Canberra Man Fined $5,000 for White Supremacist Stickers, Faces Prison for Nazi Salute

Zachery Hook pleaded guilty this year to performing Nazi salutes and to plastering white‑supremacist stickers over Indigenous and multicultural signs at the Australian National University.

The Canberra resident was fined $5,000 after admitting to placing stickers promoting the National Socialist Network and slogans such as “Australia for the white man” and “White revolution is the only solution” around ANU’s Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre on two occasions in August and September 2025.

At the time of the offences Hook was thethen‑18‑year‑old and was charged with offensive behaviour on Commonwealth premises, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of $6,600.

In addition to the sticker incident, Hook acknowledged twice performing the Nazi salute in public, a Commonwealth charge introduced in 2024 that mandates at least 12 months’ imprisonment. The ACT Magistrates Court could not sentence him for that offence because the possible prison term exceeded the court’s authority.

Magistrate James Lawton noted that “social media had no doubt had an impact on Hook’s behaviour” during sentencing.

Because the magistrate could not impose a custodial sentence, Hook’s Nazi‑salute charge will be transferred to the ACT Supreme Court, where he faces a potential prison term next month.

The National Socialist Network, identified on the stickers, was banned earlier this year under Australia’s hate‑speech laws and is currently appealing that decision in the High Court.

The stickers were affixed to a poster encouraging multiculturalism and to a cabinet and door inside the university’s Black, Indigenous and People of Colour department building.

Hook initially entered a not‑guilty plea before changing his plea to guilty for the offences.