Key Takeaways
- Australia’s biggest neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network (NSN), has been in direct contact with dozens of terrorists and extremist groups overseas.
- The group has been deemed more dangerous than ever as it officially disbands to escape new hate laws.
- Experts say the NSN’s formal dissolution could make its members more volatile than ever, freeing them from the group’s discipline and giving its leaders more protection from culpability if members turn violent.
- The NSN has been connected to at least 30 neo-Nazi extremist groups overseas, including nine that are listed internationally as terror cells.
- The group’s leaders are planning their return under a new banner, telling followers to "trust the plan" and flagging another, more covert political party push.
Introduction to the National Socialist Network
The National Socialist Network (NSN) is Australia’s biggest neo-Nazi group, and it has been making headlines recently due to its connections with terrorists and extremist groups overseas. An investigation has uncovered fresh details of the extent of the NSN’s entanglement with these groups, some of which have given the NSN money and trained its members overseas. National security experts say the relationships between NSN members and key leaders of neo-Nazi terror cells suggest the Australians are deeply embedded in the far-right extremism movement internationally.
Connections to Terrorist Groups
Leaked chatlogs, photographs, and other evidence have shown that members of the NSN have been in close contact with at least 30 neo-Nazi extremist groups overseas since forming five years ago. Nine of these groups are listed internationally as terror cells, and three of them – The Base, Atomwaffen, and Terrorgram – are also banned in Australia. Leaders of some of these terror groups have been described as friends by NSN leader Thomas Sewell, and they have appeared in the NSN’s closed chats on Telegram. Notable connections include Brandon Russell, the leader of Atomwaffen, who shared mass murder manuals with the NSN, and Benjamin Raymond of National Action, who helped Sewell plan how to evade a ban on the NSN in Australia.
Expert Analysis
Matt Kriner, a US extremism expert, says the NSN has grown to "occupy a very similar space" as the since-outlawed network Terrorgram in connecting extremists globally. Kriner notes that the NSN served as a "public face" for the movement and had not committed acts of terror itself, but "behind a very thin veil", the Australian NSN appeared to have inherited the global neo-Nazi network when other leaders such as Russell had been locked up. Other researchers, including Jordan McSwiney and Kaz Ross, agree that the NSN and Sewell have had an outsized influence on the neo-Nazi movement globally, considering their relatively small numbers.
Disbanding and Rebranding
The NSN shut down officially last weekend ahead of the Albanese government’s introduction of a new designation to ban it as a hate group. However, experts say the group’s formal dissolution could make its members more volatile than ever, freeing them from the group’s discipline and giving its leaders more protection from culpability if members turn violent. The group’s leaders are planning their return under a new banner, telling followers to "trust the plan" and flagging another, more covert political party push. Sewell has spoken of a populist political party emerging from the ashes of the NSN, without the Nazi branding or names of senior leadership attached.
Violent Rhetoric and Threats
The NSN’s rhetoric and threats against politicians and journalists have been escalating in recent months, with senior neo-Nazis speaking of political solutions drying up. National security expert John Coyne says most "shit-talking" online goes nowhere, but for those already that far into the NSN’s cause, "the timeline from spark to fuse is pretty damn short". Coyne notes that Sewell has been able to "breadcrumb the journey to extremism for individuals, to normalise it, and yet not be picked up by law enforcement for any [lengthy] stretch of time" as others have.
Future Threats
Experts say the NSN’s disbanding does not mean the threat is over. The group’s members are still committed to their cause, and many have violent criminal records. The NSN may yet take a softer political path than return to its previous brand of "agitation and propaganda", but experts say this network, now cut loose from leadership, is "primed for violence". As the NSN dissolves, ASIO has vowed to watch the group closely, and the AFP has launched specialised units to deal with the threats posed by neo-Nazis and other hate groups.
