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Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
‘Radical': Neo-Nazi's next court move
A notorious Australian neo-Nazi who has openly praised Adolf Hitler has indicated he will fight a charge of using a Nazi symbol on constitutional grounds. Joel Davis, a leader in the fascist National Socialist Network, appeared for a pre-trial conference at Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday. He is confronting the allegation that he displayed a Nazi symbol on a belt buckle following an Australia Day protest in the Adelaide CBD this year. His defence lawyer, Matthew Hopkins, appeared via telephone and told the court that he would serve a notice on the Solicitor-General to argue the charge may have breached his client's constitutional rights. 'Mr Hopkins has just advised he has filed with the court a notice pursuant to the Judicature Act with the intention of obtaining a sealed copy, which he will then serve upon the Solicitor-General, as he wishes to argue a constitutional point in relation to the matter,' chief magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal said. Mr Hopkins filed the notice on Tuesday morning. Neo-Nazi Joel Davis has flagged a 'constitutional' fight over the allegation he used a Nazi symbol. NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia South Australian police arrested and charged 16 people with loitering and displaying Nazi symbols after some 40 men dressed in black stormed the CBD on January 26, chanting 'white man fight back' and singing 'Waltzing Matilda'. Charges against some of the men, including NSN leader Thomas Sewell, have since been withdrawn. A charge against Mr Davis from that day was also withdrawn in May. The neo-Nazis have since claimed they are the victims of political persecution. After a court hearing in April, Mr Hopkins said the alleged offences had impinged on Mr Sewell and Mr Davis's implied constitutional rights to political expression. 'They do intend to form a political party and it would be a radical departure in Australian constitutional jurisprudence for an ideology to be outlawed,' he said at the time. 'And that's really where we are going with this.' Mr Hopkins said the NSN had been 'targeted' by the police and suggested the NSN march was a form of political expression comparable to Survival Day rallies. 'There were numerous demonstrations happening in Adelaide,' he said. 'And it seems to be the case where it is this particular organisation that has been targeted as a special group. 'They were carrying the Australian flag, they were at no stage anywhere near those protests. 'One of them was called anti-Australia Day, one was called Invasion Day. 'You have polarising ideologies here that are in conflict and as part of our constitutional representative government we allow for that, and that is part of the reason why the right to political communication is there, so that there is an outlet for legitimate displays of an ideology.' Mr Davis, speaking outside court in May, also said he would go 'all the way' to the High Court to fight the charge. Ms Hribal said a representative from the Solicitor-General would likely attend Mr Davis's next appearance and indicate their response to the notice. She listed September 23 for the next hearing. Mr Davis and Thomas Sewell are leaders of the fascist NSN group. NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Davis is an avowed fascist and has expressed admiration for Hitler. Hitler led the Nazi war machine in the 1930s and 1940s and orchestrated the extermination of some six millions Jews across Europe. At an earlier court appearance, police alleged the NSN was preparing for a 'race war' and hoped to usher in a white supremacist ethnostate. The court was told the men said they wore black outfits to 'represent the ideal of national socialism' and eliminate their individual identities. South Australia's parliament outlawed the display of Nazi symbols or salutes following a sharp and sudden increase in anti-Semitic expression across the country after the terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The law came into effect in December 2024.
Perth Now
5 hours ago
- Perth Now
Holdout territory to reintroduce spit hoods for kids
A plan to reinstate controversial spit hoods in youth detention centres has been defended in the crime-troubled territory. The proposal is part of a suite of measures overhauling youth justice, to be debated in the Northern Territory parliament within days. The Country Liberal Party government has vowed to table the legislation "on urgency" after a 15-year-old was stabbed and seriously injured in front of shocked onlookers at the Royal Darwin Show on Saturday. A 15-year-old has been charged, with police alleging the teen knew the victim. The NT Police Force confirmed in October that spit hoods had been made available to use on youths in police watch houses and cells, with strict protocols in place. The proposed youth justice law changes would extend the use of the hoods to youth detention centres, reversing a ban imposed eight years ago. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Steve Edgington defended anti-spit guards in youth centres, saying they were already being used in adult settings. "When young people come into custody that are spitting, biting their tongue and spitting blood at correctional officers, we want to ensure that our frontline staff are protected," he told reporters on Tuesday. "We're hoping that we will never need to use these." The CLP promised during last year's NT election to reintroduce spit hoods for youth detainees. In 2016, an ABC Four Corners report into the NT's Don Dale Youth Detention Centre prompted outrage over the use of spit hoods and led to then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announcing a royal commission into juvenile justice in the territory. The NT government subsequently stopped the use of spit hoods and restraint chairs in youth detention centres in 2017, following the federal government's formal endorsement of a United Nations protocol against torture and inhumane punishments. In 2022, the use of spit hoods for youths in police custody was also banned by the then-NT Labor government. NT Children's Commissioner Shahleena Musk said the territory was the only Australian jurisdiction reverting to using spit hoods on children. "This is against international law and is incredibly risky," she told the ABC. "It has actually led to deaths in custody in other jurisdictions." Other proposed legislative changes by the NT government include considering a youth's full criminal history when sentencing for adult offences and removing detention as a last resort. Youth justice officers will have greater powers to use reasonable force to "maintain safety and prevent escapes". Powers for the territory's commissioner to manage emergencies will also be expanded. Opposition Leader Selena Uibo hit out at the youth crime overhaul, describing them as "rushed, knee-jerk laws". The NT government committed a record $1.5 billion towards law and order in its May budget.
