Are nazis in Chris Minns hate speech sights … or just Palestinian peace protestors?
Any real discussion on antisemitism in the wake of the Bondi Massacre needs to target all communities, not just those the groups lobbying the NSW government wish to silence.
by Sam AltMediaWatch | Jan 2, 2026, https://michaelwest.com.au/are-nazis-in-chris-minns-sights-or-palestinian-peace-protestors/
The Minns Government response to Bondi has focussed on anti-Israel protestors and hate speech but has so far ignored Nazis. Sam from AltMediaWatch investigates the Ukrainian neo-Nazi movement.
The New South Wales Government is pushing forward with its plan to crackdown on the right to protest and to ban the display of hate symbols in response to the horrific Bondi terror attack.
Premier Chris Minns has said he plans to ban the phrase “globalise the intifada” after he linked pro-Palestinian protests to the 15 people killed at Bondi Beach.
The move is clearly a political one, to appease Israeli lobbying groups who’ve tried to silence outrage over Israel’s genocide in Gaza and protests that have had success in pressuring the Australian government into recognising the State of Palestine.
Any real discussion on antisemitism in the wake of the Bondi Massacre needs to target all communities, not just those the groups lobbying the NSW government wish to silence.
One such example is the Ukrainian community groups, who the Minns government have openly supported in response to Russia’s genocide in Ukraine, but the reality is that there is a significant issue of antisemitism within these Ukrainian community groups and one that the Minns government has directly facilitated.
Da Vinci Wolves fundraiser. On the 12th of February, MP Stephen Kamper, a member of Minns government hosted a fundraiser with the Ukrainian Council of NSW screening the Ukrainian documentary about Dmytro ‘Da Vinci’ Kotsiubailo, who was awarded the Hero of Ukraine medal in 2021 and killed in 2023 while fighting Russia in the battle of Bakhmut.
The event raised $6,505 with proceeds going to the 1st Separate Mechanised Battalion (Da Vinci Wolves), the Brigade which Kotsiubailo commanded up until his death.
The problem is that the Brigade is now commanded by neo-Nazi Serhii Filimonov, who previously served in the controversial Azov Battallion until it was merged with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in an attempt to purge the more extremists like Filiminov from its ranks.
Filimonov sports multiple neo-Nazi tattoos including the popular Valknut rune, and the Totenkopf, the insignia of Hitler’s 3rd SS Panzer Division.
He was a leader in violent Dynamo Ultras, an antisemitic group of football hooligans known as the ‘White Boys Club’. The groups emblem includes an image of Prince Sviatoslav a favourite among antisemites for destroying the Khazar empire, which they believe are ‘fake Jews’ trying to infiltrate and destroy Europe and the West.
3rd Assault Brigade fundraiser
On the February 24, the Australian Federation for Ukrainian Organisations, the peak Ukrainian body, held a rally to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
NSW Premier Chris Minns spoke at the event along with Senator Dave Sharma and several other state and federal politicians.
The rally at St. Mary’s Cathedral featured a short ‘thank you’ video to Australians from members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces including members of the 3rd Assault Brigade, which received an online fundraising campaign a month earlier hosted by the Defend Ukraine Appeal.
The 3rd Assault is the successor to the controversial Azov Battalion, and just like Azov it is linked heavily with neo-Nazis. Led by the former commander of the Azov Battalion, neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky who in 2010 was quoted as saying he believed Ukraine’s mission was to:
“lead the white races of the world in a final crusade
… against Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans]”.
A term used extensively by the Nazis to dehumanise Jews and other groups they considered inferior.
The ‘thank you’ video featured members of a medical unit in the Brigade’s 2nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion, led by well-known neo-Nazi Denys Sokur also formerly of the Azov Battalion. Sokur has an ‘88’ tattoo on his leg (a common abbreviation for ‘Heil Hitler”), and a Sonnenrad or black sun tattoo on his elbow
The Sonnenrad originated from Nazi Germany, it was featured on the marble floor of Wewelsburg castle run by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS.
The symbol is popular amongst neo-Nazis,
“it was worn by the Australian neo-Nazi“
who murdered 51 people at a Christchurch mosque in 2019 and was also on the cover of the manifesto he wrote, which has been translated into Ukrainian and published by neo-Nazis in the Azov movement.
Another prominent neo-Nazi from the 3rd Assault Brigade caused controversy last year after visiting Auschwitz concentration camp in a shirt from a neo-Nazi black metal band with the inscription ‘Where we are, there is no place for anyone else’,
“a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler.“
CYM Youth and St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church
On March 9, the Sydney branch of the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM) held a memorial for Nazi collaborator and war criminal Roman Shukhevych, also known by the pseudonym Taras Chuprynka.
