Wednesday, 4 October 2023

Bills

Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (14:44): I rise to speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. The bill essentially creates a criminal offence that prohibits the display and performance of Nazi symbols and gestures in Victoria. Obviously this is to address the harm caused by public displays of Nazi symbols and gestures, which are being used only to intimidate and harass. The bill will give police a legislative tool to prevent and cease the use of Nazi symbols and gestures. We have recently seen a rise in the use of these symbols and gestures. We have seen them on the steps of Parliament. We saw the national socialist resistance activities in the Grampians National Park in January 2021. Halls Gap community members and visitors to the national park reported witnessing approximately 20 members marching through the town, harassing the community and chanting neo-Nazi chants as they performed the Nazi salute. Some wore black uniforms depicting the white pride symbol as they posed in front of a burning cross against the scenic backdrop of the Grampians. Victoria Police rightfully concluded that no criminal offences had been committed, because there was as yet no legislation to support any offences having been committed. Despite no visible action being taken at the scene, I have no doubt in my mind – and I think it is probably undeniable – that those activities would have been investigated very closely by counterterrorism units.

We can make a choice here in this place. We can choose to view these people as confused, as military wannabes that hang out in Aussie Disposals in dress-ups, as young men looking for a social group or as wayward youth, but I think that is a mistake. We should never make that mistake, because it neglects the lessons from history and the role and rise of extremism in our community. A good example of this is the case of the Christchurch terrorist who killed 51 innocent people. Neo-Nazi symbols were found in his manifesto. That is an excellent reason to pass legislative tools, like other Western democracies have. They have had these laws for decades, frankly. Drawing the line in the sand regarding the ethical standards by which we choose to live in a liberal democratic community is critical, and law enforcement and policymakers today face the very challenging task of balancing societal expectations, protecting religious rights and preserving freedom of speech. I think this achieves that, and I think it is a good balance.

While many other symbols used by groups, especially extremist groups, are not as clear-cut, I think there is no ambiguity as far as Nazi symbols go, whether it be the swastika or the Totenkopf – and naivety is just no excuse. You do not need to visit Yad Vashem to know about the Shoah or that a tolerance of Nazism ended up in the Holocaust. You do not need to visit these places to know that this is not just an attack on our fantastic Jewish community, this is an attack on our multicultural community, our multifaith community and our LGBTIQ+ community – in fact on all of us. These symbols represent fanatical nationalism, genocide and ethnic cleansing, not just of between 6 million to 10 million Jewish people but of people with disabilities, homosexual men and Roma community members. Many of these records were destroyed, and many families have been lost to history.

But sometimes that huge number can be really hard to fathom, and it is fair to say that in 12 years a population the size of Victoria’s population was exterminated by the Nazis. People talk numbers and sometimes they do not connect those numbers with people. My concern is with education. I think that in the age of social media, disputable truths, shock value and influencers, our kids are not actually getting the facts. They are not getting the historical facts from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and movies, so I want to outline some of the instances of what is being represented when you dress or act like a Nazi.

I will insert a trigger warning here, because much of what I am going to talk about now is very, very unpleasant. But it did happen, and it did happen to some of those 6 million to 10 million people. We saw the forced sterilisation of up to 400,000 people, including experimental sterilisation, forced abortions and forced medical experiments on children. When you wear the swastika you are showing a proud connection to human experimentation that was done without consent and caused victims indescribable pain, mutilation, permanent disability and death. A lot of the Nazis’ experiments had to do with gaining a military advantage, and they did high-altitude experiments where they put prisoners in pressure chambers and increased the pressure until they died. They left people in freezers until they died. They inflicted mock battle wounds on prisoners to test medication.

Josef Mengele befriended twin children from the trains to Auschwitz, and it was reported that he was friendly to these children. He used over 1000 pairs of twins in eugenics experiments and to try to find a way to multiply the German race, and after measurements were taken to find a key to multiple births these children were killed with a shot of chloroform to the heart. These symbols and this salute represent giving people poison, tuberculosis and yellow fever, exposing them to phosgene gas, doing transplantations of joints, bone and muscle and deforming people without any anaesthetic. It actually also represents artificial insemination of women and telling women the date of their death so they could see the physiological reaction in their menstrual cycle. And how do we know this? Well, the Germans, if anything, were meticulous at record keeping, and 23 doctors were trialled at Nuremberg during the doctors trial. Victim-survivors put their wounds on display, and 15 doctors were found guilty and immediately executed. We should never, ever forget this. We should never see 6 million as just a number. Whether it is the Holocaust or whether it is war crimes, we need to continue educating and, if necessary, legislating.

I certainly believe there is no argument about freedom of speech here. Victoria’s diversity is one of our largest strengths, and we have got to protect it. I believe, and I think everyone in this chamber believes, that all Victorians deserve to feel accepted, safe and included. We made a really good start in 2022 when we enacted the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 to make it an offence to display a Nazi symbol. Now we are criminalising the use of Nazi symbols in Victoria, and the Nazi salute, and equipping frontline officers with the power to seize materials or detain individuals who display these symbols of hate – as well as the SS symbol, the Siegrune; the Totenkopf, which is the Nazi skull used by the SS; and various other Nazi paramilitary organisation badges and emblems.

This bill is important because it forms part of the anti-vilification reform package in addressing hate speech and hate conduct in Victoria. We have seen it directed recently towards various Victorian communities, including the Jewish community, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the LGBTIQ+ community and people with disability, as well as multicultural, racial and religious faith groups. There is no doubt that these Nazi symbols and actions or gestures are intended to cause fear in the community, and that is why this bill is here. We need to protect our community from such harm. There is nothing fun about graffitiing a Nazi symbol; it is a message to convey antisemitism, hatred and intimidation.

