![]() ![]() In New South Wales, section 93ZA of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) now makes it a crime for a person to “knowingly display… by public act and without reasonable excuse, a Nazi symbol”. In any event, here's an outline of the current offence in New South Wales, an analysis of whether it extends to Nazi salutes, and also a thumbnail sketch of the proposed federal offence. They fear it will simply move Neo Nazi groups further underground, make it more difficult to identify and monitor proponents, lead to social alienation and stigmatisation, and could even increase their propensity for violence.Ĭritics have also expressed concerns that such a move represents an unjustified curtailment of free expression, and could lead us down further down the ‘slippery slope' towards authoritarianism asking, if we ban this, what's next? Criticismīut opponents of the move, who hail from both sides of politics, are sceptical of whether it will have the desire effect of reducing the dissemination of hatred. Knowingly displaying Nazi symbols in public is already an offence in New South Wales and, for its part, the federal government has proposed making it a crime across the nation. In response to appalling conduct of neo-Nazis at a recent rally in Melbourne, the Victoria government has moved to criminalise the display of the Nazi salute in public – with a view to making it clear that a gesture under which millions were murdered in the lead-up to and during World War II, and which continues to be used to spread hatred and incite violence, is not welcome in the state. ![]()
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