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, 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.
Read the article in The Sydney Morning Herald.