Nazi gestures and symbols to be banned in Victoria

One Australian state is responding to a rise in people using the symbol as a show of hatred towards minority communities.

The Nazi salute will be criminalised in Victoria under new law reform targeting hate crimes.

It comes after a rise in public displays of gestures associated with the Nazi regime and its ideology have been witnessed across Australia.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes introduced a Bill to parliament on Tuesday that will increase the maximum penalty for anyone using Nazi gestures or symbols.

Anyone who intentionally displays or performs a Nazi gesture or symbol will face a penalty of more than $23,000 and/or a 12-month jail sentence.

A new bill will ban all Nazi gestures or symbols. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

“Victorians have zero tolerance for the glorification of hateful ideology,” Ms Symes said.

“We’re making sure people who use these symbols and gestures to harass, intimidate and incite hate are held accountable for their cowardly behaviour.”

The ban will extend to anyone who deliberately tries to circumvent the ban and spread hate.

However, exceptions apply to situations where the symbols or gestures are done in good faith for a genuine academic, artistic, educational or scientific purpose or in the course of publishing a fair and accurate report that is in the public interest.

The ban will not prohibit the trade or sale of historical memorabilia, but traders will need to cover any Nazi symbols or gestures on items that are publicly displayed.

The harsher penalties will come into effect as soon as the Bill passes through state parliament.

Police will have powers to search premises and seize property displaying Nazi ideology or that has already been displayed at a march or a protest.

The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has applauded the Victorian government for introducing the Bill.

It arrives seven months after ADC representatives stood on the steps of Victorian parliament, alongside a group of Holocaust survivors, to campaign for the outlaw of the salute.

Anti-hate advocate Dvir Abramovich successfully campaigned for a ban on public displays of Nazi swastikas in Victoria.

“Today, the journey that I embarked on six years ago to de-Nazify Victoria for good has begun,” he said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“It is beyond words that those inflamed with vicious antisemitism who have weaponised this evil gesture as a rallying cry to recruit like-minded racists and terrorise the community still have the law on their side, but not for long.”

The Bill will come before parliament on Tuesday.