CYM Sydney, which is part of the 22 organisations that make up the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) holds regular memorials in honour of Shukhevych, who is the Youth group’s patron.
Shukhevych was the commander of the Nachtigall Battalion, a subunit in Nazi Germany’s special forces that participated in the murder of Jews in Lviv during the German Holocaust.
Holocaust survivor and former Chairman of Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Joseph Lapid noted of Shukhevych and his Battalion:
“In a terrible pogrom the Nightingale Battalion of the Ukrainian legion participated in the murder of 4,000 Jews from Lviv between June 30-July 3, 1941. The Ukrainian commander of the battalion at that time was Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist.
“The units he commanded, supposedly fighting for Ukrainian independence, committed large scale murder during the war. He was a war criminal.”
After the Nachtigall Battalion was dissolved, Shukhevych became deputy commander of the Auxiliary Police, which was sent to Belarus where it fought against Soviet partisans and is believed to have participated in the murder of more Jews.
During the memorial, members of CYM Sydney also displayed a flag for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), a mostly Ukrainian division which was part of the military wing of the Nazi Party and led by the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler. The flag was gifted to the Youth Group in 2007 by members of the UPA who served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division and immigrated to Australia after WW2.
These memorials were held at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe; The Sydney Ukrainian community has a commemorative plaque dedicated to members of the 14th Waffen SS who “gave their lives for the freedom of Ukraine”.
The Ukrainian church store frequently sells patches for both the 14th Waffen SS and the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion featuring the Sonnenrad symbol, the shop’s patron even participated in a parade in Ukraine in patches of the SS Battalion.
The NSW Department of Health under the Minns government promotes both the Sydney Ukrainian Youth Group and the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe as support organisations for “Communities Impacted by the Invasion of Ukraine” on their Transcultural Mental Health Centre Website despite the groups open support for Nazi Battalions and commanders.
Minns response for Israel lobby, not antisemitism
The News South Wales premier’s response to the Bondi Massacre has so far focused only on the interests of Israeli lobbying groups. It highlights and blames only those who have voiced their opposition to Israel’s genocide and doesn’t address antisemitism evenly across Australian society.
When it comes to hate there is no difference between displaying ISIS flags at protests or the Azov flag which features the same neo-Nazi symbol worn by the Australian terrorist who he killed 51 people attending Mosques in Christchurch in 2019.
While we have seen strong condemnations from the government on the former display of hate, we are yet to see any on the later despite Ukrainian community members displaying the Azov flag at many of their protests, including at the Opera House just a few weeks prior to widely condemned pro-Palestine rally from October 9th 2023.
Hate affects us all, not just those communities with lobbying groups equipped to pressure the government into prioritising their own interests above all Australians and any approach that selectively highlights antisemitism and ignores displays of hate across society is doomed to fail.
Revealed: Australia’s secret Anti-Protest Force for US Department of War
“public order management operations. “
the Government is boosting its capability to deal with anticipated political protest activities against a much expanded US military and intelligence presence in Australia.
“AUKUS costs in total secrecy.”
by Rex Patrick | Jan 5, 2026 , https://michaelwest.com.au/australias-anti-protest-force-for-us-department-of-war/
As public concerns over the AUKUS alliance rise – with expanding US bases in Australia and Donald Trump’s belligerent conduct, FOI documents reveal the Government is secretly expanding its ‘US Department of War Protest’ Force. Rex Patrick reports.
Most people won’t be aware that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has established a new command.
Headed by Commissioner Krissy Barrett, our national police force is made up of five regional commands (Northern, Eastern, Central, Southern and Western) and a number of functional commanders dealing variously with crime, fraud and corruption, cyber operations, counter-terrorism and special investigations, and protective security. No surprises there – the AFP structure is well established and pretty much what you would expect.
But now there’s a new AFP “AUKUS Command”, established with little fanfare and headed by AFP Assistant Commissioner Sandra Booth.
AFP Assistant Commissioner for AUKUS Sandra Booth at a US naval station. Image: AFP
AUKUS Command’s roles are centred on security for the AUKUS nuclear submarine project and interestingly include ‘Public Order Management’, but its mandate is much broader than protecting nuclear submarines.
MWM’s Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the AFP, amongst other things, sought access to documents that show the terms of reference, functions and responsibilities of AUKUS Command and Documents held by AUKUS Command that relate to potential political opposition and/or protest activity relating to the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine project.
The AFP’s FOI response came in late and was covered with large swaths of black ink redacting most of the information, but enough has been revealed to show that the Government is boosting its capability to deal with anticipated political protest activities against a much expanded US military and intelligence presence in Australia.
