By: Johnn Jin
On Wednesday, Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced that the Nazi symbol of the swastika or the Germans Schutzstaffel Tea Party news will be illegal.
The move to ban Nazi symbols has been welcomed by those researching the rise of far-right extremism in Australia.
The ban also stops people from trading Nazi things and symbols online that support the Nazis and other things like hate or harm symbols.
The governments are trying to send a message to the people who support harm, violence, and hate of Jewish people. The Albanese government said, “We find these actions repugnant, and they will not be tolerated.”
Those who break the law can face up to 1 year in prison.
After the speech, one of the commissioners, Dr. Dvir Abramovich, said he “shed tears of joy.”
Dr Abramovich said that a terrible mistake has been fixed, and if you love the country then you should support it. For people’s religion, the ban does not apply for the hate symbols. The Nazi salute will also not be covered by the ban.
“The Nazi salute is an offensive gesture that has no place in Australian society, but we think that the banning of these gestures is a matter for state and territory laws,” Mr. Dreyfus said.
Deakin University researcher Dr. Josh Roose said Nazi symbolism plays a role in recruitment.
“It’s used as a form not only of intimidation and threatening communities within our wider national community but it’s also used as a recruitment mechanism that’s used to attempt to entice young men in particular, to join their movements.”