Political wannabe ‘not Nazi saluting, just waving’

Robyn Wuth | October 17, 2025

A failed political candidate and self-proclaimed “loyal Australian patriot” has denied giving a Nazi salute at an AFL game, saying he was merely waving to the players.

Queensland man Tylere Baker-Pearce, 39, allegedly performed the salute at the Brisbane Lions match at the Gabba on September 13. 

He was ejected from the game and copped a lifetime ban from all major sporting facilities across the state.

He also faces criminal charges for the alleged public display of a Nazi salute, an offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

Baker-Pearce was accused of giving the salute a second time following his release from a Brisbane watchhouse.

The charges against the disability support pensioner were back for mention in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, when the case was adjourned until November 21. 

Outside the court, Baker-Pearce insisted he was no neo-Nazi and he was innocent of the charge.

“I was just waving, that’s all,” he told AAP. 

“I had my arm up and I was trying to wave to the players. I’m just a loyal Australian patriot.”

Baker-Pearce twice ran as an independent in state elections for Narre Warren South in Victoria in 2022 and Surfers Paradise in Queensland in 2017.

He finished last on the ballot in both polls.

Federal Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, was publicly critical of Baker-Pearce’s political tilt during the 2022 campaign and the Liberals’ decision to put him before Labor on how-to-vote cards.

“This is a man who has stood outside Auschwitz-Birkenau taking a selfie, smiling and putting a hot emoji on it,” Mr Burns told parliament previously.

“He has a long history of vile, anti-Semitic remarks … but the Liberal Party decided to grant this neo-Nazi their support in the election.”