Nazi symbols to be made illegal after parliamentary inquiry, multiple Gold Coast incidents

Displaying hate symbols will be made illegal under new laws, after multiple incidents including destruction of a man’s home and a Gold Coast schoolgirl being called a “Jewish pig”.

Nazi symbols will be made illegal in Queensland after a parliament inquiry into hate speech.

Among the examples considered by the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee were the destruction of a man’s home and a Gold Coast schoolgirl being called a “Jewish pig”.

Public displays of hate symbols, including the swastika and SS symbol, will be banned under proposed laws to combat hate crimes and serious vilification.

The laws are expected to come into effect in the second half of 2022, after consultation with legal and community stakeholders.

The announcement follows a Bulletin investigation which this month revealed Nazi posters and flyers had been spread across Isle of Capri, including outside Temple Shalom.

Among those to receive the flyers, which referenced a neo-Nazi group, was a person whose family survived the Holocaust.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies (QJBD) president Jason Steinberg welcomed the decision, revealing up to 60 per cent of Jewish Gold Coasters had reported experiencing anti-Semitism.

“At the moment people can put up these symbols with impunity,” he said.

“And this is a clear message for people on the Gold Coast and anywhere across Queensland that it’s not acceptable.

“(Jewish people) are telling us they don’t report hate crimes for fear of being dismissed, and this is a signal from the Gold Coast that it does matter.

“Now the police will have the ability to convict people on the basis of displaying these kinds of symbols.”

Multiple other cases of violence against Jewish Gold Coasters were submitted as evidence by QJBD to the Inquiry into Serious Vilification and Hate Crimes.

In one, a 60-year-old Gold Coast man revealed his home had been destroyed “with Nazi symbols written on things and Heil Hitler written everywhere”.

“When I moved here, the very first day, driving past a skate park, on one of the ramps was a swastika, and I thought to myself: Does ignorance have to follow me everywhere?” he said.

“You just can’t pack up and leave and move. And you shouldn’t have to live with fear in your life.”

In another case a Gold Coast mother revealed her 13-year-old daughter had been bullied and insulted on the playground for being Jewish.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Nazism and its symbolisation was “evil”.

“Evil triumphs when good people do nothing,” she said.

“These crimes are not harmless and nor is the ideology behind it.”

‘Epitome of evil’: Nazi posters appear beside synagogue

A Nazi group vilely attacked members of the Gold Coast Jewish community the same day they gathered to remember the six million people killed in the Holocaust.

Flyers bearing swastikas and carrying anti-Semitic tropes were attached to a pole outside Temple Shalom in Isle of Capri and dropped in the letter boxes of some residents on Sunday.

Among those to receive the flyers was a person whose family survived the Holocaust.

“I am seriously considering moving to Israel and taking my family with me,” they said. “I will be encouraging other Australian Jews to do the same. Australia is no longer safe for us.”

Anti-Semitic flyers taped to a pole outside the Temple Shalom on Isle of Capri on the Gold Coast.

The flyers were posted as the Jewish community gathered to mark Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The notices, which contained links to a notorious neo-Nazi group, were also timed to coincide with the federal election campaign. Anti-Semitic tropes on the posters claimed Australian politics was “dominated by Jews” and Prime Minister Scott Morrison was their “puppet”.

The flyers also included images of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and other cabinet members. Mr Morrison in November last year revealed that Mr Frydenberg, who is Jewish, has an around-the-clock security detail because of threats related to his religion.

Rabbi Adi Cohen said while the incident would “generate fear” among some members of the Temple Shalom community, they would not be intimidated.

“The days that the Jews were victims are over,” he said. “I will not be intimidated. I will not give up to terrorism or to fear. And I will do my best (to ensure) that my congregation will be safe.

“... This is a place of sanctuary, a place of worship and spirituality, not a place of fear and hate.

“We will not allow hate politics to define who we are or dictate the way we operate.”

Rabbi Adi Cohen at Temple Shalom on Isle of Capri. Picture: Keith Woods.

Rabbi Cohen said the “big picture” was that the incident had taken place in the context of the federal election.

“The bigger question we need to ask is if we are willing to accept this hate politics as part of our society and my answer is no,” he said.

“Whether it is directed to Jews, to Muslims, to Chinese or any other ethnicity or religion, it is plain and simple unacceptable in Australian society.”

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies President Jason Steinberg said the flyers were reminiscent of propaganda seen in Nazi Germany.

“This is a whole new level of attack, of anti-Semitic trope,” he said.

“This is the kind of propaganda that was brought to a head and specialised in Nazi Germany.

“The use of a swastika like this, from a hate group, should be outlawed in Queensland. It should be a criminal offence.

“The Queensland government is reviewing and considering that.

“To see this kind of thing at a synagogue, at a Jewish house of worship, is unacceptable to us a Jewish community, but it should be unacceptable to everyone on the Gold Coast.

“It represents the epitome of evil, and to see it in public like that, it should be illegal.”

Anti-Semitic flyers distributed by a Nazi group at Isle of Capri on the Gold Coast.

Anti-Semitic flyers distributed by a Nazi group at Isle of Capri on the Gold Coast.

A report tabled to state parliament in February following an inquiry into hate crimes recommended making the display of hate symbols such as the swastika a criminal offence. It was one of 17 recommendations made.

The inquiry heard that although 1386 hate or vilification offences had been reported to police between 2015 to 2020, only five people had been charged. Three were convicted.

A response to the recommendations is expected from the government soon.

Mr Steinberg said there was “no question” that the flyer seen outside the temple on the Gold Coast at the weekend represented “serious vilification and hate”.

“We have Holocaust survivors thankfully still living on the Gold Coast who lost their families under the guise of the swastika and Nazism.

“We have their descendents living on the Gold Coast. The fear that those symbols cause for Jewish people, and also other minority groups as well.

“We can’t forget there were not only six million Jews killed in the Holocaust but there were also five million other people who were seen as different – Jehovah’s Witnesses, gays, lesbians, disabled people – anyone who was different was exterminated.

“So it’s very serious to see these things appear.”

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