Cricket Australia issues warning after 'It's ok to be white' banner in Perth

Three men who unfurled an 'It's ok to be white' banner during last night's Big Bash match at Perth Stadium will receive a "first and final warning" from Cricket Australia.

The banner was displayed for about five minutes over the railing on the top tier near the Justin Langer Stand during Perth Scorchers' innings against Sydney Thunder. The men took down the banner shortly after reportedly being spotted by security and were issued move-on notices by police.

Perth Stadium's conditions of entry prohibits oversized banners and flags deemed to cause public nuisance.

The slogan is affiliated with white supremacist groups and gained prominence in Australia last October when controversial senator Pauline Hanson put forward a motion declaring 'it's OK to be white'.

Government senators originally supported the motion, before backing down and voted against it the second time around.

A Western Australia police spokesperson said the incident was "currently under investigation by police", with the trio involved aged 50, 38 and 24. Perth has a history of racial and religiously motivated banners appearing in public places. In 2016 a banner declaring "Go WCE, Stop the Mosques" was briefly unfurled at Subiaco Oval during an AFL fixture between West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, following a similar banner displayed during another AFL match in Melbourne.

Stadium management indicated at the time that the four spectators responsible for the banner would be banned from the stadium for life.

Earlier this summer, numerous spectators were ejected from the MCG's famous Bay 13 during the Boxing Day Test for repeatedly chanting "show us your visa" to Indian members of the crowd. Footage of the chant, obtained by ESPNcricinfo, was passed on to Cricket Australia, who in turn passed the video on to Victoria Police and stadium management.

"Three people in question was immediately removed from the venue and they will be issued a first and final warning from Cricket Australia," a CA spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo in relation to Friday's incident. "Cricket Australia takes a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour at any of our matches, which includes racial vilification.

"Our message to any fan attending a match is that if you display anti-social behaviour you will be removed and risk being banned from any cricket match across Australia, along with police action.

"We encourage anybody who may witness this at one of our matches to report the matter to security or a member of staff immediately."