NSW inquiry into right-wing extremism

On 8 November 2025 about 60 members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network rallied on the steps of NSW Parliament in Sydney, chanting Nazi slogans behind a banner reading "Abolish the Jewish Lobby". NSW Police had authorised the protest; Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon blamed a "breakdown in communication" and ordered a review. Premier Chris Minns called it a "shocking display of hatred and racism and anti-Semitism" (SBS).

Eleven days later, on 19 November 2025, the NSW Government introduced the Crimes and Summary Offences Amendment Bill 2025 (Nazi symbols and conduct) and Parliament referred it, together with an inquiry into "measures to combat right-wing extremism in New South Wales", to the Legislative Assembly Committee on Law and Safety. The terms of reference covered right-wing extremism only. The Committee reported on the bill on 6 February 2026, heard about 50 witnesses on 18 and 19 February 2026, and tabled its final report, with 12 recommendations, on 23 April 2026. The government's response is due on 23 October 2026.

In its submission the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said "any government investigation should examine all forms of extremism - including Islamic and left-wing - and not focus solely on right-wing extremism", adding that "to investigate strategies or laws which focus solely on one type of extremism is to ignore other types of extremism" (Submission 37). At the hearing on 18 February the Australian National Imams Council's Bilal Rauf said "effective prevention should address all forms of extremism", naming "Hindutva and Zionist ethno-supremist or -nationalist movements" as needing attention alongside neo-Nazis; Australian Federation of Islamic Councils board member Keysar Trad warned that "criminalising language" could turn "political expression by law-abiding, non-violent citizens into a crime" (hearing transcript; ABC). The final report does not respond to the request to widen the scope. It mentions the Bondi Beach terror attack of 14 December 2025 in one paragraph: "Although not an attack by right-wing extremists, the shooting demonstrated the Jewish community's particular vulnerability to extremist violence".

No equivalent inquiry has been held into Islamist radicalisation. The federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security began an inquiry into extremist movements and radicalism, covering both Islamist and far-right extremism, in December 2020; it tabled only an interim report before lapsing at the April 2022 election, and the government agreed in September 2022 to refer it again. In a September 2026 interview, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said: "We have an Islamic extremism problem in this country. That is true. It is not growing, but it's still a problem. It represents about 70% of my organisation's caseload."

More sources:

Source: Final report (NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Law and Safety)

NSW inquiry into right-wing extremism

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