AUKUS Protection
AUKUS Command starts with a “permanent AFP horizontal security overlay” set up at HMAS Stirling (near Perth) to “support the Australian nuclear submarine program under the AUKUS initiative”
The set-up in some part replicates the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Protective Forces and the UK’s Ministry of Defence Special Escort Group.
The AFP AUKUS Command will initially conduct AUKUS protective security work, including waterborne and remotely piloted aircraft escorting of US Navy, Royal Navy and (eventually, maybe) Royal Australian Navy submarines in and out of waters around the base.
Submarines berthing at HMAS Stirling have to do a lengthy and protest-vulnerable surfaced transit through Gage Roads to get to/from the deep water north-west of Rottnest Island.
The AUKUS Command has established a rapid response capability and is prepared for
“public order management operations. “
Officers in the AUKUS Command are trained in rapid appraisal, coxswaining, jet ski operation, remote piloting of aircraft and countering remotely piloted aircraft, protestor negotiation techniques, protestor removal techniques and “public order management munitions delivery”.
Initially, at least, the Command will comprise four teams, a ready reaction team and a canine unit.
Nuclear protestors not tolerated
Although anti-nuclear protests focused on visiting US Navy nuclear powered submarines have so far been small in scale, the AFP has likely been alerted to the possibilities of larger scale water-borne protest by the “Rising Tide” environmental actions at Australia’s largest coal export terminal at Newcastle.
Protest groups involved in those activities have already been subject to close scrutiny by the AFP and New South Wales Police.
In any case, it’s clear that the Australian Government and the AFP are determined to demonstrate to the United States and the United Kingdom that there will be no tolerating protest activity that might impede or delay the movement of American and British submarines stationed at HMAS Stirling as part of the AUKUS Submarine Rotational Force – West.
But wait, there’s more, much more
But it turns out that protecting nuclear submarines is only part of the AUKUS Command’s responsibilities.
The first giveaway as to the much broader purpose of the Command is the fact that a July 25, 2025, Memorandum of Understanding signed by Assistant Commissioner Booth was between the AFP and, not the Australian Submarine Agency, but the Department of Defence.
The previously secret AFP documents released under FOI show that the AFP AUKUS Command will have strategic responsibility for delivery of protective security services to “specified Defence bases) under the Defence MOU, with a significant focus on building and supporting a future-ready Protective Security Officer workforce.
Pine Gap
The documents do not reveal which Defence bases, but the FOI request did capture emails between Assistant Commissioner Booth and other AFP officers dealing with a protest that took place last year at Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, the top-secret signals intelligence facility near Alice Springs that’s operated by the US National Security Agency, the US National Reconnaissance Office and the Australian Signals Directorate.
Major upgrades are taking place at a number of other Australian Defence Force facilities to accommodate an expanded US military presence in Northern and Western Australia.
Significant works have also been underway at Australian intelligence facilities, including a major perimeter security upgrade and installation of new satellite dishes at the ASD’s Shoal Bay Receiving Station, nineteen kilometres north-east of Darwin.
As the US defence and intelligence footprint expands, it’s likely that the AUKUS Command’s security and “public order management” responsibilities will be quite wide-ranging.
More protests coming, and costs
As public concerns rise over nuclear issues, it’s very likely the arrival of the US submarine rotational force at HMAS Stirling, the increasing disposition of US forces around Australia and the abandoning by the US of a ‘rules-based order’ will lead to more protests.
The Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Outlook (MYEFO) handed down in December showed an allocation to the AFP AUKUS Command of $73.8 million in this financial year and $125.2 million in the next.
The expenditure publication was unusual, given that the Government thinks it is entirely appropriate to wrap
“AUKUS costs in total secrecy.”
Indeed, even in this release, cost information in the MOU was redacted.
A lack of transparency
It is accepted that some things around nuclear submarines are properly confidential. But the Australian Government has been wrapping a thick secrecy blanket over everything to do with AUKUS; absolutely everything.
As an FOI related transparency fight goes on in background, including in the Federal Court where this writer is trying to get access to documents that advise the government on how to select a high-level radioactive waste site, the Government has (in contrast to the US and UK) refused to allow for an inquiry into this bankrupting Defence capability.
Instead of bringing the Australian public along with them, instead of generating social licence for the project, instead of being up front about the integration of the Australian Defence Force into the US Armed Forces at a time when Australians are struggling with confidence in the US, opaqueness is the order of the day for the Government.
And now, for good measure, there’s a whole new AFP command to keep a lid on the secrets and to crack down on public protests.
1 This month
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