Members of the National Socialist Network were arrested on Sunday, including two men who face charges under South Australia's tough new anti-Nazi laws.
A total of 13 other men and a youth were charged with various street offences including failing to cease loitering, possessing articles of disguise, hindering and resisting arrest.
A police prosecutor told Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday that at 11am on Sunday, 40 National Socialist Network members dressed in black assembled at the South Australian War Memorial.
"The National Socialist Network is a right-wing extremist group with national socialist ideology," she said.
"The group aims at preparing for a race war which it believes will usher in a white separatist ethno state."
The charged men are from SA, Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.
The group's leader Thomas Sewell, 31, of Wantira South in Victoria was remanded in custody until April after refusing to sign his bail agreement.
Thomas Sewell was remanded in custody after refusing to sign his bail agreement. (Con Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)
"I have not broken the law, I was peacefully demonstrating and celebrating Australia Day, our national holiday, in public with my friends - who weren't wearing disguises," he told Magistrate Luke Davis.
He was the subject of "outright political persecution by corrupt SA Police officers", he said.
Earlier, Mason James Robbins, 30, from Perth, was the first man to appear in court, charged with carrying an offensive weapon or article of disguise and using a Nazi symbol.
Jacob Glen Cooper was released on bail after being charged under tough new anti-Nazi laws. (Abe Maddison/AAP PHOTOS)
Under tough new laws introduced in SA in 2024, people found displaying swastikas or Nazi symbols in public or performing a Nazi salute could be fined up to $20,000 or face a year in jail.
The charge of displaying a Nazi symbol is linked to the wearing of an arrow cross, which is the group's insignia.
Social media posts instructed members to wear black clothing and black face masks "because it erases our individual identity and absorbs it into a collectivity of the nation", the prosecutor said.
"A media interview with the National Socialist Network further stated that if they don't cover up their identities, they lose their jobs."
There would be an issue "lurking in the background" about the constitutional protection of the implied freedom of political communication, Robbins' lawyer said.
"It gives rise to questions about the validity of any law that seeks to prevent contact and communication between members of, if you like, a political party," the lawyer said.
But the prosecutor said the groups were "not a political party" and had taken part in a "co-ordinated incident resulting in criminal offences".
Mr Davis released Robbins on $600 bail to reappear in March with strict conditions including an exclusion from the Adelaide city area, a ban on wearing disguises in public, a ban on possessing firearms and a ban on associating with 30 named people and members of the National Socialist Network and European Australian Movement.
Most of the men were released from custody after agreeing to similar bail conditions.
James Allan Holliday, 25, of Marangaroo in Perth was freed on bail on charges of carrying and offensive weapon or article of disguise, using a Nazi symbol and giving a Nazi salute.
Questioned by the media after he was released, he would only say "happy Australia Day, my friend".
James Allan Holliday was among a group of men arrested at a march in Adelaide on Australia Day. (Abe Maddison/AAP PHOTOS)
Stephen Wells, 55, of Broadwater in WA is charged with loitering. He did not apply for bail.
Sean Roberts, 21, of Oatley in NSW pleaded guilty to loitering. He had a conviction recorded but no further penalty imposed after spending two nights in custody.
A 16-year-old Victorian boy charged with failing to cease loitering was bailed to appear in Adelaide Youth Court on March 21.
Police said a 29-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of displaying a Nazi symbol. He was also expected to be released on bail after appearing in court.
