Australian Minister of Home Affairs Peter Dutton inspects St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka. File/Reuters

Australia on Monday designated a right-wing extremist group as a terrorist organisation for the first time, a ruling that gives Canberra the power to imprison members of the neo-Nazi group.

The classification of UK-based Sonnenkrieg Division - also known as SKD - follows a similar ruling made by Britain last year.

“SKD adheres to 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,” Peter Dutton, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs said in an emailed statement.

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The head of Australia’s ASIO intelligence agency, Mike Burgess, said on Monday that SKD and other right-wing groups accounted for 40% of terror-related investigations carried out over the past 12 months.

Australia, a staunch US ally, is on heightened alert after a series of “lone wolf” attacks in recent years.

In 2019, a teenage neo-Nazi who called for Britain’s Prince Harry a race traitor months after his marriage to US actress Meghan Markle was jailed in Britain alongside another member of SKD for terrorism offences.

Reuters