South African who attended Sydney neo-Nazi rally taken into immigration detention
Matthew Gruter was photographed at a neo-Nazi rally outside of NSW parliament house. (Supplied)
In short:
A South African man is being held in immigration detention after attending a neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament earlier this month.
Matthew Gruter's Australian visa was revoked by the federal government this week after he was photographed at the front of the gathering.
What's next?
The home affairs minister says Mr Gruter has limited options for appeal.
A South African man who attended a neo-Nazi protest in Sydney has been taken to a detention centre overnight as the federal home affairs minister anticipates "he'll be gone very soon".
Matthew Gruter's visa was revoked by the federal government this week after he was photographed at the front of a gathering organised by the National Socialist Network (NSN).
The protest on November 8 was held outside NSW parliament and featured two rows of men clad in black, displaying a banner calling to "Abolish the Jewish lobby".
An estimated 60 people from the National Socialist Network attended a rally Saturday, November 8, 2025. (Supplied: X)
The group of about 60 also chanted a slogan associated with the Hitler Youth, "blood and honour".
Mr Gruter was identified as one of the attendees by ABC Verify in the days following the protest, but when contacted, he denied being there.
Social media posts suggest Mr Gruter and his wife came to Australia in 2022 on a work-sponsored visa.
Mr Gruter's visa was revoked this week. (Supplied)
On Monday, Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke revealed Mr Gruter had his visa revoked by the federal government.
"Between 4 and 5am this morning, Australian Border Force took him into immigration detention," Mr Burke said on Tuesday.
The minister said Mr Gruter would remain there "until either he gets his own ticket to leave Australia otherwise he'll be deported".
'He'll be gone very soon'
The home affairs minister said "most people who are in immigration detention leave pretty quickly".
"My expectation is he'll be gone very soon," he said.
Mr Burke said the grounds for appeal were limited because the decision was made by a minister in the portfolio, as opposed to the department.
"I'll be surprised if he even tries," he said.
Mr Burke said the outcome was "setting a standard" and sending a message.
Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke says Mr Gruter can fly back out of his own pocket, or be deported. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)
"My priority is that Australians feel at home, feel safe, that they are safe in Australia," he said.
"We've got a really strong principle here: If you're on a visa, you're a guest in Australia.
"If someone turns up for the purposes of just abusing people and wrecking the place and damaging the cohesion, you can ask them to leave."
Prior to the visa cancellation, NSW Premier Chris Minns said there was "no such thing as a part-time Nazi".
"You can't hold down a job somewhere else in civic life and expect to be free from scrutiny by joining one of these horrible organisations," he said.