Australia listed two organizations, the Base and Hezballah, as terrorist organizations Wednesday.
The Base is a group that promotes white supremacy and adheres to neo-Nazi ideology. Hezbollah is a militant extremist group with religious ideology. The organizations are now listed as terrorist organizations under Division 102 of the Australian Criminal Code Act of 1995. Although Hezbollah’s security branch has been designated as a terrorist organization since 2003, Wednesday’s proscription will see the whole of the organization listed, including its political components.
Becoming a listed terrorist organization makes it an offense to be a member of any such organization as well as participating in its activities, recruiting members, training, being associated with the organization, and funding the organization.
Calls to list The Base as a terrorist organization has abounded for the past year. The move is aimed to protect Australians from national security threats as the country prepares to re-open its borders and to crack down on The Base’s activities within the country already.
The Base and Hezbollah will be the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth organizations listed as terrorist organizations under the Criminal Code Act 1995 after the country added the right-wing neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division earlier this year.
Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, commented:
Listing these [organizations] sends a very strong message that Australia condemns the use of terrorism to achieve political, ideological or religious objectives. There is absolutely no place in Australia for violent extremism. There is no cause – religious or ideological – that can justify killing innocent people.
The move to publicly denounce terrorist organizations as the world prepares for increasing international travel is not unique to Australia. Earlier this month, the UK introduced a proscription order against Hamas.