People who display or trade Nazi hate symbols will face up to 12 months in jail under proposed federal laws from the Albanese government that go further than similar bans already in place in Victoria and NSW.
The federal ban on the sale of certain Nazi memorabilia will carry fines of up to $16,500 and will apply to the Nazi swastika, known as the Hakenkreuz, and insignia relating to the Schutzstaffel (SS), Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary force. It will make it a criminal offence not only to display the symbols in person or in online forums but to seek a profit by selling such items.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus wants to stop people profiting from the trade of Nazi paraphernalia. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who will introduce legislation into the parliament next week and wants it passed by the end of the year, said the new laws would send the message that there was no place “for those who seek to profit from the trade in these evil symbols or use them to promote their hatred”.
“And we will no longer allow people to profit from the display and sale of items which celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology,” Dreyfus said.
“The ban includes, but is not limited to, the trade and public display of flags, armbands, t-shirts, insignia and the publication of symbols online promoting Nazi ideology.”
The Victorian and NSW governments last year banned the public display of Nazi symbols, and in March the Victorian government pledged to ban the Nazi salute after a neo-Nazi group attended an anti-trans rights rally outside the state’s parliament.
While the Commonwealth has not followed Victoria in outlawing the Nazi salute, the federal ban will target auction houses and war memorabilia stores by criminalising the sale of SS and Nazi swastika memorabilia.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission who has long campaigned to ban the sale of Nazi material, praised the crackdown, saying it made clear “Australia will never provide a haven for the ultimate emblems of inhumanity and will not allow the trafficking in the blood-soaked items of the devil”.
“This announcement is also booming tribute to our valiant diggers who fought to vanquish the Third Reich, the six million Jews and millions of victims murdered by the Nazis and the survivors who rebuilt their lives here,” he said.
Peter Wertheim, chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, also welcomed the proposed laws but said the organisation remained concerned that the prohibition would be limited to the Hakenkreuz and SS symbols and that it would be left to states and territories to ban the Nazi salute.
“Our concern is that neo-Nazi groups will circumvent the legislation simply by using the Totenkopf (death’s head), sonenrad (sun wheel) and other well-known Nazi symbols instead of the two prohibited symbols,” he said.
“We have urged the government to review the legislation periodically so that if our concerns are borne out, the prohibitions may in due course be extended to the display of other Nazi symbols.”
The government’s action follows an attempt by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton earlier this year to force the parliament to debate a similar bill by Jewish Liberal MP Julian Leeser. Labor used its numbers to shut down the Coalition’s bid, which was backed by the Greens and a number of independents.
At the time, Dutton indicated his support for any future legislation to ban Nazi symbols, saying they were “associated with one of the most heinous regimes in history” and that parliament had a duty to Holocaust victims as well as present and future generations to act.
The government’s bill will not prevent the private ownership of Nazi Hakenkreuz or SS material, or their display as war memorabilia in museums, and will allow the passing on of such items so long as payment is not sought for them.
The proposed laws will not impact the use of the swastika by faiths such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, for whom it is a symbol of cultural significance and love. Using the symbols for academic, educational, artistic, literary, journalistic or scientific purposes will also be exempt.
The legislation will be reviewed by the parliament’s joint committee on intelligence and security before being debated and brought to a vote later this year.
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