A One Nation MP will lead a parliamentary inquiry into banning neo-Nazi symbols in South Australia as police investigate an image of hooded men performing a fascist salute outside the Adelaide Holocaust Museum.
The museum was targeted by an anti-Semitic sticker last week and was recently alerted to the image posted by a neo-Nazi group.
The government on Friday announced they would establish a parliamentary committee inquiry, chaired by One Nation MP Sarah Game who has been pushing to outlaw public display of the swastika.
The inquiry will examine ways to ban the display of anti-Semitic symbols as well as the activities of neo-Nazis and other similar ideological extremist groups in South Australia.
Victoria and New South Wales have made it a criminal offence to display neo-Nazi symbols in public, and Queensland is also looking to ban such imagery.
"We've gone through our footage to see it — and it's been quite a disturbing incident," museum director Kathy Baykitch told ABC Radio Adelaide.
She said the "brazen" social media image was accompanied by the caption: "why a Holocaust museum exists in Adelaide is anyone's guess?"
"This is a blatant statement about Holocaust denial. The Holocaust happened and yesterday was actually the anniversary of the outbreak — it was 83 years since Hitler invaded Poland," she said.
Ms Baykitch said the museum has Holocaust survivors "share testimony" with students about "what can happen when hatred and racism takes over".
"The only way we're going to progress as a social, cohesive society is if we learn to respect and acknowledge there are differences between people," she said.
Inquiry to be launched
Ms Game, who was voted into the South Australian Legislative Council during the March election, raised eyebrows with her maiden speech backing refugee intake, seemingly at odds with her party's immigration policy.
Ms Game, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants, said at the time immigration had "enriched" Australian culture.
Multicultural Affairs Minister Zoe Bettison said there had been an increase in fascist behaviour in Adelaide.
"We hate this symbolism. This is not who we are," she said.
"There's a very small amount of people who don't believe in this, but we need to call it out, and what we'll be looking into in the parliament is potential legislation that will help prohibit these symbols and the increase in these activities."
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said the worst thing to do would be to "downplay" the threat they pose to the community.
"What we saw yesterday was the modern face of Hitler," he said.
"They were not expressing a political opinion, this was a call for murder.
"These Hitler worshippers are promising a racial war and they're on a recruitment campaign."
Mr Abramovich said the group was dangerous and a "ticking time-bomb" who was escalating their attacks.
He said the South Australian government needed to follow Victoria and outlaw the Nazi swastika.
"A democracy is not just about the rights that we have, it's also about what we're willing to tolerate and I think having the law on the side of the neo-Nazis who want to fly the flag or display the Nazi swastika is not who we are," he said.
