The Victorian laws that ban displaying the swastika might be toughened after a group performed Nazi salutes on the steps of Parliament House during a protest on Saturday.
British anti-trans rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull had organised to speak to her supporters at Parliament House on Saturday afternoon, prompting a counter-demonstration protesting against her views.
About 30 people from neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, dressed in black and most with their faces covered, attended the protests on Spring Street supporting Keen-Minshull, repeatedly performing the salute and holding up a sign using offensive anti-trans language.
On Saturday night, a state government spokeswoman described the behaviour from the neo-Nazi group as a cowardly act of hatred and intimidation.
“Not only have Victorians made it clear they have zero tolerance for these disgraceful beliefs, we’ve made it clear in law with the ban of the Nazi hate symbol,” she said.
“We will continue to monitor the use of hate symbols and may consider the inclusion of additional symbols to the legislation at a later stage.”
Last year, the Andrews government outlawed the Hakenkreuz, or Nazi swastika, and became the first jurisdiction in Australia to do so. Anyone who intentionally displays the Nazi symbol in public faces a year in prison or a $22,000 fine.
Read the article by Simone Fox Koob and Roy Ward in The Age.