☕️ Neo-Nazis in High Court this week

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The quote: “Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA.” South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone announcing the show’s new title after U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to rename New Mexico “New America,” and his earlier pushes to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

The stat: $S3.9 million. The total annual salary of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, following a $S1.4 million ($AU1.5 million) pay rise. It’s the highest disclosed salary of any world leader.

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Yesterday's results: 72% of you said you have seen a live theatre show in the last year. 25% of you have in the last five years, while 4% of you have never been. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,628 votes].

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Sydney Theatre Company's got three hilarious shows on offer. There's one about the world’s worst houseguest called The Unfriend, a satirical trip through Parliament called Housework, and a legendary take on Paul Keating called The Gospel According to Paul.

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A senior group of Government officials has made a bid to stop clips of Senate hearings from being posted on social media.

The request came from the Secretaries Board, which represents the top public servants from each Government department.

It says footage posted without full context exposes officials to “ridicule, hostility or abuse”.

Critics say the change reduce scrutiny of public servants.

Every major federal department is run day to day by a senior bureaucrat called a “secretary”.

Secretaries manage the department, while Government Ministers are elected officials who publicly announce policy and answer to voters.

These secretaries are part of a board, chaired by Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Steven Kennedy.

Senate hearings are public meetings where a group of senators questions people about a particular issue. They can be called to review a bill, or Government spending (known as Budget Estimates).

During a Senate hearing last week, Defence deputy secretary Celia Perkins said the department’s witnesses “do not consent to the reposting of our evidence to social media sites”.

The committee overruled Perkins, with Greens Senator David Shoebridge saying department officials “do not get to censor what the Australian public sees”.

This week, the Secretaries Board asked the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards to “consider options to prevent the potentially harmful use of committee evidence on social media.”

The group argued officials haven’t consented to their evidence being used this way, since it was given for the purposes of the hearing, not for political parties to share online.

If Parliament won’t go that far, they said the fallback should be requiring excerpts to be posted in full, with no editing, no added captions, and comments switched off.

Opposition defence spokesperson James Paterson told TDA that “seeking to restrict the use of that footage would be an extraordinary overreach in a parliamentary democracy”.

Greens Senator Steph Hodgins-May said: “Bureaucrats shouldn’t get to decide where to draw the line on parliamentary scrutiny, particularly when they’re the ones being scrutinised.”

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

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This week, the White Australia Party (formerly the National Socialist Network or NSN) is arguing in the High Court that a hate speech law passed in January is unconstitutional.

The law was introduced following the Bondi terror attack in December, and includes a framework to formally list prohibited hate groups. The White Australia Party is on this list.

Party members, including the president, convicted criminal Thomas Sewell, are challenging the law.

Last year, the National Socialist Network (NSN) renamed itself White Australia. It is a neo-Nazi group that promotes white supremacy.

Sewell has faced criminal charges for his behaviour on multiple occasions. He is currently serving a community corrections order for offensive behaviour outside the Chinese consulate in Melbourne in 2024.

Last year, Sewell spent two months in custody before being released on bail over an alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty, a First Nations protest site. The matter is before the court.

In December, two gunmen opened fire at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and injuring many more. Hundreds had gathered to celebrate the start of the Jewish festival of Chanukah.

In response, the Government introduced two bills, one of which addressed hate speech. It passed with Liberal Party support and created a framework for the Government to formally list “prohibited hate groups,” similar to how terrorist organisations are listed.

It specifically aims to lower the legal threshold for organisations that are “just below” previous laws. In the past, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess identified NSN as an example.

Under the framework, it is a criminal offence to be a member of a prohibited hate group, recruit others, or provide training, funding or other support.

The rebranded White Australia was listed on 15 May, one day before the regulations came into effect.

White Australia filed documentation with the Australian Electoral Commission to create the White Australia Party in April 2026.

The White Australia Party and Sewell filed a case in the High Court in May, after the new law came into effect.

Their lawyers have three key arguments against the law’s validity: The Government is not authorised to create or enforce such a law; it’s against the freedom of political communication implied in the constitution; and it breaches the separation of the three streams of power: executive, judicial and legislative. Essentially, they argue the law gives the Government powers that should belong to the court.

The lawyers are using a 1951 case as a precedent for their argument: Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth. This case determined it was unconstitutional for the Menzies Government to pass a law banning the Australian Communist Party in 1950.

The plaintiff also addressed the White Australia Party’s April request to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to register as an eligible political party. However, the White Australia Party’s listing as a prohibited hate group means being active — such as through support or membership — is criminalised.

ANU Professor Ron Levy told TDA it is an “unsympathetic case for those who wish to protect free speech at all costs,” adding the party “has few friends in government, or, presumably, in the legal world.”

He said the Communist Party comparison is a “stretch”, because the 1950s law was “very extreme” and possibly “too broad a power,” as it allowed the Government to declare a person a Communist under a “vague” definition.

Addressing the separation of powers argument, Levy said this is usually used to argue that “a law pronounces the guilt of a group of people... usurping the role of judges”.

The case will be heard over two days in the High Court this week. An outcome is not expected for some time.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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The recently restored 1st-century AD depiction of a maritime city was discovered in an underground gallery during excavations in the 1990s of the Baths of Trajan on the Oppio hill near the Colosseum. The works are opening to the public for the first time, initially in small groups of 15 and during a trial period of weekend access starting this month. The aim is to determine how the delicate works respond to increased humidity and climatic impacts before allowing more general access.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Queensland Police have fined a P Plater more than $1,000 for allegedly steering with his knees while buttering a bagel in an unregistered car.

Yep, you read that right. As TDA features editor Emma put it, it’s “the old caught-buttering-your-bagel-behind-the-wheel”.

Acting Superintendent Kelly Hanlen warned that taking your focus off the road “even for something as seemingly harmless like preparing food” can have serious consequences.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.