Factual. Independent. Impartial.
We supply news, images and multimedia to hundreds of news outlets every day
Politics
Dominic Giannini

Sanctions slapped on neo-Nazi, white supremacist group

An online neo-Nazi, white supremacy group has been sanctioned by the Australian government. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

A neo-Nazi and white supremacist group has been slapped with counter-terrorism financing sanctions as part of the federal government's crackdown on anti-Semitism.

Terrorgram is an online network that promised racially motivated violence, the federal government said.

Its channels share fascist content and details on how members can carry out racially-motivated violence including against minority groups, police, public figures, political figures and journalists.

"It is now a criminal offence to use or deal with the assets of, or make assets available to Terrorgram," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Monday.

Penalties include up to 10 years in prison and heavy fines.

It is the first time Australia has imposed counter-terrorism financing sanctions on an entirely online entity, Senator Wong said.

Debate on strengthened hate speech laws will continue in federal parliament in coming days, with the opposition pushing for mandatory minimum prison sentences for terror offences.

A council worker cleans anti-Semitic graffiti from a garage door.
Garages and vehicles were spray painted in a weekend anti-Semitic attack.

It follows a spate of anti-Semitic attacks including the targeting of Synagogues and the discovery of a caravan packed with explosives in Sydney's northwest with a note containing addresses of Jewish institutions.

The explosives had the capacity to cause a 40m radius blast, but no detonator was found.

The foreign minister also re-listed sanctions for the National Socialist Order, the Russian Imperial Movement, Sonnenkrieg Division and The Base for promoting nationalist and racist violent extremist ideologies.

"This demonstrates the Albanese government’s commitment to disrupting the activities of terrorists and violent extremists and preventing them from recruiting and radicalising people online," Senator Wong said.

"There is no place in Australia for anti-Semitism, hatred or violence."

The secretary-general and leading spokesperson for the designated terrorist group Hezbollah have also been sanctioned.

License this article

Sign up to read this article
Get your dose of factual, independent and impartial news
Already a member? Sign in here
Top stories on AAP right now