A Sydney neo-Nazi tradie who openly admires Adolf Hitler and declares himself 'proud to be racist' has been charged with allegedly menacing minority groups on social media. The case proceeded after a judge dismissed his lawyer's attempt to have it thrown out.
Court Proceedings
Jack Eltis, a 28-year-old air-conditioning technician, appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday. Before the matter formally began, his solicitor Anujan Nagendiram urged both a registrar and Judge Hugh Donnelly to dismiss the charge of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or offend. Nagendiram argued that 'pages were missing' from the court papers and that the person who lodged the charge was not a lawyer.
Judge Donnelly rejected the application, noting that the charge involves a Commonwealth offence and that the Registrar had issued it for a hearing. 'Dismissing it is a substantive decision,' he said.
Private Prosecution
The charge is a private prosecution brought by Anton Tutoveanu, a computer scientist and cryptographer. Tutoveanu said he was trying to 'do something for the community' about allegedly 'nasty' comments posted online by Eltis targeting Indian, Jewish, and other ethnic groups. Tutoveanu, who is not a lawyer, has previously launched legal action, including a High Court writ against the Commonwealth over its response to the Middle East conflict.
Eltis's Background and Activities
Eltis works in his family's air-conditioning and electrical business in the Riverstone-Kellyville area of far northwestern Sydney. He is considered a rising figure in Australia's neo-Nazi movement among high-profile white nationalists. Last year, he acted as a fill-in leader when Thomas Sewell was jailed.
In November, Eltis organised a neo-Nazi rally outside the New South Wales Parliament, where 67 men dressed in black chanted antisemitic slogans and held a banner reading 'Abolish the Jewish Lobby'. The rally ended with chanting a Hitler Youth slogan. In a subsequent interview, Eltis said, 'All the men in our organisation are proud to be racist. We're proud of who we are as white men. Our ancestors built this land for us, and we're proud of that — we put our race first.'
In January, the National Socialist Network, where Eltis served as third-in-command, announced it would disband in response to proposed federal hate speech laws. On his Telegram account, Eltis posted that the movement's lawyers were working on a High Court challenge and that 'we aren't ever going to give up in our mission for a White Australia'.
Family Distancing
Last year, Eltis's parents publicly distanced themselves from his views after being targeted on social media. His father Matt wrote, 'As some of you know, our son Jack Eltis has involved himself in a Neo Nazi organisation. None of our family condone or support this organisation. Jack is a grown adult and has made his decisions.'
The court can now move forward and set a hearing date for later this year.
