"Abhorrent" neo-Nazi group listed terrorist organization in Australia

CANBERRA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has listed a right-wing group as a terrorist organization for the first time.

Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs, on Monday confirmed that the neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) has been named a terrorist organization on the advice of the government.

Listing a group as a terrorist organization criminalizes membership or any association with it and gives law enforcement agencies greater power to monitor them.

Groups that have previously been listed include Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda.

Dutton said that SKD followed an "abhorrent, violent ideology that encourages lone-wolf terrorist actors who would seek to cause significant harm to our way of life and our country."

"Members of SKD have already been convicted of terrorist offences in the United Kingdom, including encouraging terrorism, preparing for a terrorist attack and possession and dissemination of terrorist material," he said.

"SKD's active promotion and encouragement of terrorism has the potential to inspire extremists across the world, and the availability of SKD propaganda online throughout the pandemic has provided fertile ground for radicalization."

Mike Burgess, the director general of spy agency Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), told a Senate hearing on Monday that the agency has recommended other ideologically-motivated groups also be listed.

However, he conceded that ally nations such as Britain had a broader definition of terrorist organizations.

"There are other groups we have proposed. Obviously how that happens and whether or not they meet the legal threshold is a matter for others," Burgess said.

"If we believe the group is promoting violence then we will consider pushing that forward - as to whether that proves the legal threshold for listing (that's a matter for government)."