Members statements
Nazi symbol prohibition
Mr SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (09:37): As I have said on many occasions, there is no place for hate in Victoria, and colleagues, together we have made history by being the first jurisdiction in Australia to ban the evil Nazi swastika. After campaigning for years for the ban alongside many from the Jewish community in my electorate, I am truly very proud of the fact that we have been able to finally get this ban in Victoria, and it could not come soon enough. I want to particularly put on record my thanks to the Anti-Defamation Commission and Dvir Abramovich; the Melbourne Holocaust Museum; Zionism Victoria; the Zionist Federation of Australia; the Jewish Community Council of Victoria; Jewish Care Victoria and Emmy Monash, who have Holocaust survivors that have had to deal with this evil symbol on their front nature strip; the Australasian Union of Jewish Students; the Rabbinical Council of Victoria; Maccabi Victoria, who ran a call to action campaign with Brian Swersky; the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and Peter Wertheim; the Australian Jewish News; The Schtick and J-AIR for constantly reporting on this, and everybody else that has helped make this ban a reality. With the rise of antisemitic attacks in Victoria these laws could not come soon enough. These laws will send a strong message that using such evil symbols to target people is not acceptable and that there are now consequences.