Dutton demands criminal ban on display of Nazi symbols

Maeve Bannister | March 22, 2023

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called on the federal government to urgently change criminal laws to prohibit the display of Nazi symbols. 

He attempted to bring on a debate in parliament on Wednesday on his proposed legislation, which would change the criminal code.

Mr Dutton said parliament needed to send a clear message to Australians that it was unacceptable to display or glorify Nazi symbols. 

“Nazism is an ideology of unparalleled hate, it is an ideology which through its contempt for the rights of man can lead only to darkness and the destruction of humanity,” Mr Dutton said.

“Thus, in what they represent, Nazi symbols are no ordinary symbols. They must be condemned wherever and whenever they are found and displayed.”

The Tasmanian and Victorian governments are pushing to ban the Nazi salute, following an anti-transgender rights rally in Melbourne where about 30 men performed the Sieg Heil on the steps of parliament.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose grandparents were persecuted during WWII, told reporters she would consider a ban in her state.

“I don’t think Nazis have any place in our society and whether that is the actual sign itself or the salute, they have no place in modern Australia,” she said.

NSW already has laws banning the public display of Nazi symbols.  

Federal shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser said what happened in Melbourne was offensive to all Australians.

“What we witnessed was the glorification and mimicking of an ideology whose fundamental tenet is the racial superiority of one group of people over another,” he said.

“These cowards, many of them wore their faces covered by the cloth of shame, celebrated Nazism. Their actions sickened me to the core.”

Labor frontbencher Tony Burke said he was horrified by what happened in Melbourne but the government was not in a position to vote for the opposition’s legislation. 

Mr Burke said the issue was being considered by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and his department was working on potential criminal law amendments. 

He said people who displayed those symbols should not view the government’s vote against the opposition as a signal of support.

“Of all the symbols of bigotry, this one we have a particular need to unanimously oppose,” Mr Burke said. 

“Nobody should think that because we divide on the procedure, that somehow that creates a divide on the repugnancy of Nazism and the symbols that go with it.”