Former actor Damien Richardson has avoided jail after being sentenced in Australia for performing a gesture resembling a Nazi salute at a nationalist political event.
The 57-year-old, known for roles in Neighbours and City Homicide, was given a 12-month community corrections order by the County Court and must complete 100 hours of unpaid community work.
He has also agreed to visit the Melbourne Holocaust Museum after being found guilty of performing the banned gesture.
Richardson made the gesture while addressing about 90 people at a National Workers Alliance event at a restaurant on September 14 2024. During the speech, he criticised what he described as the “war on men”, the “transsexual agenda” and “wokism”.
While objecting to being compared with Adolf Hitler in an article by The Age, Richardson raised his right arm as the crowd applauded.
“Yep, that guy. Are you allowed to do that? Am I allowed to do that? … Am I gonna be fined? Am I gonna go to jail for five years? Oh, Richardson did the salute,” he said.
Members of the audience were heard clapping and making anti-Semitic comments, the court was told.
Richardson was initially placed on a 12-month undertaking to be of good behaviour and was required to take part in a restorative justice programme created by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. The programme included therapy, an apology and education about the Holocaust.
He appealed against his conviction and sentence but was again found guilty earlier this year after a two-day hearing. The court was told he had refused to take part in the restorative justice programme, while a Corrections Victoria assessment concluded it was unlikely to be useful because his political views were entrenched.
Richardson, who was prominent in the anti-vaccine mandate movement and has twice stood unsuccessfully as a political candidate, had continued to justify his actions as being in jest. He also complained to Corrections Victoria of what he described as a “conspiracy to cancel him because of his political beliefs”.
Judge Kate Hawkins said Richardson’s political rhetoric was not the reason he was before the court.
“Whether or not you hold any sympathy with Nazi ideology is irrelevant,” she said. “This offence arises because of the actions you performed in performing the gesture, not your political views.”
Judge Hawkins said the sentence should make clear that Nazi salutes were offensive, harmful and against the law.
At the end of the hearing, Richardson began to speak when asked whether he had any questions. The judge stopped him after he said: “No Your Honour, it’s just this gesture…”, telling him: “This is not an opportunity for a speech”.
