Police have laid more “offensive behaviour” charges against right-wing political dissidents for allegedly booing during a “welcome to country” humiliation ritual at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance on Anzac Day.
National Socialist Network leader Jacob Hersant, 26, and a 22-year-old man were charged with “behave in an offensive manner whilst in a public place”, “offend against decency by conduct and behaviour whilst in the Shrine of Remembrance Reserve” and “take part in a disturbance whilst in the Shrine of Remembrance Reserve”, police said on Friday.
Another prominent NSN member, 23-year-old Nathan Bull, was charged with the same offences earlier this month after being arrested outside court over an alleged clash with antifa counter-protesters at so-called Camp Sovereignty following the August 31 March for Australia rally.
All three men will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on November 17, and Mr Hersant is also due to face court next month to appeal his conviction and jail sentence for performing a “Nazi salute” after yet another court appearance.
Aussies boo the “welcome to country” humiliation ritual at the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance this morning.
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Boos erupted at the Anzac Day Dawn Service when professional aboriginal Mark Brown began welcoming the 50,000-strong crowd to their own country during the early morning ceremony.
Voices could be heard shouting “what about the Anzacs”, “we don’t have to be welcomed”, and “this is our country” as Brown talked at length about the “Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation”, and the crowd also heckled Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner when she too paid lip service to indigenous people.
Mr Hersant was arrested on the day and Victoria Police said they intended to lay charges at the time, but it is not clear why no one was charged until far-left politicians and activists called for a crackdown on the NSN after the August 31 incident.
The booing sparked a nationwide debate about “welcome to country” ceremonies, and the largest poll ever conducted on the issue found that seven out of 10 Aussies want them “completely stopped”.
The issue was raised at the final leader’s debate before the May Federal Election, and both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then-Opposition leader Peter Dutton ignored public sentiment to declare their support for the unpopular performances.
Soccer fans then booed the “welcome to country” at the A-League Grand Final the following month.
Header image: Left, Mr Hersant and Mr Bull in the crowd (Sky News Australia). Right, Mark Brown while being booed (Shrine of Remembrance).
