Asio says violent rightwing extremists are still being inspired by the Christchurch mosque shooting massacre carried out by an Australian man in 2019, warning of an uptick in activity from hate groups “who want to trigger a so called ‘race war’”.
And the home affairs department has told a parliamentary inquiry into rightwing extremism that it is seeing increasing imports of Nazi imagery into Australia despite a ban on displaying such symbols, and has also raised alarm about violent extremist groups targeting councils in Victoria due to their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
In its submission to the Senate inquiry, Asio – Australia’s domestic security agency – said about a quarter of its counter-terrorism workload was related to “ideologically motivated violent extremists”, as distinct from religiously motivated extremism.
It said the ideologically motivated cohort, made up predominantly of rightwing extremists including nationalist and racist groups, “are more likely to focus on recruitment and radicalisation rather than attack planning in the foreseeable future” but it warned of changing trends.
“Internationally, the March 2019 Christchurch attacks have been cited as inspiration for nationalist and racist violent extremist (NRVE) attacks overseas, and the attacks continue to resonate with NRVEs here in Australia,” Asio told the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs references committee.
“Over the last 18 months, we have seen an uptick in the number of NRVEs advocating sabotage in private conversations both here and overseas. It is particularly pronounced among NRVE ‘accelerationists’ – meaning extremists who want to trigger a so called ‘race war’.”
The Australian shooter who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at a Christchurch mosque in 2019 was active in far-right groups in his home country. In 2020 he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The global anti-terror group Counter Extremism Project last week warned the Senate committee about Australian neo-Nazis creating crowdfunding campaigns and “active clubs” to train members in combat.
Asio’s submission raised examples of accelerationist groups endorsing attacks against critical infrastructure such as power grids, electrical substations and railways.
The agency said its biggest concern remained “lone wolf” attacks that come together with little warning, saying the most likely attacks would be “low-cost, using readily available weapons, and simple tactics” such as knives, vehicles, explosives or firearms.
Asio said while the “most likely” location for terrorist attacks would be crowded city locations like shopping centres or transport hubs, it also said some specific ideologies “may lead the attacker to choose a symbolic location such as a government building or place of worship”.
“Asio will continue to monitor developments in the threat environment and will respond appropriately to protect Australia and Australians from threats to security,” its submission concluded.
Extremism ‘hostile to democracy’
The home affairs department, in its submission, called violent extremism “hostile to democracy in Australia”, raising concerns about social cohesion and “racism which places our social fabric under strain”.
“In a high profile example, groups targeted at least 15 Victorian councils over their support for the LGBTQIA+ community,” home affairs said in its submission. “NRVE groups have sought to disrupt democratic council processes through intimidating behaviour, false and misleading information and threats of violence.”
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Guardian Australia reported last year that several Victorian councils cancelled drag queen story time and LGBTQ+ events after threats from far-right groups. Some councils moved public meetings online after repeated disruptions.
Commenting on the 2023 legislation banning the display of symbols including swastikas, home affairs said Border Force officials were seeing “an increasing volume of goods entering Australia featuring iconography connected to NRVE groups (and collectors), and in particular Nazi imagery.”
“The importation into Australia of Nazi memorabilia, both historically genuine items and modern recreations, has not abated with the passage of the Act. Where these goods are imported in quantities which indicates the goods are likely to be traded, the ABF refers the goods to the Australian Federal Police to consider investigation under the Criminal Code.”
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, told the Australian National University’s national security college conference on Tuesday that social cohesion was a major focus for the government.
“The more connected Australians feel to their own citizenship, to their own country and to each other, the safer we will be in confronting what lies ahead,” she said.
Stephanie Foster, the home affairs department secretary, told the conference the radicalisation environment was becoming “more complex”, especially online.
“An effective response has to bring together the social welfare, the education, the health and the justice systems, along with the private tech sector, hosting platforms and of course, our traditional police and security partners.”