The Nazi salute and associated hate symbols have been criminalised in Australia. Legislation banning the salute and the display or sale of symbols associated with terror groups took effect on Monday, as the Australian government responds to a rise in hate and anti-Semitic incidents in recent months, especially amid Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza. The legislation criminalises the sale and display of Nazi motifs including the swastika and lightning bolt insignia of the SS (Schutzstaffel), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party. \u201cIt is now unlawful to perform the Nazi salute in public or to publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols,\u201d Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement. \u201cThe new laws also ensure that glorifying and praising acts of terrorism are criminal offences.\u201d The passage of the bill through parliament by a unanimous vote on December 6 sent a clear message that there is \u201cno place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts\u201d, Dreyfus said. Initially, a ban on the Nazi salute was not included in the bill, with the federal law planned to leave the issue to the discretion of individual states. However, following several incidents, the bill was amended. In March, a group of neo-Nazis clashed with transgender rights protesters in Melbourne and members were seen raising their arms in a Nazi salute near the state parliament building. In October, three men were charged after allegedly performing a Nazi salute outside the Sydney Jewish Museum. In a separate incident the same month, an unverified video showing a group of men outside the iconic Opera House shouting \u201cgas the Jews\u201d during a pro-Palestinian protest triggered outrage around the world and a police investigation. Dreyfus noted in June, as the legislation was presented, that it would see federal law mesh with state legislation, all Australian states and territories having already either passed laws or announced plans to ban Nazi symbols. The new law also bans the public display or trade in symbols associated with organisations that Australian designates as \u201cterrorist,\u201d such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS)or the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK). Australia\u2019s spy agency has been warning that far-right groups are on the rise in Australia and that they had become more organised and visible. An Australian-born white supremacist murdered 51 Muslim worshippers in the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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