An Australian father faces a year in jail after being reported to police by a Newcastle beachgoer who took offence to an alleged Nazi tattoo on his lower leg.
The 36-year-old was tracked down to his home in Urunga, near Coffs Harbour, on Friday after being photographed at Bar Beach, 360km away, during a family trip on Christmas Eve.
NSW Police arrested the man at about 6.30pm on Friday and charged him with “knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse” and “cause prohibited Nazi symbol to be displayed in public place”.
He was granted strict conditional bail and will face court next month. The NSW offence has a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment and/or a $12,000 fine.
His is the latest in a series of charges related to Nazi symbols or salutes, including a man charged over an alleged image of Adolf Hitler on a boat, made by police in the wake of the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack.
Ben Parsons told 9News he reported the alleged SS tattoo under the words “White power” to police because he thought the ink was “shocking” and “pretty offensive”.
“At the moment I think we all need to be the best Australians we can be, and have solidarity in unity and stand together in erasing racism and erasing fascism,” he said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns says having a Nazi symbol tattooed on your body constitutes hate speech, condemning the tattoo artist involved.
NSW Police have arrested and charged a man for allegedly displaying hate symbol tattoos at a Newcastle beach last night. pic.twitter.com/FgJAcEhFSb
— Australians vs. The Agenda (@ausvstheagenda) December 28, 2025
NSW Premier Chris Minns defended the charges on Sunday and said it would be “self-evidently ridiculous” if a person could not be charged for a Nazi symbol tattoo.
“There’s no place for it. People who are propagating that or are responsible for tattooing it, they should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to stamp out hate in our community.”
Mr Minns also said there was “no statute of limitations on being a racist and an anti-Semite”, and said for the 12th or 13th time that Australians don’t enjoy the same free speech protections as Americans because of multiculturalism.
His comments came after Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal said in a public submission to an inquiry that Mr Minns’ “hate speech” laws needed the “inciting racial hatred” threshold lowered to “promoting hatred” and that prosecutors should not have to prove fear, harassment, intimidation or violence.
“The intentional promotion of hatred is itself harmful to society and destructive of social cohesion, and ought to attract criminal liability irrespective of whether it raises an immediate fear response,” she wrote.
Mr Minns is refusing to release the February inquiry’s final report that was handed to Attorney-General Michael Daley last month, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, and is instead pushing for even more restrictive “hate speech” laws.
There have been only two charges under the the current “hate speech” laws since coming into effect in August, one of which was withdrawn by prosecutors.
A spokesperson for Mr Daley defended the laws by revealing that 41 people had been convicted of Nazi symbol offences as of the end of October.
Header image: The alleged Nazi tattoo (supplied).
