A Sydney father who was jailed for one year for calling Jews the “greatest enemy to this nation” in an Australia Day speech has had his sentence reduced to 10 months on appeal.
Brandan Koschel, 31, pleaded guilty in February to publicly inciting hatred on the grounds of race during the 40-second speech at a March for Australia rally where he also said “for thousands of years Christians and Anglos, the White man, has known that the Jew is our greatest enemy”.
He was then sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine months in the Sydney Local Court by Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund.
Ms Freund, who is Jewish herself, said in sentencing that a term of full-time imprisonment was necessary “to protect social cohesion” and that “public denunciation of anti-Semitism is essential to the court’s commitment to equality before the law and protection of vulnerable groups”.
Koschel being arrested after the speech:
A man was arrested over an alleged open mic speech he made at the March for Australia rally in Sydney today, as bystanders booed and yelled “traitors” at police.
He has been charged with “publicly threatening or inciting violence” towards a group. pic.twitter.com/t4RhupjG0S
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 26, 2026
Koschel appealed the sentence in the NSW District Court where his lawyers argued his offending was of a lower objective seriousness than determined in the Local Court, and asked Judge Tanya Smith to instead impose an Intensive Corrections Order (ICO) that would allow the sentence to be served in the community.
The court was also presented new evidence of remorse from Koschel, including an apology letter and testimony that he had wanted to apologise before his original sentence but was advised not to. The court also heard Koschel had difficulties communicating with his legal team at the time due to being isolation in jail.
In submissions on Monday Crown prosecutor Zachary O’Meara argued against an ICO, telling the court a custodial sentence was necessary to ensure “community safety”, and that “any lesser sentence will not reflect the objective seriousness of the offending”.
Mr O’Meara argued the apology letter was evidence that Koschel did not have remorse until he was sentenced, and told the court Koschel stating in cross-examination last week that he meant Jewish people were an enemy in a “political sense” made his speech “even more serious”.
He also told the court the offending statements needed to be viewed in context of Koschel wearing a T-shirt with a white Celtic cross, and finishing his speech by saying “free Joel Davis, hail White Australia, hail Thomas Sewell”, saying those elements proved “neo-Nazi associations”.
Defence barrister Felicity Graham responded by telling the court that in regards to the seriousness of the offending “it doesn’t take much to think of a much more serious example”, and referred to broadcaster Alan Jones and statements he made ahead of the “Cronulla riots” in 2005 to his “audience of millions”, which a tribunal found incited hatred and vilified Lebanese Muslims.
“Mr Koschel is not in the category of a sophisticated orator, Your Honour should characterise it in that way,” she said.
She told the court her client’s remorse had “evolved” since his arrest, his apology was genuine, he had “genuinely journeyed on the path of challenging himself on ideas he’s held and espoused”, and had shown insight into his offending and accepted responsibility.
Judge Smith noted in sentencing on Tuesday that the racial hatred law only came into effect in August last year, that it was the first time it was before the courts, and that it was created in response to a spate of anti-Semitic incidences in Sydney and “recognises the harm of hate speech and its potential to escalate into violence”.
She told the court she rejected Koschel’s evidence he used the word “enemy” to state “Jewish people were only an adversary in a political sense”, and the contention the offending was within the low range of seriousness, calling it a “serious example of the offence” as it occurred six weeks after the Bondi massacre, and in Moore Park, which she described as being “not a great distance” from the scene of the terrorist attack on a Jewish event.
But Judge Smith said she accepted Koschel was “genuinely and visibly upset” while telling the court in cross-examination he had not been able to contact his daughter since his arrest on January 26, and that his time in custody had allowed him to reflect on the “negative impact he had on family and loved ones”.
She told the court that without Kochel’s decision to give evidence and be subjected to cross-examination she would have rejected his apology letter as implausible, but was prepared to find on balance that there was “some possible shifting in views” and accept he now had “some degree of remorse”.
Judge Smith said she therefore considered his prospects for rehabilitation “reasonable”, noting his pro-social and supportive family and a standing offer of full-time employment as a plumber on release.
She noted his “conduct must be denounced in a multicultural society” where “maintaining social cohesion is of such importance”, saying a message must be conveyed that “acts such as this directed at Jewish people or other minorities must not be tolerated”, and found that only a term of imprisonment would be appropriate.
Judge Smith told the court she had determined the appropriate sentence, including a 25% discount for Koschel’s guilty plea and rounding down for remorse and prospects for rehabilitation, was 10 months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period reduced to six months due to special circumstances including Koschel being in custody for the first time.
Koschel will now be eligible for parole in July.
The original sentence sparked national and global outrage, with supporters raising $27,000 for his family online, and came just a week after Ms Freund gave a paedophile soccer coach one year’s jail with a seven-month non-parole period for possessing child abuse material.
Header image: Left, Brandan Koschel (Instagram). Right, during his arrest (supplied).