I will note that the federal government are actually introducing legislation to prohibit public display of Nazi symbols and to prohibit memorabilia with those symbols as well. I think that is a great thing, and it is very, I guess, complementary to this bill here today.

Just for the record, the Nazi symbol, the Hakenkreuz, is banned in 22 countries, and I must say I like the fact that it could be taken a little bit further. I like the approach of countries making laws about Holocaust denial, and there are plenty of countries doing that: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is an interesting example – they do not really specifically outline any National Socialist crimes. In their criminal code on race discrimination:

Whoever publicly denies, coarsely trivialises, or tries to justify genocide or other crimes against humanity via word, writing, pictures, electronically transmitted signs, gestures, violent acts or by other means shall be punished with imprisonment for up to two years.

I will just finish up by saying that we cannot ignore people sowing the seeds of hate. This movement was largely ignored by the international community in the 1930s, and we saw what occurred just 12 years after that. This is our Parliament at its best: we are ensuring that our community has confidence that police have the powers to deal with potential terrorists, because that is what we are dealing with here. We are drawing a line in the sand regarding the ethical standards by which we choose to live in our liberal democratic society, and I think we have got that balance right. We have heard many amazing contributions to the Parliament today. Again I reiterate that I think this is Parliament at its best, and I commend the bill to the house.

Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:54): I rise to speak on behalf of the Victorian Greens on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. The Greens support this bill. We fully support it. We also believe that banning the Nazi salute is an important step towards curbing the threat of the sort of far-right extremists that we have been seeing, but it certainly should not be the last step in curbing these hateful ideologies. What we would really like to see is all the recommendations of last year’s parliamentary inquiry into far-right extremism being implemented in full as a matter of urgency, because what we have witnessed recently, as has also been articulated by other members, is the re-emergence of this sort of hateful extremism in a certain part of our society – more specifically, nationalist and racist violent extremism with elements of fascism, white supremacy and neo-Nazi beliefs and identity at its core. While this is obviously not new in Australia, what we have seen is just how frequent and blatant these displays of Nazism and far-right hate have been, publicly targeting the Jewish community; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; LGBTIQA+ people, specifically the trans community; and other racial and religious groups. We have seen groups of Nazis engaging in Nazi chants and salutes with immunity whilst the police can only look on.

What is actually leading to this is open to conjecture. There are a wide range of factors, but no doubt one factor is that we have been seeing an increasing number of politicians and leaders, both in Australia and abroad, that have been prepared at a minimum to dog whistle and tactically encourage and facilitate such views of hatred and rhetoric for political gain. A media investigation found evidence that this hateful movement wants to influence politics, with lists of sympathetic MPs to lobby and plans to try and get more politicians elected to espouse these sorts of views. As a local MP with an electorate with a really strong Jewish community, who meets with members of the Jewish community and visits local synagogues, schools and Jewish community groups quite frequently, I am incredibly mindful of the importance of this legislation and the need for further efforts to tackle antisemitic, extremist and dangerous ideologies.

As I said, this bill to prohibit the Nazi salute addresses one aspect, but there is a wider range of policies and approaches that need to be looked at. I referred to the Legal and Social Issues Committee, which undertook the Greens-initiated inquiry into extremism in Victoria and made a number of recommendations, including investing in more social cohesion and community building. We are pleased that the government has provided in-principle support to the recommendations and has committed to a range of reforms to counter violent extremists, but we would like see the government be bolder and go further than what has been outlined in its response to the inquiry. So far there has been a heavy emphasis on a justice response and a heavy emphasis on Victoria Police managing counterextremism. As I said, this is one tool in responding to the rise of neo-Nazis and hateful ideologies in this state. Additional tools that can be effective in stopping these hateful movements include supporting communities, building social cohesion, investing in anti-racism and anti-discrimination education and building trust in our political, social and civic institutions. These are important tools as well. I look at specifically the findings from that inquiry. Finding 38 states:

Anti-racism public education campaigns and education programs that teach respect and appreciation for multiculturalism are important for improving social cohesion in Victoria.

Another finding states:

Education about the Holocaust is particularly important for understanding … the consequences of racism and vilification throughout history and should have ongoing inclusion in the Victorian school curriculum.

Recommendation 7 states:

That the Victorian Government support the ongoing provision of … anti-racism education programs and actively seek to improve and increase the provision of such programs in the community.

There is another finding around digital and critical literacy skills for young people to navigate the internet safely and develop resistance to the influence of extremist messaging so they can critically analyse the information that they are exposed to. As I said, there are a wide range of tools that the government can use in combating the rise of this sort of hateful extremism, looking at what is driving people to these movements. The committee report canvassed risk factors like social isolation, economic insecurity and inequality, and certainly addressing these is part of the tools – like ending poverty, building communities and reducing inequality – that should also be used to tackle these hateful ideologies.

We have also seen links between far-right extremism and transphobia, homophobia and misogyny, and certainly any response to tackling extremism must look at this – the increasing hatred and vilification of our LGBTIQA+ communities. As we have put on the table, what we want to see is the government move on anti-vilification laws, which currently have protections on the basis of race and religion but not sexuality and gender identity. I understand that the government has undertaken its own process, but this has been going on for a very, very, very long time and now these are urgent and necessary reforms to take. The inquiry found that extremist movements cause harm to the community and that mainstreaming of homophobic and transphobic sentiments in the public discourse is legitimising the targeting of LGBTIQA+ Victorians. We saw this in action as recently as at the rallies on the steps of Parliament, where transphobes and neo-Nazis were vilifying and attacking our trans and gender-diverse communities.

