West Australian court records showed Mcleod appeared by video link in the magistrates\u2019 court in Perth, where he was charged with possessing \u201cviolent extremist material\u201d that he held in an electronic form that had been obtained over the internet.<\/p>\n
Under Australia\u2019s law, the charge alleges possession of digital content that advocates serious violence in the cause of extremist ideologies. The charge was one of possession and does not allege a planned attack.<\/p>\n
The court hearing involved no application for bail and Mcleod was remanded in custody until March 20.<\/p>\n
He was represented by Dr Neville Barber, an experienced West Australia lawyer who has worked both as state prosecutor and as president of the Mental Health Review Board of Western Australia. <\/p>\n
New Zealand man Brendan Mcleod has been remanded in custody after he was accused of possessing violent extremist material \u2013 including material about terror attacks and bomb-making \u2013 on his phone when he entered Australia.<\/p>\n
Mcleod is alleged to have been travelling into Australia when he was stopped for a border check at which officials sought access to his devices.<\/p>\n
It mirrors the scenario in which shamed business tycoon Ron Brierley\u2019s devices were successfully searched for child sexual imagery in 2020, with border officials having broad powers to access people\u2019s devices once they land, or are airside before takeoff.<\/p>\n
Investigators alleged the phone showed violent extremist material<\/a> had been accessed online, including footage of killings overseas linked to different ideologies. <\/p>\n They also alleged the phone showed access to videos about manufacturing homemade explosives.<\/p>\n Officers later executed a search warrant at a Perth central city property and seized a computer.<\/p>\n The Western Australia Joint Counter Terrorism Team launched an investigation with a computer seized from a central Perth address ahead of the court appearance. The team includes federal and local police, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.<\/p>\n Federal police commander Nick Read said \u201cyoung or vulnerable people\u201d<\/a> were particular targets of terrorist organisations seeking to radicalise others through violent extremist material.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no place in Australian society for violent or extremist content,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Global Risk Consulting director Chris Kumeroa \u2013 a counter-terrorism specialist \u2013 believes it was \u201chighly unlikely\u201d that the search of the man was random.<\/p>\n He speculated it was probable the man was \u201calready in the system\u201d, with security officials likely in receipt of information showing he had accessed the material.<\/p>\n He said Australian officials had stepped up efforts to identify and counter violent extremism since the December 2025 Bondi Beach terror attack.<\/a><\/p>\n Kumeroa cautioned that it was unknown what material the man was accessing, or what ideology it promoted, but he claimed young white men were \u201cthe most likely ethnicity, gender and age range to be vulnerable to extremist ideas\u201d in Australia and New Zealand. <\/p>\nCounter-terrorism specialist Chris Kumeroa, director of Global Risk Consulting.<\/p>\n