Christchurch Mosque Shooting 'Inspiring' Aussie Far-Right Extremists And White Supremacists

Right-wing extremist attacks may be 'lone wolf' assaults from "someone not on the radar" of security agencies, an expert has warned, as ASIO sounds the alarm on neo-Nazis and white supremacist terrorists.

Extremists behind attacks on mosques and synagogues around the world have referenced the actions and written manifesto of the alleged shooter in the March 2019 Christchurch attack, and there are fears the Australian man's example could inspire others in his homeland.

"What we’ve seen since that attack, has been what was a promotion of ideology online has shifted into incitement to violence and people acting on that incitement," Dr Andre Oboler, CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute and an associate in the Law School at La Trobe University, told 10 daily.

"We’ve seen a number of attacks around the world since then which have referred to it, creating new energy to turn talk to action."

Referring to several recent far-right attacks -- including in the Californian town of Poway, the Texas city of El Paso and the German town of Halle -- Oboler claimed far-right extremists were becoming more "inspired" to act.

"There's a level of expectation building for people in the far-right to take action. Not just talk, but do something," he said.

It comes after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's director-general, Mike Burgess, voiced alarm about a "real" and "growing" threat from the "extreme right", including small groups of armed people who gather to salute Nazi flags and train in combat.

On Tuesday, Burgess said far-right groups "are more organised and security conscious than they were in previous years."

"While we would expect any right-wing extremist inspired attack in Australia to be of low capability, i.e. a knife, gun or vehicle attack, more sophisticated attacks are possible," he said.

Oboler agreed. He said recent high-profile examples of far-right identities in Australia -- such as the Reclaim Australia movement -- "were all about talk", but the current threat was of more direct action or violence, which may be hard to predict.

"The threat we’re seeing now is people radicalised by what they see online, but some of these people are just quietly watching until they decide to act," he said.

"The intelligence services will have little information on these people, unless they're saying something online, as they will leave little footprints.

[Violence] is likely to come from someone not on the radar

"Someone wanting or planning to take action will be moderating what they say online, as they know security agencies are looking for that stuff. The first we know about an attack could be when an announcement is made or one starts," Oboler continued.

"That's quite concerning."

Experts have raised concerns about rising incidents of antisemitism and neo-Nazism in Australia, including public rallies from far-right supporters, the proliferation of swastika and racist graffiti, and white supremacist groups organising on social media or web forums.

Labor politician Ed Husic, the first Muslim federal member of parliament, said Australia needed to do more to combat a rising threat.

"I'm telling you now, based on the briefings I've received, we are not taking this seriously. We reckon that we're only following a few people on this issue here in this country," he said in a speech on Monday.

Both Oboler and Dr Kristy Campion -- a lecturer in terrorism studies at Charles Sturt University -- said it was difficult to pin down a specific profile for a far-right extremist.

Oboler said, generally, white supremacist actors in Australia were men aged 18-30, and living in non-urban areas, but that women have also become involved in local extremist groups.

Campion said some tropes around what far-right actors look like are "not necessarily correct".

"There's discourse that they're all angry, underemployed young men, but a lot of them are well-off, and we see a lot of women engaged in this movement," she told 10 daily.

"We can't assume the future right-wing threat would be male."

Campion, whose recent research has focused on right-wing extremism, said Australian authorities had taken the threat seriously for decades, and kept threats well-contained.

However, she said a greater amount of long-term, consistent funding was needed for deradicalisation and disengagement groups, and that Australia could look to how European nations like Belgium, Norway, and Sweden have dealt with their far-right actors.

She also said Australian authorities could do more to boost education around civics and government, to counter misinformation spread by far-right groups about -- for example -- alleged negative impacts of democracy, immigration and multiculturalism.

"It's hard because holding these beliefs isn't illegal. At the end of the day, people are allowed to believe these things, but not to carry out violence to achieve them," she said.

"We need more education about the values of Australian society which our democracy rests upon. We can't assume everyone knows the truth, so when the far-right comes along and starts talking about replacement theory or threats of immigration, we can't assume everyone knows that's wrong."

Oboler also called on the government to fund civil society, academics and prevention groups to stop far-right supporters from becoming radicalised, rather than just supporting deradicalisation efforts.

"They're focusing on stuff at the end of the spectrum, where it's the most expensive and difficult to deal with. Sometimes that's at the expense of things further upstream," he said.

"It should be about prevention, not just cleaning up afterward."