Australia’s spy agency says a proposed bill outlawing Nazi symbols could help stop extremist radicalisation and recruitment.
Federal shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash introduced the bill last month following a protest in Melbourne which drew neo-Nazis, who used the sieg heil salute.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation says nationalist and racist violent extremists adopt specific imagery and terminology to signal their ideology, build belonging and provoke opponents.
ASIO believes extremists are currently more focused on trying to attract new members rather than planning an attack and the legislation would help stop that.
“(The bill) would assist law enforcement in early intervention,” the agency said in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry.
The Buddhist Council of Western Australia supports the move but wants a clause stating “to avoid doubt, the display of a swastika in connection with Buddhism, Hinduism or Jainism does not constitute the display of a Nazi symbol”.
The Australian Christian Lobby has thrown its support behind the bill but agrees the current wording should be altered.
“We are concerned that the Bill’s wording could unintentionally capture the public display of any genuine Christian symbols which may be confused as or appropriated as Nazi symbols. We suggest the draft Bill be amended to expressly exclude that possibility,” it wrote.
The bill prompted fiery debate in the senate last month and tensions boiled over as Liberal senator Sarah Henderson cried in the chamber after an exchange with Labor Minister Murray Watt.
The bill was prompted following a Melbourne rally organised by British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull and attended by members of the National Socialist Movement.
Some people performed the Nazi salute outside Victorian Parliament and held signs calling transgender people offensive names, sparking clashes as police held back counter protesters.
Victorian upper house MP Moira Deeming attended the event and was later suspended from the Liberal party for nine months.
The Victorian government is moving to amend existing laws banning Nazi symbols in public to also include the Nazi salute.
Most states and territories have or are in the process of banning displays of Nazi symbols, with the salute covered in some jurisdictions.
All existing and proposed bans make exceptions including for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and other groups for whom the swastika is an important symbol predating Nazism.
– AAP
