Neo-Nazis pump iron in largely Jewish area

Associates of a convicted Melbourne white supremacist have posed for propaganda images and videos at a popular seaside beach.

A group of about 30 males, including teenagers, worked out together in Melbourne’s southeast on Saturday alongside neo-Nazi Jacob Hersant. Images captured by The Age show the group posing with the European Australian Movement flag after their group fitness exercises.

This particular white supremacist flag is not illegal in Victoria. Nazi salutes are illegal though, and the first man convicted under the state’s new laws banning the salute worked up a sweat with his neo-Nazi mates on Saturday.

Hersant made the Nazi salute outside a Melbourne court in October last year, days after the Victorian parliament enacted the Nazi Salute Prohibition Bill.

“Australia for the white man, heil Hitler,” Hersant said as he made the gesture.

He was ultimately sentenced to one month in prison, which he said he would appeal, and was subsequently granted appeal bail in November.

Hersant is a notable figure in the Australian neo-Nazi National Socialist Network. On Saturday, the fitness group exercised for about two hours in heavy rain at a beachside park in the suburb of Elwood.

Located in one of Australia’s most-Jewish federal electorate areas – Macnamara – the group fitness session was filmed by a member of the group.

The Age reports the group did boxing drills, sparring, lifted weights and carried each other in fireman lifts.

After the workout, the men posed for photos with the European Australian Movement flag.

Macnamara MP, Josh Burns told The Age: “I know as a Jewish Australian just how confronting it is to see white supremacists on our streets – especially in a place as welcoming and inclusive as Elwood.

“The cowards who hide behind hateful bigotry are not welcome in our community or anywhere.”

Mr Burns’ grandmother came to Australia as a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. In June last year, his nearby office was attacked and vandalised, including a spray-painted message declaring “Zionism is fascism”.

A 19-year-old woman was arrested, and was on track to strike a deal with prosecutors when the case was expected to be called in court again on February 18.

The Nazi Salute Prohibition Bill amended the Summary Offences Act to include a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment and a $23,000 fine for making a Nazi salute.