7NEWS
6 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Former Australian tennis star Sam Groth's relationship with wife becomes hot political football
Questions are suddenly being asked about former Australian tennis star Sam Groth and his relationship with his wife, Brittany. Groth is now deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal party and the questions are centreing on how their relationship started way back in 2011 when Groth was coaching at Templestowe Park tennis club. Brittany was also at the club and she would have been 16 or 17 at the time. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Groth is about seven years older. The Victorian law says: 'If you are between 16 and 17 years old, even if you agree, a person who is caring for you or supervising you (like a teacher, youth worker or foster carer) can't have sex with you, touch you sexually or get you to touch them sexually, perform a sexual act in front of you.' It has been reported that some of Groth's colleagues leaked their concerns to the media after Groth, 37, was made deputy leader in December. The fear is now that the relationship, in its infancy, breached the law, and it could be used against Groth and his party during an election. Labor insiders are already calling it 'inappropriate'. Labor Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said on Tuesday: 'If you're asking me whether I think it's appropriate for a person that is in a position of influence or authority, like a teacher or coach, to be dating a teenager, then the answer to that is no. 'It's evidence that the Liberals remain at war with one another, and quite clearly, if you can't govern yourselves, then you can't govern the state'. Another senior Labor MP told News Corp: 'What he has done is really not appropriate.' Groth left his first wife Jarmila Wolfe (also a tennis player) in 2011. His relationship with Brittany followed not long after. The couple have previously discussed how their relationship started, with Brittany admitting they 'ended up hitting with each other and connecting from there'. She said Groth 'added me on Facebook immediately ... I think that I knew I wanted to be with him but he was in such a different space to what my friends and girlfriends were in.' In 2017 Groth spoke to about the start of their relationship. 'We met during my year off. So I had that year off in 2011 where I sort of stepped away from tennis,' Groth said. 'We are actually from the same suburb in Melbourne, and I was coaching at a club and Brit was playing a little bit there ... yeah, we sort of met through that time.' Brittany called it 'fate'. 'There was only a few small weeks where we could have possibly met each other. It was a small local club, I mean not many people play there,' she said. Opposition leader Brad Battin has defended Groth and called the questions over his relationship a dirty attack. 'Any attempt to besmirch the relationship of Sam, Britt and their children is a disgrace,' Battin said. 'Politics is a dirty business, but this attack has hit a new low in public life.' It's not the first time Groth has hit the headlines this year over allegations of impropriety. In May this year he was accused of getting drunk at the Australian Open and then using a colleague's chauffeur-driven vehicle to take him and his wife home. Groth had hosted a political fundraiser with Nationals MP Jade Benham and then entered a party zone at the tennis where it was claimed he got 'smashed'. Then-opposition upper house leader Georgie Crozier lent him her car for the trip home and later said Victorians 'deserve a lot better'. 'I'm incredibly disappointed,' Crozier told media in May. 'I think that Sam needs to explain his actions. I can't.' Groth was shadow minister for tourism, sport and events at the time, and the car was used for a trip from Melbourne Park to Rye on the Mornington Peninsula, a distance of about 100km. Groth later said he had nothing to hide and attended the 2024 Australian Open in both an official capacity and personal capacity. 'I was at the event to meet various stakeholders and attend meetings before being part of a fundraising initiative,' he said. 'The accusations around intoxication are wrong. 'Everything was and is above board.'
