Qld to join Vic with Nazi, hate symbol ban
Marty Silk |
Queensland will move to ban Nazi and other hate symbols to ensure extremists are “called out, confronted and condemned” amid rising anti-semitism in the state.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will make Queensland the second state to criminalise the display of symbols to promote hatred or cause fear, such as the swastika, which is also known as the Hakenkreuz.
It is understood there will be exceptions for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains for whom swastikas are religious symbols.
“Nazism is evil,” the premier said.
“Evil triumphs when good people do nothing. These crimes are not harmless and nor is the ideology behind it.”
Ms Palaszczuk said her decision came after a Nazi flag was displayed near the Brisbane Synagogue, and a train carriage was vandalised with Nazi slogans and symbols last year.
“That will make it a criminal offence to display symbols promoting hatred and causing fear,” she said in a statement to AAP.
“These crimes are not harmless. They are to be called out, confronted and condemned.”
Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies’ Jason Steinberg said there had been a notable rise in anti-semitism.
“Since COVID, there has been an exponential increase in anti-semitism across Queensland – 60 per cent of our community have experienced vilification,” Mr Steinberg said.
However, he said 90 per cent of victims were afraid to come forward, fearing it would not be taken seriously by police.
“This announcement about symbols is really important because it will give the police the opportunity to take things further, and that is what we are very happy about,” Mr Steinberg said.
Queensland’s plan for a ban on hate symbols follows the Victorian government introducing a bill to ban them. The NSW government is also set to follow suit.
Last year, a Queensland parliamentary committee recommended prohibiting hate symbols, including those representing the Nazi and ISIS ideologies, after an inquiry into serious vilification and hate crimes.
It is unclear if the premier’s bill will cover social media and internet displays of hate symbols, which was also recommended by the committee.
“The committee notes the proliferation of vilifying commentary on various social media platforms and considers that the public nature of social media usage needs to be recognised in the definition of ‘public acts’ for the purpose of anti-vilification legislation,” its report said.
The cross-party panel said the legal discrimination protections should be widened from race, religion, sexuality and gender identity to also include disability, medical status, sex characteristics and intersex status.
It also proposed to make hate or serious vilification an aggravation in criminal cases and that the civil incitement test be lowered so it shouldn’t have to prove offenders actually incited hate crimes, only that their actions were likely to.
The committee called on the government to set up a hate scrutiny panel for police and community groups to engage in mutual education on vilification.
AAP