The Greens will definitely support this bill, and it certainly must be the first step towards a comprehensive, whole-of-government response to the causes and consequences of far-right extremism and these hateful ideologies here in Victoria. We encourage the government to be bolder and go further and quicker in strengthening our community to stamp out these hateful movements as well as introducing anti-vilification measures to protect our LGBTIQA+ communities.

Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (15:01): I am pleased to be able to rise to speak on these very important reforms. We have had some very profound discussions in the chamber today, and I am glad to see that there is a sense of unity and respect on this very serious issue.

I was reflecting on a documentary I saw some time back. It showed film of deceased victims of the Holocaust. There was a mass grave, and without going into the graphic elements of it, suffice to say it was horribly confronting. The imperative of taking that footage was to make sure that no-one ever denied it had occurred. So on that note, the incredible work of Holocaust survivors, their children, volunteers at the Holocaust museum of Melbourne – and I have also been to Yad Vashem – in ensuring that the truth is told, that it is not forgotten, is critical: one, because all generations should be aware of what can happen if we stand aside and do not do the right thing and do not do everything in our power to prevent such atrocities recurring, but also on a positive note, so that we can create a better future for everyone.

I will say, having also visited Yad Vashem, that something became very apparent to me. You think, yes, I will cope with this, and I do not feel sorry for myself – as I was walking through there was a certain point when I reached an emotional sort of saturation in the sense that it is so intense but so profound and so important that I simply cried. You cannot believe that human beings can submit to this kind of atrocious behaviour, but they can – we know they can – and hence this is the good work going on here and now in this chamber, collectively, to ensure that we do what we can to prevent this happening in the future.

On that note, I did want to proceed to acquit some of the issues that were raised by the opposition. I would like to reinforce that those issues have been considered in a very careful way and taken very much in the vein that they were intended, in the sense that they are not being lightly rebutted or dismissed. We fully appreciate that there has been a lot of careful consideration on all sides with regard to what is the best way to move forward and what is the most appropriate language for these reforms. I just want to say from the outset that there is most certainly a premise of respect with regard to what wording should ultimately be passed when the bill, hopefully, is passed through this chamber and then the upper house in due course.

I proceed to the two amendments: firstly, the issue raised concerning the terms ‘used by’ as opposed to ‘associated with’, and I hope that it will be appreciated why I am being a little brief on that, but I will explore why the current wording that the government has elected to use is being put forward to the chamber. The wording ‘symbol used by the Nazi Party’ – I am just referring to the specific elements that are being queried – is contained in the bill following consultation with various stakeholders to capture the intended policy position, which is of course fundamental to what underpins this legislation, while avoiding a broad-ranging offence that potentially captures many forms of communication and a wider range of symbols. This bill captures symbols and gestures used by the Nazi party, the most widely known being the Hakenkreuz and the Nazi salute, as these symbols and gestures represent the atrocities of the Holocaust, and I proffer that they are pretty broadly and widely known and understood in that regard. The purpose of this bill is to prevent the harm caused to Victorians by the atrocities that are represented by these symbols and gestures. Within the bill the word ‘symbol’ will take its ordinary meaning, so a symbol used by the Nazi party will mean something used for or regarded as representing the Nazi party. By definition, this does not include dot points or punctuation marks, as such an interpretation does not promote the purpose of the bill and the ordinary meaning of the words within.

I might just go a little further on this specific issue as raised by the opposition. On the phrase ‘associated with’, the concern is that it would give the prohibition an expansive operation. It would encompass a wider range of symbols and gestures, which would impose a greater burden on communication and charter rights. There are certain gestures – I will not mention them necessarily here, but I think it may be understood that there may be some gestures that seem to be morphing and evolving as we speak. I hate to think what is happening in that space, but anyway, I acknowledge that there are some more modern expressions. I am not fully apprised of them, because obviously I am not someone who represents that particular point of view. There we go; I talked around that a little, but I think you know where I am coming from. You know what I am saying. This is the crux here: this amendment may not be proportionate to the legitimate purpose the prohibition is trying to achieve, which is to protect Victorians from the harm caused by Nazi symbols and Nazi gestures; therefore the bill may be found to be constitutionally invalid and incompatible with the charter.

What I guess I am putting forward for consideration by the opposition as well is that I think it is fairly well understood that we are in a very nuanced space, and therefore we have to be very prudent with regard to it. I am not saying this to be patronising; it is well understood how the bill is drafted to ensure that you are not unnecessarily capturing people who may have done a symbol with absolutely no intent whatsoever of in any way putting forward a Nazi symbol as such. Hence that is why there has been such careful drafting with regard to the frame within which this bill is being put forward to the chamber.

There is a second amendment proposed with regard to the issue of police powers. The proposition by the opposition is:

A police officer may give a direction to a person to cease performing a Nazi gesture if the police officer reasonably believes the person is committing an offence against section 41K(1A) by performing the Nazi gesture.

