Taggerty in May 2021.
After the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea in December, the Victorian government announced new laws which would stop people from wearing balaclavas at protests to stamp out hateful behaviour.
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