The NSW government will seek to mirror laws in Germany that ban phrases such as “blood and honour” – a slogan associated with the Hitler Youth – as it considers strengthening hate speech laws amid the fallout from a police-authorised neo-Nazi rally outside parliament.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell on Monday night told the Herald he had been briefed about plans for the National Socialist Network (NSN) to hold its protest five days before the event, but in an “oversight” had not relayed that to Commissioner Mal Lanyon because he had not received information that suggested that any aspect of the demonstration would be illegal.

“In hindsight, it was an oversight of mine not to tell the commissioner because of the organisational, political and public interest in this group,

See Full Page