Nazi salute ban ’long overdue’

The Coalition will move amendments to ban the Nazi salute when parliament resumes next week in a bid to quash rising antisemitism following Hamas’s deadly October 7 attacks on Israel.

Opposition Legal Affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said the Coalition would move amendments to ban the Nazi salute when parliament resumed next week in a bid to quash rising antisemitism following Hamas’s deadly October 7 attacks on Israel.

The Coalition will move amendments to ban the Nazi salute when parliament resumes next week in a bid to quash historic levels of antisemitism following Hamas’s deadly October 7 attacks on Israel.

Labor is seeking to prohibit the public display of Nazi symbols under counter-terrorism laws expected to come before the lower house on Tuesday.

The Counter-Terrorism Legislation amendment outlines a ban on symbols relating to Nazis including on flags, armbands and T-shirts in public and online, with a maximum penalty of up to 12 months’ imprisonment.

While the bill seeks to outlaw the display of the Nazi swastika as well as the Islamic State flag, it does not address the salute.

Ahead of one of the last sitting weeks for the year, opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Australia was seeing the largest rise in anti-Semitism since World War II.

Senator Cash said the move to ban the Nazi salute was “long overdue” and the “appalling displays we have seen since the horrific attacks of October 7 in Israel have only highlighted how important it is”.

“The Nazi salute is one of the most powerful anti-Semitic symbols the world has ever seen,’’ Senator Cash told The Australian.

“It is associated with the murder of over six million Jews and countless others in concentration camps during the Second World War.

“We find ourselves in the appalling situation where Jewish families in Australia are being advised not to ‘advertise’ their Jewish identity. They are being told not to wear the kippah or school uniforms, and to be wary of where they gather.

“We have extraordinary scenes where crowds in front of Australia’s most famous landmark chanted ‘Gas the Jews’.”

The push comes after The Australian revealed death threats, abuse on the streets and incitement to violence against Jewish Australians had reached the highest levels on record, prompting Jewish leaders to lash out at authorities for not doing enough to protect Australia’s 100,000-strong Jewish community.

The surge in anti-Semitic incidents across the country spiked after Hamas massacred 1400 Israelis on October 7 and has risen further as Israel’s war on Hamas has led to a large civilian death toll in Gaza.

A parliamentary joint committee on intelligence security into Labor’s legislation released last week did not recommend the bill be amended to include the Nazi salute. The committee “strongly condemned the actions of those who would seek to intimidate parts of the Australian community with physical gestures such as the Nazi salute”.

However, it said inclusion of a ban would not be appropriate in a federal bill but rather a matter for state and territory law, with state-based police forces best placed to respond to such conduct rather than the Australian Federal Police.

The committee also recommended the government establish a new offence prohibiting the ­public display and trade of ­symbols associated with terrorist organisations.