The National Security Investigations teams were set up in September to target those causing high levels of harm to Australia's social cohesion - and one UK citizen has fallen foul
Tom Crowley, ABC News and Tannur Anders
05:02, 24 Dec 2025Updated 05:03, 24 Dec 2025
Australia's Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke has cancelled the visa of a United Kingdom citizen after he was arrested for displaying prohibited Nazi symbols.
The Australian Federal Police charged the 43-year-old man for "allegedly displaying prohibited Nazi symbols " earlier this month. He was living in Queensland.
"Almost everyone on a visa is a good guest and welcome guest in our country. But if someone comes here for the purposes of hate, they can leave," Burke told the ABC's News Breakfast.
The visa cancellation comes days after an attack at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on Sunday, December 14. Fifteen people lost their lives and dozens more were injured when a father and son opened fire on members of the Jewish community. Federal police have said the attacked was motivated by Islamic State ideology.
Burke has announced several changes since the attack, including prohibition of hate symbols, and said he will strengthen his ministerial powers to deport visa holders who espouse hate or are associated with hateful groups, ABC News reported.
The AFP’s National Security Investigations (NSI) team, which carried out the disruption, is a part of a targeted focus on individuals and groups damaging Australia’s social cohesion.
The Brisbane NSI team began an an investigation in October into the man, who allegedly used two different handles on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, to display the Nazi Hakenkreuz and "espouse a pro-Nazi ideology with a specific hatred of the Jewish community". Police said the man advocated for violence towards the Jewish community.
The AFP has said man posted content that violated Commonwealth law on several occasions between October 10 and November 5.
The force said X blocked the man's main account, leading him to create a second handle with a similar name to continue posting.
The AFP and Queensland Police Service executed a search warrant at a Caboolture home on November 21, 2025. One mobile phone and several weapons, including swords bearing swastika symbology, axes and knives, were seized.
The man was charged with three counts of public display of prohibited Nazi symbols and one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
He appeared in Caboolture Magistrates Court on December 3 and the matter has been adjourned until January 7.
A separate week-long NSI operation, which focused on disrupting the importation and potential sale of prohibited symbols, involved 14 separate disruption activities across New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Multiple items containing the prohibited symbol were surrendered.
A 21-year-old Queensland man was arrested following the importation of a significant quantity of flags and literature. Federal police said a review of the man's electronic devices allegedly identified items determined to be violent extremist material. He was charged with two counts of possessing or controlling violent extremist material. The maximum penalty for this offence is five years’ imprisonment.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man from Sydney was issued with a court attendance notice. He will face one count of perform a Nazi salute in public, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment.
"While it is not an offence to import items containing prohibited symbols, a number of items identified through ABF examinations were referred to the AFP for further investigation," the federal police said.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said the federal police would not hesitate to act against threats to Australia’s social cohesion. This will include education, disruption and deterrence activities, in addition to laying charges.
“The AFP will not tolerate any forms of intimidation, threats or calls for violence against vulnerable communities,” Nutt said.