Australia bans Nazi symbols in bid to curb far right wing movement

Australia will soon ban all public displays and sales of Nazi symbols and paraphernalia due to the country’s propensity towards the far-right movement.

Things that would be enforced by the ban include the display of the swastika and the lightning-bold insignia of the SS (Schutztaffel), which is the military symbol of the Nazi party. These symbols will not be allowed on flags, armbands or clothes. The Nazi salute however will not be included in the ban, (that is up to each state to decide).

No More Nazi

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said that the government would introduce laws criminalizing the display of these motifs soonest. He told Australia’s Channel Seven television, “We’ve seen very sadly, a rise in people displaying these vile symbols, which are symbols that have no place in Australia, they should be repugnant. There is no place in Australia for symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust.

“And we will no longer allow people to profit from the display and sale of items which celebrate the Nazis and their evil (Nazi) ideology,” he said.

According to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director Mike Burgess, fringe cells of Austrlian neo-Nazis appeared to be growing increasingly bold, and right-wing extremists make up 30% of the country’s counter terrorism caseload.

“In the case of neo-Nazi groups, what we worry about is people who get drawn into that ideology,” said Burgess.

Any violation of the law can result in 12 months prison and public display of these symbols whether for academic, artistic, literally, journalism or scientific purposed would also be exempted.

Swastikas For Religious Purposes

However there will be exemptions for use of swastiskas for religious purposes as it has significance in the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religions.

In a BBC news report, Dvir Abramovich, chairman of Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission described the move as a “profound moment that represents the culmination of a six-year personal campaign.”

He told the BBC that the presence of the Neo Nazi movement brings Holocaust survivors “back to their darkest days.”

“It tears a hole in their heart. I don’t think they imagined that in their lifetime, they would see the resurgence of neo-Nazism. What is needed is a whole-of-society approach to tear it as its root,” he said.

The photo above is from a YouTube screen grab