If we look at police powers, police may direct a person to remove a Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture from public display if the police officer reasonably believes an offence has been committed. This power is intended to allow police to prevent a displayed gesture or symbol from causing further harm to the public where the perpetrator cannot be identified. While the bill does not provide police with a specific power to direct a person to stop performing the Nazi salute, it is intended that police will utilise their powers of arrest to stop a person from performing the salute, and I will come to the critical element of this issue in a moment. It is also important to acknowledge that existing practice for police is to ask a person who is committing an offence to cease that conduct before exercising their discretion to issue an arrest. And here is the clincher: including a specific directions power to stop the performance of a gesture would therefore be duplicitous and unnecessary. That is the rationale behind not agreeing to the particular amendment that has been respectfully put forward by the opposition. Police will also have the ability to charge a person on summons where there is sufficient evidence that an offence has been committed. I hope that does allay some of the concerns put forward by the opposition with regard to the amendments that they have proposed as well.

I think there has been broad agreement here on the impetus for these particular reforms. I am very glad that there has not been any objection to the rationale for putting forward this legislation here and now in the chamber as well. I do not want to speak for everyone, but there was horror at what was represented on the front steps of Parliament. Certainly, if you hurt one person, you hurt all. It certainly lowers all of us as human beings and our sense of security and safety in our community when there are some individuals who may, on the basis of race or whatever the particular prejudice is, deem that someone else is less valuable or is not owed the same respect as everyone else. There is no justification, there is no rationale for such horrendous behaviour, hence the impetus for bringing forward these reforms as we speak. In that regard I do commend this legislation to the house, noting that we are having anti-vilification consultation as we speak.

Jess WILSON (Kew) (15:11): I too rise to speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. Like everyone who has spoken today, I appreciate the very broad support for this bill throughout the house and each of the contributions that have been made touching on everyone’s different experiences when it comes to this very important matter and the very concerning acts that sit behind this piece of legislation. From the outset can I thank the member for Albert Park for seeking to alleviate some of the opposition’s concerns when it comes to our amendments that the Shadow Attorney-General circulated this morning. We will go on to move those amendments and do so with the respect that the member for Albert Park noted in her contribution, particularly around the application of this legislation and ensuring that the legislation has the appropriate purpose and achieves the outcomes attempted in its drafting.

The fact that this bill does have unanimous support in this place really does illustrate the fact that there is simply no place in our state, our country or modern-day society more broadly for the use of Nazi symbols. I think it is important to note the work of the federal Parliament in this space as well and my federal colleague Senator Michaelia Cash, who moved similar amendments to the criminal code in the federal Parliament earlier this year in response to the deeply disturbing sight of the Nazi salute, which has been seen on the streets of Melbourne and in other places around the country. As Senator Cash said in her second-reading speech:

Those who display Nazi symbols or use the Nazi salute are either ignorant of the past or they are deliberately promoting evil.

It is my strong belief that any individual who is seen to be using these hateful symbols or these hateful salutes or acts should have the full force of the law brought upon them, and I am glad to be able to support the bill in this place to make sure that is the case. Any display of Nazi symbols, imagery or gestures is absolutely abhorrent and simply has no place in modern-day Australia and no place in Victoria. We are a tolerant and diverse society, and the rise of neo-Nazi ideology is simply not in keeping with the community or in keeping with the state of Victoria and our country. This bill seeks to ensure that it cannot take place and, if it does take place, appropriate remedies will be there for the police and through our legal system.

As many of the contributions have acknowledged today, the Nazi regime committed atrocities on a scale and with a barbarity that is largely unparalleled in history. The systematic murder of 6 million Jews, the nearly as many prisoners of war and other victims, including the LGBTQI community, remains one of the darkest moments in human history and particularly in the last century. It is something that we as an Australian people are very aware of given our role during the Second World War. Reflecting on that time and the barbaric acts on children and adults with a disability, as well as that systematic murder right across Europe, is something that is abhorrent, and to think that anyone in Australia today would try to glorify or celebrate the perpetrators of these acts is simply beyond comprehension.

We can all be very proud that our country fought against the Nazi regime, the murderous regime that was the Nazi regime. Many Australians gave up their lives to put a stop to the Holocaust, and the presence of Nazi symbols, gestures and imagery in Australia today is simply an insult to their memory as well. Of course it is very, very hurtful to the Jewish Australian community. Melbourne is home to Australia’s largest Jewish community, who have contributed so much to our civil society since the mass migration of Jewish people to our shores after the horrors of the Holocaust. I have been honoured in the past to have a close connection with the Jewish community, both in my time in student politics and my time as the member for Kew but particularly on an occasion where I had the opportunity to travel to Israel on a cross-party delegation and spend some time in Israel, and I took the time there to visit the Holocaust museum. As the member for Albert Park spoke to, it is one occasion that has had a lasting impact on me, simply seeing the horrors and being there to see some of the very, very touching tributes to those who lost their lives during the Holocaust, and particularly the many, many children that lost their lives during the Holocaust, to the Nazi regime.

Displaying symbols or performing gestures linked to that regime that attempted to wipe out that thriving Jewish community is simply morally repugnant and it ought to be criminal, and this piece of legislation that we are debating today will do that. The display of Nazi symbols is also linked to a disturbing rise in extremist sentiment and extremist groups that represent a threat to public safety here in Victoria and right around our country, and many members here today have spoken about the concerning rise of neo-Nazism and that extremist ideology being perpetrated in our society here in Victoria. In fact the director-general of ASIO Mike Burgess stated earlier this year that responding to threats of ideologically driven terrorism now accounts for 30 per cent of their counterterrorism caseload, and he described ‘a cohort of individuals motivated by a toxic cocktail of conspiracies, grievances and anti-authority beliefs’. It is vital that as a society we make it absolutely clear that neo-Nazism and its associated symbolism have no place in our community.

