Secret government documents have revealed 31 reports of people flying Nazi flags in the past two years. The figures have triggered calls from the Labor Party for the state government to fast-track a ban.
Nazi flags have been flown in public, including from suburban backyard flagpoles, at least 31 times in the past two years — but not a single charge has been laid.
Now there are growing calls for the government to act and stop this “racist cancer” in NSW.
State government documents, obtained by the opposition under freedom of information laws, reveal 31 flag incidents were reported to police and were among 112 incidents of anti-Semitism in NSW.
It is against the law to fly a Nazi flag in Germany, Austria and France but it is not illegal to fly one in Australia.
However, under Section 93Z of the Crimes Act, which was introduced in August 2018, it is an offence to publicly threaten or incite violence towards a person or group on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex or HIV/AIDS status with a maximum penalty of three years jail.
However, it is understood not a single charge was laid in relation to the incidents despite the documents also suggesting a rise in anti-Semitic conduct.
Read the article by Linda Silmalis (The Daily Telegraph) in the Herald Sun.