The Prime Minister's nephew has reportedly been fined for inciting a riot after he dressed in Ku Klux Klan attire and protested outside the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park.

Van Thanh Rudd, an artist notorious for bold public statements, and another man were taken away in a police van.

James Crafti, a fellow member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, says there was "absolutely no struggle" from the protesters.

"But they have been told they will be receiving fines of $200 for supposedly inciting a riot," he said.

"From our end there was no confrontation, all we had was a few people with no power whatsoever using the only power we've got, which is our voices and our visual ability to display ourselves."

Mr Crafti says the protesters were simply practicing free speech like other Australians.

"There were two people holding costumes and several others of us who were holding signs," he said.

"We've got people around the streets of Melbourne today waving around Australian flags, waving patriotic symbols.

"If you want to talk about inciting, that sort of thing would incite Indigenous people and make a lot of people upset."

Mr Crafti says as far as he is aware, Van Thanh Rudd and his uncle, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, are not in regular contact.

"They're not estranged in any sense, but Van is very much his own person and has very different views in terms of the racism of this country," he said.

Van Thanh Rudd said today's protest was aimed at recent attacks on Indian nationals and the Federal Government's support for "genocidal regimes".

"The Australian Government is supporting governments like the Sri Lankan government, for example, in preventing Sri Lankan Tamils from escaping the Sri Lankan government," he said.

"Australia funds the genocidal Sri Lankan regime and then rejects the refugees who flee. In this country you could not get away with doing that against whites. So they're the basic reasons we're having the protest today."

A painting by Van Thanh Rudd depicting Ronald McDonald running with the Olympic torch past a burning monk has previously been banned by Melbourne City Council.

His works also include graffiti art and the $1.2 billion 'Used Car from Afghanistan' - a piece containing a small piece of an Afghan civilian car, destroyed by a NATO missile in southern Afghanistan.

Van Thanh Rudd said he chose Melbourne Park for today's protest because it gets significant attention on Australia Day.

A spokeswoman for Mr Rudd says his nephew's protest "is a matter for the people involved".