As I spoke to earlier, the member for Malvern and Shadow Attorney-General has introduced a number of amendments today, and I thank him for his leadership on this issue and also thank the member for Caulfield for his longstanding leadership on this issue and for his unwavering support for the Jewish community, like many of us in this place. This amendment that the opposition has proposed today, which the member for Malvern spoke to earlier, seeks to amend the bill’s definition of Nazi symbol to insert the words ‘and associated with’ so it reads:

… any other symbol used by and associated with the Nazi Party …

This is designed to ensure that the ban on display of symbols associated with the Nazi party does have that direct association, and in the spirit of the debate here today it seeks to strengthen this piece of legislation to ensure that its intent can be carried out through our justice system.

The second amendment today looks to provide for a police officer to have the power to direct a person to cease performing a Nazi gesture in a public place, and that would have the same criteria as applies to a direction to cease displaying a Nazi symbol in a public place. Another amendment that the member for Malvern has put forward today is to ensure that the use of a Nazi gesture can be stopped in the moment and in its place and to ensure that this bill’s powers can be carried out by the police as intended.

As Senator Cash said when introducing her bill in the federal Parliament, it is important that we send the right signal, particularly to young people in this country who are likely to be influenced and often indoctrinated into radical extremism. This piece of legislation simply says there is no place in modern-day Victoria and modern-day Australia for the use of any Nazi symbol or gesture, and prohibiting the Nazi salute sends a very powerful message to any would-be extremists that that sort of behaviour we have seen lately, and too often lately, at many protests in Melbourne is completely unacceptable and that the full force of the law will be brought against those who attempt to do it.

I appreciate the opportunity to support this bill today and commend it to the house, and I thank all those who have spoken on it for their contributions, for the broad support in this place. I thank the member for Malvern the Shadow Attorney-General for moving his amendments that seek to strengthen this bill and show the importance of this piece of legislation sending a strong message that neo-Nazism simply has no place in Victoria or in Australia.

Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh) (15:21): I rise to make a contribution on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. My electorate of Bentleigh is home to just over 5 per cent of Australia’s Jewish community, and right next door in the electorate of Caulfield is 20 per cent of Australia’s Jewish community. Together the Bentleigh and Caulfield electorates cover most of the City of Glen Eira, and the City of Glen Eira has Australia’s largest concentration of Jewish people. So for that reason and that reason alone, this piece of legislation is very important to my constituents to say the least.

Eighteen years ago, when I was 19 years old, I was elected to the City of Glen Eira council, and that is when I got to know many members of our Jewish community but also got to be involved with a number of different Jewish community organisations. It was also when I first started to meet many, many different Holocaust survivors. Australia has the world’s largest concentration of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel. It really did shock me, even as a 19-year-old, that there were people who would come into suburbs like Bentleigh or Caulfield or Elsternwick or Ormond or McKinnon, knowing that that is where many Holocaust survivors live, and spray-paint swastikas on public facilities in the hope that a Holocaust survivor on their morning walk would actually be confronted by a swastika. That is what happened when I received a call one morning from a very, very distressed Holocaust survivor. To Glen Eira council’s credit, whenever this happens – and unfortunately it is an all-too-frequent occurrence – it is cleaned up straightaway, immediately. But it is absolutely unacceptable, disgraceful, indeed an evil act that these things occur. We cannot sit idly by as a government. We have to take action, and I am proud of the action that this government has taken to tackle antisemitism and to ensure that we continue to fight what was the most evil regime in human history. This bill I think is a strong statement of that leadership.

This bill prohibits the public display or performance of gestures used by the Nazi party. It builds on the previous bill that prohibited the public display of the Hakenkreuz and is a response to both the parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s anti-vilification protections and recent incidents involving Nazi symbols in the community. This bill sends a very clear message that Victorians do not tolerate hateful conduct towards our Jewish communities or other minority communities in Australia and empowers law enforcement to direct the removal of Nazi displays and impose penalties for non-compliance, because the Nazi salute is not just a gesture, it is a symbol of division and hatred that stands in stark contrast to the values that we hold so dear in Victoria and in Australia.

I am proud of our government’s record on this matter. Our government’s record is very significant indeed. For starters, as I have just said, we legislated Australia’s first criminal ban on the display of Nazi hate symbols. We introduced mandatory Holocaust education in every secondary school so that our young people in every generation, especially with the passage of time when we lose our Holocaust survivors, learn the important lessons of the Holocaust. We adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, educating non-Jewish people and providing a mechanism for instances of antisemitism to be reported and acted on in the workplace and at schools. We have a strong track record of investments, including $1.5 million to improve security measures at the Beth Weizmann Jewish Community Centre. That community centre actually has more threats to it than the MCG – just let that sink in. It is a community centre. And most recently there was our election commitment to protect Victoria’s Jewish communities from antisemitism and violence by providing $900,000 over three years to the Jewish Community Security Group and our strategy to tackle antisemitism. So needless to say I am very proud of this government’s record on these matters.

Like I think everybody else in this house, I never thought I would ever see Nazis performing a Nazi salute on the streets of Melbourne, but I also never thought I would see gallows rolled out on Spring Street. We have got to ask ourselves what has happened over the last 10 years. I mean, there has been Brexit, there has been the election of Trump, there has been the pandemic and there has been the attack on the US Capitol, and when we are going through such monumental changes and monumental shifts in the public discourse, what we need to counter some of that, what we need to counter people preying on the vulnerability of others, is leadership – not just leadership from politicians, from all of us in this chamber and from other legislatures around the world, but leadership from the media as well. The increased use of social media, the advent of social media, has meant there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation circulating on the internet. And how do you counter that – you make sure that the mainstream media are reporting facts. So not only do we need leadership in this house – and our government is showing leadership on this issue and has consistently – we need leadership from every sensible person with a platform, with a megaphone. That also includes the media, because as the member for Kew just pointed out, ASIO chief Mike Burgess has acknowledged that far-right extremists in this country remain a persistent and resilient threat. We must be alive to this, and we must do what we can as legislators and as leaders in our communities to ensure that what we are doing is protecting everybody in this state and particularly protecting minorities.

It is no coincidence that when we see these displays they are usually attached to a demonstration on the front steps of Parliament where certain minorities are being targeted. That is absolutely disgraceful. You know, whenever I visit a citizenship ceremony – and I have been visiting citizenship ceremonies either as a councillor or as an MP over the last 18 years – I always say to new citizens that there are three things that set our country apart from the rest of the world: our social safety net, our Indigenous Australians and our multiculturalism. Despite all this, we are still the greatest example of multiculturalism in the world, and we must combat hate wherever we find it.

I have spent many, many hours at the Holocaust centre over in Elsternwick. I have been to Yad Vashem. I have also been to the site of what will be the world’s newest Holocaust centre, and that is in Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki is Greece’s second-largest city, and prior to the Second World War 50 per cent of the population in that city was Jewish. Ninety-five per cent of them were wiped out by the Nazis. They were marched to a town square. They were kept there for hours, forced to do degrading things and then marched to the train station and sent to the death camps. That train station has since been decommissioned, and a Holocaust museum will be built at that location. I am looking forward to travelling to Thessaloniki when it opens in a few years time, because learning about the community of Jewish people in Greece a few years ago did make me realise that you do not have to be Jewish to feel strongly about the Holocaust, because it impacted all of us. It impacted all of us, and these gestures of hate impact all of us and have no place in Victoria. I commend the bill to the house.

Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (15:31): I am delighted to rise and make a brief contribution on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. Having heard the member for Bentleigh speak about travelling overseas to see some of these places, I have not done that. I do wish to do that in the coming years because I think it is part of our history that we do need to understand better, although I spent three or four years at a school in Elsternwick, so I feel like I understand the Jewish community to some degree. But certainly the Holocaust and the issues that go with that I am certainly not fully across, and I would like to learn more about that history, because it is quite abhorrent. I am pleased that we are debating this bill today after various incidents that have occurred, some on the very front steps of this place, the people’s place, the Parliament of Victoria, and I find it absolutely abhorrent that that can still continue. I have listened to the debate and was particularly impressed with the contributions by the member for Caulfield and the member for Box Hill.

We have heard that this bill will amend the Summary Offences Act 1966 to make the public display or performance of Nazi gestures an offence and to extend the application of the offence to public displays of Nazi symbols. Certainly, since the passing of the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 just last year, when we saw the law commence on 29 December, there have been several high-profile incidents, including protests, involving the use of the Nazi salute. It certainly highlighted that the existing law has not dealt with Nazi gestures adequately and so has led to this bill, the summary offences amendment bill 2023.

The bill’s purpose is to make the public display or performance of actions or gestures that symbolise Nazi gestures an offence. In this day and age it is disappointing that we still need to introduce legislation to stop these activists from promoting and partaking in antisemitic salutes or actions, which are appalling, and I do hope the government has thought this legislation through fully, because here we are again I suppose modifying or fixing up some of the rushed legislation from last year. We see again that legislation that does get rushed through this Parliament does not completely solve the problems it was designed to, but I certainly do hope that this legislation will put a full stop behind the issues around the Nazi salute and gestures. With that said, let us hope that this is the last piece of legislation we need to stop these extremists from performing these cruel and callous acts.

The legislation will see appropriate penalties for such displays, being 120 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months or both. There are some exemptions of course when the display or performance is engaged in reasonably and in good faith for genuine academic, artistic, educational or scientific purposes or in making or publishing a fair and accurate report for an event or matter of public interest; where the display of the Nazi symbol was engaged in reasonably and in good faith for a genuine cultural or religious purpose; or where the display of the Nazi symbol was engaged in reasonably and in good faith in opposition to fascism, Nazism, neo-Nazism or other related ideologies.

Again, I say it is appalling that Holocaust survivors need to be subjected to this sort of behaviour anywhere, and particularly here in Victoria. I think that the stance we are taking here today symbolises that united stance of Victorians to stand up to and stamp out bullies and rid our state of arrogant people who simply cannot see the difference between right or wrong. We have certainly seen a significant step in this area in recent weeks. Some of the details included in the bill are that:

A police officer may give a direction to a person to remove from display a Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture if the police officer reasonably believes the person is committing an offence against section 41K(1) …

A police officer may give a direction to a person to remove from display a Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture …

It is fair to say that this bill has been introduced at a time of increasing concern about the public display of neo-Nazi and antisemitic behaviour. The Liberals and Nationals have supported the banning of the public display of the Nazi swastika for some time, and I am certainly pleased to stand here today to support this legislation. I do hope all corners are covered under this legislation, particularly in relation to the police powers and the police directions. There should be power for a police officer to direct a person to cease performing a Nazi gesture in a public place. I do hope that the amendments that have been made by the member for Malvern are duly considered by the Parliament. Whether it is here in this place or between houses, we have seen a significant change with the previous Premier stepping down, and it is time to tell now if this new broom will take on board some of the ideas and work together with the opposition to make sure that we get the best outcome. This is legislation that we are all supporting, that I think everybody in this house is supporting, and I do hope they work with us to make sure that we get it absolutely right, whether it is here or in the other place.

In summary, it is important that every member of this house understands and supports this legislation to stamp out this behaviour. There is no place in society or in any community to support this behaviour, and the full force of law should be used against activists who break these laws. The Jewish community deserve better, and they deserve to know that those who break the law will be dealt with, and not just with a slap in the face with a wet lettuce but with the full force of the law, to make sure that they are accountable if they continue to do Nazi gestures and salutes. Again, I hope the Victorian government considers our amendments to make sure that we get this absolutely right. We cannot ignore this behaviour any longer, where extremists do not have the integrity or the common courtesy or the common decency to understand the feelings of the Jewish community and other communities and that their foolish games are hurtful. We need to make laws like this to stop their foolish behaviour.

Even in Wangaratta in regional Victoria, in my electorate, we saw earlier this year people had been out late at night with spray paint, painting swastikas all over cars. It is not to be stood for, and there was an outcry from our local community saying this is wrong. These are the sorts of steps we need to take to make sure that we follow through with what we say. These laws will assist in how police can arrest and charge these fools. It is not lost on me that there is unanimous support in this place, and I certainly hope that this gets a speedy passage, with amendments, in the other place.

Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (15:38): It is with a sense of vexation that I rise to speak in support of this bill to ban the Nazi salute in Victoria – vexation because in our modern multicultural state, a state which prides itself on equality and respect, it is nevertheless apparent that we are again having to strengthen our laws simply to ensure Victorians can live free of bigotry, hate and violence. Last year I was proud to speak in support of the ban on Nazi symbols, a historic moment for our government and a first for Australia as together we stood up to send a clear message to those who seek to divide, intimidate and harm our peaceful way of life. Together we said to people who would brandish the Nazi swastika, ‘You don’t get to show off your hatred. You don’t get to make others fearful. You don’t get to glorify violence and tyranny and genocide – not in this state.’

At the time I related the story of my father-in-law Joel Margolis. Joel was a Jewish boy living in Warsaw with his family when Germany invaded Poland, and his narrow escape from the Holocaust meant that he was ultimately able to migrate to Australia, make an extraordinary contribution to medical research and become a dad to my husband Julian. His story is part of the history of our family, and when our girls are old enough to understand, my husband Jules and I will take the time to explain to them how their grandfather fled his home to escape a hate so strong it could not even see him as human. Around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population died during the Holocaust – 6 million people, many in extermination camps or in mass shootings, many after months or years of forced labour, torture and deprivation. As others have noted, millions more were persecuted and killed based on their ethnicity, their religion, their political beliefs and their sexuality. That darkness can never and should never be forgotten. When it rears its ugly head, its hateful head, in our communities there is only one way we can respond, and that is to stand up and say no, because racism is an insidious evil in whatever form it takes. Whether subtle or overt, it erodes our humanity. And as individuals, as a collective and as legislators it is our moral responsibility to speak up and stand against racism, discrimination and injustice when we see it.

This Parliament has been at the forefront of passing legislation that affirms all Victorians’ rights to feel accepted, safe, free to be who they are and free to speak their truth. Whether it is through our ban on conversion therapy, whether it is through Safe Schools, whether it is through adoption equality, treaty or stronger anti-discrimination laws, Labor has made it a pillar of our values and our identity to acknowledge past trauma, stand up against intimidation and hate and stare down the evil ideologies that seek to scapegoat minorities. Some of this may seem abstract, but it is not. Others have spoken already about the horrific scenes outside our Parliament when a cowardly group of neo-Nazis decided to target the transgender community with their hateful acts. Immediately following these events our government denounced these behaviours in the strongest terms and committed to expanding our nation-leading legislation banning the Nazi Hakenkreuz to include the Nazi salute. That is exactly what we are doing, because every part of our state and every person in our state should be safe from bigotry and hateful ideologies, and what happened last year was not an isolated incident.

We have seen the neo-Nazis show up at trans story times. We have seen them scrawl antisemitic messages across our city. We have seen them mixing and blurring with the anti-vax movement to sow disinformation. Close to home, in my electorate of Northcote, we have experienced the anger and audacity of these extremist groups firsthand. In 2021, 31 anti-vax protesters were arrested for rioting through Northcote Plaza, terrorising families and children, workers and shoppers. During my election campaign, billboards across the electorate were defaced with Nazi symbols and words, an affront to our very democracy. And just a few weeks ago a group of neo-Nazis armed with knives, clad in black and wearing balaclavas took it upon themselves to violently descend on a cafe in High Street, Thornbury. These are brazen acts of intimidation, and they are disturbingly on the rise not just in Australia but across the world. We cannot allow this kind of fascism to take root in our society.

ASIO continues to assess Australia’s terrorism threat level. Disturbingly they report:

Ideologically motivated violent extremism – and particularly nationalist and racist violent extremism – remains a threat to Australian security and its adherents will continue to engage in offensive behaviours … ASIO remains concerned about the potential for these groups to radicalise individuals …

particularly through the use of social media. There is the risk that these individuals can then go on to undertake attacks, potentially without warning. We may not be privy to it, but we know that encrypted channels buzz daily with the divisive rhetoric of the far-right movement, drawing more and more people into their vortex of hate. Heartbreakingly, the individuals being targeted for radicalisation are often some of the most disadvantaged in our society, and this vulnerability is deliberately preyed on as they stoke feelings of disillusionment and anger. Around the world we are seeing these highly organised far-right movements gain traction and start shaping the policies of the traditionally mainstream right. It is happening in the US, in the UK and in more and more European countries, and Australia is not immune. Victoria is not immune.

