Australia (Common Wealth) _ The federal administration of Australia will impose new laws in parliament next week prohibiting the use of the Hakenkreuz or swastika symbol, as well as the insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi party’s paramilitary wing.
As a result, Australians who exhibit Nazi insignia may face up to a year in prison under a new ban on fascist emblems, but the Hitler salute will still remain legal.
The display of these symbols on flags, armbands, and clothing will be prohibited throughout Australia, as will uploading the insignia online. Nazi memorabilia will be rendered illegal and will be prohibited in retail and internet retailers.
Private ownership will not be prohibited under the proposed rule, including things collected as war souvenirs or artifacts displayed in museums. However, anyone attempting to pass on products will not be permitted to receive payment in exchange.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, whose Jewish father George fled Nazi Germany, said the new rules will send a clear message about the “evil symbols.” ‘Symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust have no place in Australia,’ he said.
‘The Albanese government is delivering the strongest possible message to those who seek to sow hatred, violence, and anti-Semitism that these activities are disgusting and will not be accepted.’
Chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, applauded the action but expressed fear that fascist groups would circumvent the ban by using other symbols linked with the Nazi government, such as the death’s head and the sun wheel.
‘We have requested the government to evaluate the legislation on a regular basis so that, if our fears are validated, the prohibitions can be expanded to the display of additional Nazi symbols,’ he said.
Mr Wertheim stated that the council was also concerned about the lack of any prohibitions on Nazi gestures such as the salute. ‘This will leave a gap that state and territory legislation will need to fill,’ he added.
Among the exceptions to the ban are displays of symbols for religious, educational, or aesthetic purposes. It has no bearing on the use of the swastika by adherents of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism – the original emblem from which the Nazi flag was formed. Mr Dreyfus praised the government for taking the time to get the bill right, calling it “well-targeted and effective.”
Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, said recent Nazi salute protests outside Victoria’s parliament demonstrated the need to enforce the legislation. ‘To see these neo-Nazi thugs marching with a sort of newfound brazen confidence in our city and outside our parliament was incredibly shocking,’ he told Sky News.
‘What has happened subsequently is that governments all throughout the country have been galvanized into finding the laws and guaranteeing that this kind of flagrant exhibition of neo-Nazism cannot happen in Australia.’
