A white supremacist has become the first person in Australia to be sentenced to prison for making a Nazi salute, but he ultimately spent just an hour in custody.

25-year-old Jacob Hersant performed this move outside a building. Melbourne He appeared in court in October 2023 after avoiding jail for violent disorder.

He also praised Adolf Hitler and said: “Australia for the white man.”

Hi was declared illegal by the state parliament days ago and has since been banned throughout Australia.

Hersant was convicted last month and released on bail pending sentencing.

He faced a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison and a fine of A$24,000 (£12,300) but was sentenced to one month in prison.

“If it was physical violence, I would have imposed a sentence close to the maximum,” Judge Brett Sonnet said.

He said his remarks were “clearly racist and intended to promote white supremacy in Australia”.

The court heard Hersant was part of the National Socialist Network, which promotes white supremacy, deports immigrants and supports far-right actors.

But the neo-Nazi was detained for just an hour before his lawyer appealed and was released on bail, arguing he should not be jailed for a non-violent act.

The 25-year-old journalist also told reporters on his way to court: “We will argue that the law is constitutionally invalid, emotional and anti-white.”

“That’s my political view, and I think it’s a good fight for us to argue in court that these laws are invalid.”

Read more from Sky News:
Anti-Semitic rioters target Israeli football fans in Amsterdam
Putin congratulates ‘brave’ Trump on election victory

Three others were also convicted of performing the famous straight-arm salute at a football match in Sydney in June.

Last month another trio were convicted of doing this outside the Sydney Jewish Museum. However, all of them were fined and not jailed.

Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission and an anti-semitism campaigner, said Hersant’s prison sentence was a reminder that Australia “shows no mercy to those who bring symbols of terror to our streets”.

“This is not just a sentence, it is a national roar that the symbols of Nazism have no place on our land,” he said.