Australia revokes work permit of South African over neo-Nazi rally attendance

Australia has revoked the work permit of a South African man after he was seen in attendance at a neo-Nazi rally outside an Australian state parliament building.

Matthew Gruter was subsequently taken into immigration detention and is now awaiting deportation.

The civil engineer has been living in the country with his wife since 2022.

He was identified as an attendee of a National Socialist Network-organised anti-Jewish demonstration earlier this month.

The NSN is an Australian neo-Nazi political organisation based in Melbourne and formed from two far-right organisations in 2020.

Announcing Gruter's expulsion from the country, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Sky News:

“There is no room in Australia for clowns like that, who want to come here and preach hate, go back to where you came from, frankly.”

Professor Greg Barton is Chair In Global Islamic Politics at the Faculty of Arts and Education at Australia' Deakin University.

He says the move by their Department of Home Affairs sets a precedent. "It's the first case I'm aware of where the law aligns with the problem."

Barton says that in previous cases where those who hold 'extreme' views have wanted to visit Australia, often as public speakers to similarly aligned organisations, the Minister of Immigration has stepped in.

"They'll say, no, we don't want them coming because we know their track record."

Gruter's case is slightly different, says Barton, in that he has been legitimately living and working in the country for almost three years.

"He's been active with the NSN, which is a very overtly neo-Nazi group. They have been engaging in provocative public displays using Nazi symbolism.

Barton says the group usually demonstrate while dressed in full-face balaclavas, but explains that during the 9 November protest, they removed their face coverings.

They appear to have done this as an act of defiance, he says.

"That's how Matthew Gruter was identified."

To listen to Barton in conversation with Lester Kiewit on CapeTalk's Good Morning Cape Town show, click below: