Victoria has become Australia‘s first state to specifically ban the display of the
Nazi swastika.
Under a new law, people who intentionally exhibit the symbol face up to a year in jail
or a A$22,000 (£12,300; $15,000) fine.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said “nobody has the right to spread racism, hate or
anti-Semitism“.
Vice President of the Hindu Council of Australia Surinder Jain says he thinks the bill
will help battle public confusion around the difference between the Nazi symbol and
the ancient Indian swastika.
“Our swastika has been in an indoor prison,” Mr Jain told SBS News.
“Because when we display it people misunderstand it to be the Nazi hate symbol
Hakenkreuz – the hooked cross.
“This bill makes a clear distinction between the two. It does the right thing by
banning the hate symbol. And it does the right thing by exempting sacred symbols
used by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains.”
The swastika is an ancient religious symbol in India that has been used by Hindus for
over 2,000 years.
Victoria’s Jewish community also welcomed the bill, but for other reasons.
Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dvir Abramovich, who began
campaigning for the ban five years ago, told SBS News for a Jewish person being
confronted by the Nazi swastika is “as threatening as being confronted by a gun”.
“I think people often forget what the Nazi swastika represents,”
Mr. Abramovich said.
“First of all, it represents the final solution. That is the extermination of six million
Jews in gas chambers in open fields.
“It represents the desire by the Third Reich to eliminate every single Jewish person
on earth.
“It is the ultimate emblem of evil.
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“It represents mothers being led with their babies into the gas chambers in Auschwitz
of babies’ skulls being crushed, of entire families being executed in towns and in
open fields.
“There is no more pure evil symbol than the Nazi swastika. And for a Jewish person,
whether they are a Holocaust survivor, or their children, or their grandchildren, being
confronted with this emblem of absolute evil, is as threatening as being confronted
by a gun.”
Mr. Abramovich said the passing of the bill was a “triumphant and uplifting”
moment for every Victorian.
The bill was hailed as a “thunderous blow” to white supremacists when it was
introduced last month was passed in parliament on Tuesday evening.
It makes it a criminal offense for anyone to intentionally display the Nazi symbol in
public and those who do will face penalties of up to nearly $22,000, 12 months in
jail, or both.
People will only be charged if they do not comply with a police directive to remove
the symbol.
Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the swastika glorified one of the most
hateful ideologies in history, and its public display did nothing but cause further pain
and division.
