Australia Criminalises Nazi Salute and Symbols

The Australian Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on Sept. 8, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Australian parliament has banned the Nazi salute with bipartisan support from Labor, the Liberal Party, the Greens and minor parties.

The new law criminalises the Nazi salute and makes the public display of the Nazi symbol a criminal offence, along with trading goods that bear Nazi hate symbols.

Further, the legislation criminalises the “use of a carriage service” for violent extremist material to tackle the “rise of violent radicalism proliferating online.”

The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023 passed the Senate on Dec. 6.

During parliamentary debate, Senate deputy opposition leader Michaelia Cash said the Nazi salute is one of the most powerful symbols of anti-Semitism in Australia.

“It symbolises the industrial murder of over six million Jews and countless others. All Australians are  diminished by the sharing and glorification of an ideology which is characterised by genocide, mass murder and other forms of persecution,” Ms. Cash said (pdf).

However, Ms. Cash said there were still gaps in the bill, explaining the National Socialist Network in Australia symbol “will not be banned” under the bill.

“We saw on the weekend Neo-Nazis protesting down the main streets of Bendigo, giving the Nazi salute. The bill before us would not stop the display of the flag that the group uses as its logo or other Neo-Nazi symbols such as the black sun, which is another symbol of the National Socialist Network that it uses in Australia,” she said.

“We know that the symbol used by the National Socialist Network in Australia will not be banned under this bill. We also know that Neo-Nazis continue to develop and now utilise additional symbols, more than just the double-sig rune and the hakenkreuz.”

The coalition moved an amendment to allow a review of these laws, which she said in the Coalition’s view should be conducted by a “pre-eminent member of the Jewish community” to ensure the laws are doing what they are meant to do.”

‘Unites The Parliament’

Meanwhile, Labor deputy manager of government business in the senate Anthony Chisholm said “this is a moment that unites the parliament and the nation.”

“We want the parliament to come together to send the strongest possible signal that there is no place, none whatsoever, for any gesture or any symbol that seeks to glorify the Holocaust,” he said.

“The government wants to bring everyone together to vote for this bill and send the strongest possible signal to those who seek to spread fear and hatred that there is no place in this country for antisemitism and no place in this country for those who celebrate Nazis and the Holocaust.”

Queensland One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts said he is opposed to the emergent of all violent extremists, both far-left and far right,.

“... particularly those featuring despicable, inhuman racism, corrosive, antihuman hate and the vile antisemitism that we have recently seen in our Australian communities,” Mr. Roberts said.

Mr. Roberts moved an amendment to exclude and protect genuine collectors of militaria and historical items from the prohibition provisions of the bill.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge provided support for the bill but reiterated concerns about how the laws will be policed in the real world.

“Whatever we may think about finely crafted laws here, at some point they get into the hands of a police officer on the streets and that is when we know that those communities who already often face marginalisation and over policing—especially at the moment the Muslim and Arab communities in our states—feel threatened.

“They are right to be concerned about the potential for aggressive policing of conduct that is not in fact criminalised by this bill.”

However, Mr. Shoebridge said the Greens are absolutely committed to the crimanlisation of Nazi symbols.

“Let’s be clear, the Greens support the criminalisation of the Nazi symbol,” he said.

Multiple amendments were considered by the senate and defeated before the final legislation passed the upper chamber of Australian Parliament.

Attorney General Welcomes Passing of legislation

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus welcomed the legislation passing with “unanimous support” in the Parliament.

Mr. Dreyfus said the passing of the bill sends a clear message there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that “glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts.”

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and the Referendum Working Group addresses the media after the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 bill in introduced to the Federal Parliament on March 30, 2023 in Canberra, Australia. Photo by Martin Ollman/Getty Images

“This is the first Commonwealth legislation of its kind and will ensure no one will be allowed to glorify or profit from acts and symbols that celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” he said.

“The Nazi salute and hate symbols are widely recognised and used to promote hate, recruit followers and convey messages of violence. It is utterly unacceptable that there have been incidents of their use in Australia.”