Australia’s domestic intelligence agency Asio has welcomed a Coalition bill to ban Nazi symbols including the Sieg Heil salute, telling a parliamentary inquiry it would help prevent recruitment and radicalisation by far-right extremists.
The bill was introduced by the shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, days after a group of men from the Nationalist Socialist Network repeatedly performed the salute on the steps of Victoria’s parliament last month.
In response to that event, the Victorian government announced it would move to ban the salute within months. Cash argued similar action was urgently required federally, although senior members of government said a parliamentary inquiry should investigate the proposal.
In its submission, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (Asio) said racist groups were using extremist symbols to raise their profile and to recruit new members. It said possession of extremist material had featured in many prosecutions of terrorist offences.
“The [bill] would assist law enforcement in early intervention,” the Asio submission said.
“Extremist insignia [are] an effective propaganda tool because they are easy to remember and understand. They also can transcend language, cultural and ethnic divides; creating, distributing and understanding them is not limited to a select few or one cultural or language group.”
Some terrorism experts, including the Lowy Institute’s Lydia Khalil, have argued the ban could be counterproductive and provide neo-Nazi groups with more opportunities for provocation and propaganda.
Earlier this year, the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, said ideologically motivated violent extremism – mostly nationalist and racist violent extremism – represented about 30% of the agency’s priority caseload. It had peaked at a 50:50 split with religiously motivated extremism, years earlier.
“While we remain concerned about ideologically motivated violent extremism, we assess that the vast majority of these extremists are more likely to focus on recruitment and radicalisation rather than attack planning in the foreseeable future,” the Asio submission said.
“Our greatest concern remains the threat of lone individuals or small cells who could mobilise to violence and/or sabotage with little or no warning.”
The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties welcomed the bill but said it was a “symbolic at best” response to Nazi ideology, and expressed concerns about its implementation. It said any decision to prosecute should be made by the director of public prosecutions and not by police.
“We consider this to be a problem and one which could open the state up to unnecessary critique from far-right extremists for acting oppressively in a nontransparent way,” the council’s submission said.
The Online Hate Prevention Institute, a charity focused on Holocaust denial and far-right extremism, said the federal government should not pass responsibility to states and territories.
“Preventing Australia from becoming a haven for the use of symbols belonging to foreign neo-Nazi groups is a commonwealth responsibility and relevant to our standing in the international community,” the submission said.
Hindu groups also support the legislation, but urged the government to ensure religious groups were not prosecuted for displaying symbols that appear similar to the Nazi swastika.
“The proposed legislation is critical to ensuring our democratic and multicultural values are not eroded, whilst simultaneously protecting our minority communities,” the Hindu Council of Australia’s submission said.
“The Nazi regime misappropriated the sacred swastika symbol as a symbol of hate.”
• This article was amended on 27 April 2023. The main image was changed to better reflect the story.
