Nazi salute debate: Moira Deeming welcomes ban after tearfully recounting being wrongfully linked to Nazi sympathisers

Expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming tearfully says “I don’t want to ever see another Nazi salute tolerated in public again” as the long-awaited bill banning the salute was passed by the upper house on Tuesday night.

Moira Deeming was in tears in the chamber on Tuesday night. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

The Nazi salute will be banned in Victoria within days, with new law set to be fast-tracked.

The long-awaited bill banning the salute was passed by Victoria’s upper house on Tuesday night.

It came after Premier Jacinta Allan announced Victoria’s Governor would sign off on the legislation “without delay” to provide added protection for the Jewish community amid heightened safety concerns.

The new law could come into effect as early as this weekend. The move to expedite the process comes as sec­urity experts have warned that anti-Semitism is on the rise in the Australian community, resulting from the latest Israel- Palestine conflict.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the new laws would serve as an additional response for police.

It will be implemented this week.

“We have crafted the legislation which means that once it receives Royal assent, there’s no implementation period and it can commence straightaway,” Ms Symes said.

Premier Jacinta Allan said it is “incredibly disappointing” that the laws needed to be implemented in the first place.

She said how police use the laws would be an operational matter for them.

On Tuesday in Melbourne, a baby-faced white supremacist displayed the gesture on a packed train, just days after about 25 neo-Nazis – dressed in black – also performed the salute at Flinders Street Station as they boarded a train.

A white supremacist performs the salute on a busy Melbourne train.

Under the new Victorian law, people who perform the signal in public face fines of as much as $23,000 and jail terms as long as 12 months.

The Herald Sun understands the legislation had wide-­ranging support.

However, Libertarian Party MP David Limbrick was among those to oppose the bill.

“The government is un­intentionally empowering a small number of clowns by giving them more attention than they deserve,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Liberal Party member Moira Deeming broke down in tears in the chamber, saying “the impact on my family has been horrendous”, during the debate on the Nazi salute.

Ms Deeming was expelled from her party after she attended a rally on the steps of parliament that was crashed by neo-Nazi’s.

“Even though I was just a bystander who had nothing to do, whatsoever, with Nazis or those vile men or that vile Nazi salute, I found myself being condemned as a wilful associate of Nazism and anti-­Semitism,” she said.

“That’s why I don’t want to ever see another Nazi salute tolerated in public again.”

Deeming’s warning to women’s activists

Expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming has taken a veiled swipe at Opposition Leader John Pesutto while hosting a meeting of women’s activists at parliament.

Mrs Deeming was joined by speakers including Angie Jones and Katherine Deves – who campaigned alongside her at the infamous Let Women Speak rally on the steps of parliament in March – for an event titled “Why Can’t Women Talk About Sex?”

Following the March rally Mr Pesutto began moves to have Mrs Deeming expelled from the parliamentary party after the rally was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

He backed his case with a dossier of evidence he claimed showed she had links to Nazi sympathisers.

The move has prompted the threat of legal action by Mrs Deeming who has issued multiple concerns notices but has not yet initiated a court case.

Moira Deeming took aim at John Pesutto. Picture: Simon Bullard

Opening the event on Tuesday, Mrs Deeming sarcastically warned the audience of about 40 that they faced the prospect of being sanctioned because of their attendance.

“I just need to explain some ground rules for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the way things are done at Parliament in Victoria,” she said.

“Your attendance will be publicised as a tacit endorsement of every single view that I and each of the other speakers hold, or are accused of holding.

“And most importantly, please know that when you come to Parliament House to participate in one event, that is exactly the same as participating in any other events that may happen here.

“If you lose your job, get vilified, defamed, threatened, humiliated, degraded, bullied because of things that other people do while you are here in this building, you’ve only got yourself to blame.”

John Pesutto did not want to comment on the matter. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake

Mrs Deeming and a string of other speakers discussed women’s rights and the harms of medicalised gender affirmation practices on minors.

The event was attended by MPs including Liberals Bev McArthur, Chris Crewther and Renee Heath.

Libertarian Party MP David Limbrick and One Nation’s Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell were also in attendance.

Mrs McArthur told the forum that letting kids take part in gender transitioning procedures was akin to “child abuse”.

“Let’s call it for what it is,” she said.

“I did not come into this place to put parents, faith and medical practitioners into jail or fined for giving proper advice to children,” she said.

“You have to be 18 to get a tattoo. In this situation here in Victoria, your child can be advised (about transitioning) without even the parents knowing. I think that’s outrageous and needs to be stopped.

“What we are doing to children is not right.

“I stand with all the women on all the women’s rights issues.

“I think it’s outrageous that somebody in my position and my age, at this stage, should become a suffragette.”

Mr Pesutto refused to comment on the forum.

Originally published as Nazi salute debate: Moira Deeming welcomes ban after tearfully recounting being wrongfully linked to Nazi sympathisers