Neo Nazi Joel Davis fronts Adelaide court, flags ‘constitutional' fight
Joel Davis, a leader in the fascist National Socialist Network, appeared for a pre-trial conference at Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday. He is confronting the allegation that he displayed a Nazi symbol on a belt buckle following an Australia Day protest in the Adelaide CBD this year.
His defence lawyer, Matthew Hopkins, appeared via telephone and told the court that he would serve a notice on the Solicitor-General to argue the charge may have breached his client's constitutional rights.
'Mr Hopkins has just advised he has filed with the court a notice pursuant to the Judicature Act with the intention of obtaining a sealed copy, which he will then serve upon the Solicitor-General, as he wishes to argue a constitutional point in relation to the matter,' chief magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal said.
Mr Hopkins filed the notice on Tuesday morning.
South Australian police arrested and charged 16 people with loitering and displaying Nazi symbols after some 40 men dressed in black stormed the CBD on January 26, chanting 'white man fight back' and singing 'Waltzing Matilda'.
Charges against some of the men, including NSN leader Thomas Sewell, have since been withdrawn.
A charge against Mr Davis from that day was also withdrawn in May.
The neo-Nazis have since claimed they are the victims of political persecution.
After a court hearing in April, Mr Hopkins said the alleged offences had impinged on Mr Sewell and Mr Davis's implied constitutional rights to political expression.
'They do intend to form a political party and it would be a radical departure in Australian constitutional jurisprudence for an ideology to be outlawed,' he said at the time.
'And that's really where we are going with this.'
Mr Hopkins said the NSN had been 'targeted' by the police and suggested the NSN march was a form of political expression comparable to Survival Day rallies.
'There were numerous demonstrations happening in Adelaide,' he said.
'And it seems to be the case where it is this particular organisation that has been targeted as a special group.
'They were carrying the Australian flag, they were at no stage anywhere near those protests.
'One of them was called anti-Australia Day, one was called Invasion Day.
'You have polarising ideologies here that are in conflict and as part of our constitutional representative government we allow for that, and that is part of the reason why the right to political communication is there, so that there is an outlet for legitimate displays of an ideology.'
Mr Davis, speaking outside court in May, also said he would go 'all the way' to the High Court to fight the charge.
Ms Hribal said a representative from the Solicitor-General would likely attend Mr Davis's next appearance and indicate their response to the notice.
She listed September 23 for the next hearing.
Mr Davis is an avowed fascist and has expressed admiration for Hitler.
Hitler led the Nazi war machine in the 1930s and 1940s and orchestrated the extermination of some six millions Jews across Europe.
At an earlier court appearance, police alleged the NSN was preparing for a 'race war' and hoped to usher in a white supremacist ethnostate.
The court was told the men said they wore black outfits to 'represent the ideal of national socialism' and eliminate their individual identities.
South Australia's parliament outlawed the display of Nazi symbols or salutes following a sharp and sudden increase in anti-Semitic expression across the country after the terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The law came into effect in December 2024.
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