A fundraising campaign driven by an Australian neo-Nazi organisation has come to the aid of a South African man detained in an early-morning immigration raid.
Matthew Gruter, who moved to Australia in 2022 with his wife, was arrested in a pre-dawn immigration raid after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke cancelled his visa on “character grounds.”
The South African civil engineer was taken to Villawood detention centre in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Gruter is set to be deported after attending a far-right rally in Sydney earlier this month.
The 32-year-old was photographed among roughly 60 black-clad men at an anti-Jewish demonstration outside the New South Wales parliament.
Australia has witnessed a growing surge in right-wing extremism, prompting the government to introduce tough new measures.
Among them is a mandatory prison sentence for performing the Nazi salute.
“What could be a clearer example of someone showing they don’t care about cohesion in Australia, than turning up to a neo-Nazi rally?” said Burke.
The protest was organised by the National Socialist Network – which now refers to itself as “White Australia.
The rally featured chants of “blood and honour”, a slogan linked to the Hitler Youth.
Over R200 000 raised
The visa cancellation sparked immediate fundraising efforts from the far-right group.
The organisation claimed that Gruter’s home was raided at 4am on Tuesday morning by immigration agents, and asked for donations to support Gruter and his family.
According to The Guardian, the group had raised $20 000 (R223 000) for Gruter as of Tuesday afternoon, and were prepared to challenge the deportation “via every possible angle.”
In spite of the support, the Australian government has stood firm, saying those who attended the rally were not “patriotic.”
“Multicultural Australia and modern Australia are the same thing…they hate modern Australia,” Burke added.
The shadow minister for home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, echoed Burke’s sentiments.
“There is no room in Australia for clowns like that who want to come here and preach hate,” he said. “Go back to where you came from, frankly.”
