James Paterson: The Australian Federal Police must prosecute protesters who waved Hezbollah flags
The AFP must take action over the display of Hezbollah flags on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney – we will only know if new laws are deficient once they are tested.
Opinion
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After the disgraceful anti-Semitic scenes at the Sydney Opera House following Hamas’ atrocities on October 7 last year, the prime minister said the demonstrations were “horrific” and should not have been allowed to go ahead.
But thanks to the Albanese government’s weakness in the face of an anti-Semitism crisis, we have seen a repeat of the disturbing scenes in Sydney and Melbourne this weekend.
The shameless parading of the symbols of a listed terrorist organisation, Hezbollah, at an anti-Israel rally clearly contravenes the prohibited hate symbols legislation passed by the parliament because it advocates hatred of Jewish Australians and causes deep fear and intimidation in the Jewish community.
This unlawful behaviour has been tolerated for months at pro-Palestine rallies every weekend in our capital cities.
No one who has spent time with members of the Jewish community could underestimate the genuine fear these events have caused our Jewish friends and neighbours.
Anti-Semitism in our country has reached crisis levels and it is time for our law enforcement agencies to prosecute any individual displaying terrorist symbols or inciting violence or glorifying terrorists.
It is frankly not good enough for the Australian Federal Police to wave the white flag less than 24 hours after these incidents occurred.
Neither is it good enough for the government to fail to show leadership and hide behind the AFP’s statements.
It is not even clear if the AFP has bothered to conduct a preliminary investigation let alone interviews to determine whether an offence has been committed.
At a bare minimum, the police must use their directions powers to require a person to remove these hate symbols.
We will only know the law is deficient once it is tested, but if no charges are laid that will never happen.
It’s time for the prime minister to make his expectations clear that the law must be enforced.
James Paterson is the federal opposition spokesman for Home Affairs and Cyber Security and Liberal Senator for Victoria.
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