NSW Police Ban Neo-Nazis from Sydney CBD on Australia Day

Several neo-Nazis have been slapped with public safety orders banning them from entering Sydney's CBD during planned anti-immigration rallies on Australia Day. According to paperwork for one of the orders, seen by the ABC, the person named was prohibited from going within an 8-kilometre radius of Sydney Town Hall train station over a 24-hour period on Australia Day. It said breaching the orders risked five years' prison. The orders, issued by Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden, said he considered whether the person named had previously behaved in a way that posed a serious risk to public safety of security. It also said he considered whether advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action was likely to be their primary purpose in attending an event, and weighed the public interest in maintaining their freedom to participate in such activities. The paperwork said the assistant commissioner was satisfied that the presence of the person named "poses a serious risk to public safety" and that the making of the order was "reasonably necessary in the circumstances". The ABC has been told orders have been issued to up to 12 neo-Nazi figures so far. A NSW Police spokesperson said a number of public safety orders had been issued to several individuals "prohibiting them from attending Sydney's CBD on Monday 26 January 2026". Former members of the recently disbanded National Socialist Network (NSN) had been planning to attend March for Australia, which was being held over the same long weekend as the extremist group's national meet in Sydney. Dozens of black-clad NSN members took centre-stage at March for Australia's previous Sydney rally in August last year and used protesters for their own propaganda. Protest unaffected by restrictions NSW Police on Tuesday extended restrictions on public protests in the state following the terrorist attack that claimed 15 lives at Bondi Beach last month. Those laws, which were pushed through the NSW parliament in the aftermath of the shootings on December 14, give police the power to refuse to authorise public assemblies after a terror attack. However, NSW Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced on Tuesday that he had "significantly limited the scope" of the ban, which could allow planned Invasion Day and anti-immigration March for Australia rallies to proceed. The extended restrictions now go from Darling Harbour through the north of the CBD to Oxford Street and all the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command. Hyde Park is excluded from the order. March for Australia organiser Bec Freedom, who is not a member of the NSN, released a statement to supporters on social media, claiming the updated ban would not affect their protest route, which is yet to be released. The former NSN had ramped up Australia Day activities in recent years. On Australia Day in 2024, dozens of people were issued infringement notices for offensive behaviour after donning black clothing and masks and boarding a Sydney train en masse. In November last year, men in black clothing massed outside NSW parliament holding up a sign targeting Jewish Australians. The demonstration was deemed "authorised" by NSW Police. The NSN was one of two organisations named as likely early targets for the federal government's hate speech laws, which passed this week, along with Islamist organisation Hizb ut Tahrir. The NSN earlier this month claimed it was disbanding in response to the laws, a move welcomed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who pledged to stop organisations that "spew hatred" and "hate Australia". The group had been increasingly open about their activities in recent months in various states, sharing images online of their members dressing up in black and gathering in parks to hold up their custom-made NSN group flags. In these images, most members' faces are blurred, while members frequently don masks when appearing at public rallies. Those public-facing social media channels have since been largely closed down.