By Ethan Benedicto
The attendance of what has been confirmed to be neo-nazis at the community-wide gathering at a local lake has sparked concerns, spelling a bad omen for what was initially a consultation issue.
Guru Nanak Lake, which previously held the name of Berwick Springs Lake, attracted a crowd of over 600 people on the night of Tuesday 19 November, where one of the organisers of the petition to repeal the renaming, Michael Ball, spoke on the lack of consultation and the appropriateness of the new name.
He was accompanied by other speakers such as Berwick MP Brad Battin and Southeastern Metropolitan MP Ann-Marie Hermans, as well as local resident Monique Davis whose family had lived in the estate since 1972.
However, confirmed by The Age, members of a known neo-nazi group were also present, with their leader Thomas Sewell as well as Joel Davis among the fray.
These men had communicated no prior information with Ball or co-organiser Aldonio Ferreira and neither with either of the MPs.
Ball, regarding their presence in the crowd, said that he “didn’t think much of it”.
“They weren’t invited, not by Brad’s team and they certainly weren’t invited by me.
“Nobody knew they were there, and they didn’t have any impact on what we were talking about.
“I don’t think they have an influence on the campaign whatsoever, [they’re] completely irrelevant.”
Ball highlighted that the area around the lake is a public space, and that “it’s not my place to say who can or can’t visit”.
He added that the campaign and the petition have “nothing to do with them” and that the locale’s message remains very clear.
The men, who were clad in black and bore a similar logo to that of the neo-nazi group European Australia Movement (EAM), were gathered at the back of the crowd with a camera in tow for the duration of the speeches.
They were observed taking photos of the event, as well as positioning for a group photo near the edges of the lake after the meeting was over and as the crowd dispersed.
An Opposition spokesperson stated that “upon becoming aware of these individuals, Victoria Police were immediately alerted and Liberal MPs in attendance left the event”.
Sewell, a New Zealand-born Australian and far-right activist founded the National Socialist Network in early 2021, where he merged it with other groups such as the Lads Society and the Antipodean Resistance.
He too heads the EAM, which was established in 2021 and, in January of that year, he and other EAM members – a total of 38 – were photographed performing the Nazi salute and chanting racist slogans next to Lake Bellfield near the Grampians in western Victoria over the Australia Day weekend.
In May that year, Sewell also assaulted a black security guard prior to a Nine Network program that was about to broadcast a report on the NSN; he was charged by VicPol’s Counter Terrorism Command with affray, recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault.
The men made little to no contact with the local residents and kept mostly to themselves.
Two VicPol officers were observed at the scene and remained until the men left.
