I am a co-author of a submission on the proposed banning of Nazi signs and signals to the Australian Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The Senate also invited us to be witnesses at an inquiry. Thank you. The law is overwhelmingly framed in term of the Holocaust. In a nutshell, we regard it as well-intended but missing the point on the nature of contemporary hatred in Australia which is targeted at many groups and issues, well belong the original focus of the Nazi cause. Furthermore, there are any number of other symbols and causes promoting ethnic hatred, but the legislation entirely misses these, as well as the capacity of groups to create new symbols and signals to promote neo-Nazi type hatred. The legislation because of its focus, also fails to account for how such laws are to be enforced, including enforcement against the lawkeepers themselves. There is also the difficult issue of what kids are to be taught in school about the Holocaust and other forms of genocide and hatred, when we live in an overwhelmingly non-European country with a different frame of reference.
The absurdity of the situation is underscored by the fact that both ex-Prime Minister Morrison and the current Prime Minister Albanese appearing at an Indian Community event, draped with the scarf and symbol of the Hindutva movement (depicted in the image). The swastika in the photo is of course, protected by the legislation as a religious symbol.
The AJDS submission can be read here.
