A British national is facing deportation from Australia after his visa was cancelled for allegedly displaying Nazi symbols.
The government has revoked the 43-year-old man’s visa after he was charged on 8 December with displaying a Nazi symbol and advocating for violence against the Jewish community on social media, according to Australian Federal Police.
Police did not name the man but said he was living in the state of Queensland.
He has been detained by immigration authorities and will be deported unless he departs on his own first.
Police said the man displayed a Nazi Hakenkreuz, a type of swastika, and adopted “pro-Nazi ideology with a specific hatred of the Jewish community” on two X accounts from October to November.
According to police, after X blocked the man’s primary account, he created a second handle with a similar name “to continue posting offensive, harmful and targeted content”.
“If you come to Australia on a visa, you are here as a guest,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commenting on the British citizen.
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“If someone comes here for the purposes of hate, they can leave,” he said.
The man has been 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 sentence of five years in prison.
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The man’s arrest comes as the country cracks down on antisemitism in the wake of a mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
On 14 December, a father and son allegedly carried out a shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah gathering at Sydney’s well-known Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and prompting renewed calls for the Australian government to take stronger action against antisemitism.
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Sajid Akram, 50, was killed during the incident, while his son, Naveed Akram, has been charged with murder and terrorism.
Police say he was recorded stating that his actions were motivated by passages from the Islamic holy text, the Koran.
In response to the Bondi Beach attack and growing demands for tougher measures to combat antisemitism, the Australian government has announced plans to reduce the legal threshold required for antisemitic conduct to be deemed unlawful.
