The president of the Hobart Hebrew Congregation has called on the Tasmanian Government to “address” the issue of Nazi symbols being publicly displayed, saying it poses a threat to the Jewish community.
Jeff Schneider, who is also the Tasmanian representative on the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said that symbols of the Nazi German regime and military forces were banned in several European countries, except for genuine academic, educational or artistic purposes.
Mr Schneider said publicly displaying Nazi symbols could be a breach of racial vilification laws, but it depended on the context.
“We ask the Tasmanian Government to address this issue,” he said.
“It is not only offensive, but a threat to our community that it is legal to display Nazi symbols in Tasmania.”
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson’s Launceston office was also targeted with Nazi stickers in 2018, and the Star of David on the Launceston Synagogue was defaced in January.
Earlier this month, Victorian Liberal MP David Southwick moved an amendment to the state’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act to include a ban on the public display of Nazi symbols.
Read the article by Adam Holmes in The Advocate (Tasmania).