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A South African man who appeared at a neo-Nazi rally outside an Australian state parliament has been taken into immigration detention after his visa was revoked.
Matthew Gruter, who moved to Australia in 2022, joined an anti-Jewish protest outside the New South Wales parliament earlier this month. The rally, organised by the National Socialist Network, saw around 60 black-clad men holding a banner reading “Abolish the Jewish lobby”, according to Australian media. He is now awaiting deportation.
Australia has reported a rise in right-wing extremism, and earlier this year introduced mandatory prison sentences for performing the Nazi salute.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Mr Gruter’s visa was cancelled on character grounds, stressing that those who took part in the rally were not “patriotic”.
“Multicultural Australia and modern Australia are the same thing… They hate modern Australia,” he said.
Mr Gruter was detained early on Tuesday. Burke noted that because the decision was made at ministerial level, his appeal options would be “very limited”.
He had previously warned that visa holders should consider themselves guests in Australia: “Like any household, if a guest turns up to show hatred and wreck the household, they can be told it’s time to go home.”
Mr Gruter reportedly works as a civil engineer and moved to Australia with his wife.
The National Socialist Network, which staged the 8 November rally, is one of Australia’s most prominent neo-Nazi groups. Demonstrators were heard chanting “blood and honour”, a slogan associated with the Hitler Youth.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called the protest a “shocking display of hatred, racism and antisemitism”.
Sarah Schwartz, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia said that neo-Nazi groups threaten the country’s multicultural fabric and said it was important to distinguish between peaceful protest and “hateful stunts”.
“They’re acts of hate speech, and they should be considered as such,” she said.
