Barnaby Joyce says he unknowingly met with neo-Nazi activist Thomas Sewell

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says he “had no idea who Thomas Sewell was” when he recently met the prominent neo-Nazi activist in Canberra.

Mr Joyce said on Wednesday he was having a drink with a friend at Casino Canberra when a group “unbeknownst” to him approached.

“After a while, I start to get a little bit worried about them because they start talking about Anglo-Celtic immigration and stuff like that, so I quietly make my way away,” he told News24.

He insisted he did not arrive with the group and there was no “organised meeting”.

“Did I actually even know who they were when they came up? No,” Mr Joyce said.

“I don’t follow the Nazi party, but they seemed like weird dudes and I made sure we stopped the conversation.”

However, he did confirm Mr Sewell was there along with another ultra-right figure, Hugo Lennon.

“I had no idea who Thomas Sewell was, but a bald bloke came up with a funny accent,” Mr Joyce said.

Originally published as Barnaby Joyce says he unknowingly met with neo-Nazi activist Thomas Sewell