So I am pleased to see the bipartisan support from the opposition for this bill and the dignity of the debate today. This bill bans the public display or performance of any symbol or gesture used by the Nazi party and its paramilitary arms. It forms part of a package of anti-vilification reforms to address hate speech and hate conduct in Victoria, reforms which have been developed in response to the parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s anti-vilification protections. The abhorrent performance of the Nazi salute has no place in Victoria and has indeed been banned in numerous other countries with the understanding of the weight these gestures carry and the history they evoke.

This bill explicitly prohibits the Nazi salute alongside the existing prohibition on the Hakenkreuz. Despite what the member for Malvern argued in his speech and with his amendments, the bill does not require an explicit clause to give the police the power to direct someone to cease the Nazi gesture. This is because, by virtue of creating an offence to perform this gesture, the police have the ability to intervene in the performance of what will be an offence in action, just as the police are able to intervene in other offences in action, whether that be a carjacking, public exposure or any other offence you can think of. They will have the power to ask a person to cease and will further have the power to arrest that person and charge them.

I do want to note, as I did when we banned the public display of the Hakenkreuz, that there will be a range of exceptions to the offence which relate to genuine cultural, religious, educational and artistic purposes. This is also not intended to capture innocent gestures like simply hailing a cab. Context and intent will be important.

We wish that making these laws was not necessary, but beyond that wish is our resolve to always tackle antisemitism, hatred and racism head-on. I never want to see the kinds of behaviours we saw at the front of Parliament again – shameful and cowardly public demonstrations of hate and bigotry designed only to cause fear, pain and division. If this bill goes some way to preventing that and preventing the harm it inflicts on our community, then it is worthy of our support.

In the minutes I have left I want to thank our parliamentary colleagues who have stood up today to speak in favour of this bill. It is not easy subject matter, and for those with personal stories and connections to the Holocaust or indeed any form of genocide it takes a toll. The impact of traumatic events in history does not go away. They reverberate through time, through generations and across continents. When those experiences are weaponised against people, when they are used to intimidate and silence and tell parts of our community that they are wrong simply for being who they are, there is scarcely anything more vicious. That is why this bill is so important. It sends a message in Victoria that we will not accept any part of our community being threatened, taunted and vilified just for being who they are. The diversity of our state is our greatest asset. Our peaceful way of life is precious. Our democracy is precious. Authoritarianism and fascism have no place here. I commend this bill to the house.

Wayne FARNHAM (Narracan) (15:48): I am pleased to contribute on this bill today. It has been quite a day listening to the contributions from other speakers, especially the member for Caulfield, the member for Box Hill and the member for Bulleen, whose contribution was quite amazing. It is a little bit sad in one sense that we have to talk about this today, but unfortunately in our community we have a certain very small population that believe the Nazi salute and the Nazi symbol are relevant in our community in the year 2023. It is pleasing to know that both sides of this Parliament have turned around and said it is not relevant anymore in our community – not one bit. It was an absolute disgrace that they stood on the steps of Parliament and did that Nazi salute, and it was an absolute disgrace because this is the people’s Parliament.

This is also a place where we work. When we look around our chambers – this chamber and the upper house – and we look at the people in those rooms, there are a lot of people from different backgrounds and different ethnicities. We all here contributing to making Victoria better. It does not matter what side of the chamber you are on, that is what we are trying to do. But it is not only the houses of Parliament. Look at the people that work in Strangers Corridor, that work in the cafe, and our clerks and our cleaners – it is this whole building. It was an insult to the place where we work, but it was also an insult to the people of Victoria, because this is the people’s house.

I am very happy with this bill coming through. As I said, I cannot believe I have to talk about this because of the absolutely gutless and cowardly actions of a few individuals – and they are gutless; they are the most gutless people I have ever seen. They stand up there. They have got their face masks on. As the member for Malvern said, they are in their little black pyjamas. They have no relevance in today’s society at all.

You can see the passion in the contributions today from everyone and how it has touched people, especially those with Jewish backgrounds. My grandfather left Italy in the 1930s – my Italian grandfather. Obviously he was Italian – he came from Italy. He left Italy. He hated Mussolini with a passion because of his association with Nazi Germany. He knew that the writing was on the wall. The member for Bulleen said it very well earlier: we had so many people come to Australia in that time for safety, to have a better life and to leave that rubbish behind. The racism and the antisemitism – they wanted to escape that. So to have that appear now outside this Parliament is an absolute disgrace. Every time somebody puts up that symbol, every time somebody does that salute, it is an absolute insult to the Jewish community – to the 6 million lives lost and the 1 million children as well. It was an absolutely disgusting time in the history of this state. I cannot fathom what it is like to visit the museums that people were talking about. I will be honest: I have not visited them yet, but I will. I think it is part of our responsibility as MPs to learn as much as we can about other people’s faith and history, and I will visit these museums that have been mentioned today. I do not know how I will go with the actual visit, because it sounds absolutely horrific.

I would like to mention the amendments that the member for Malvern has put forward in good faith to strengthen the bill and to make it a better bill. That is what we are here today to discuss – making this a better bill for all Victorians.

I am pleased I have got the Minister for Police in the room today. I would like to mention this: maybe if we brought back the move-on powers for Victoria Police, we could move that rubbish off the steps of Parliament. We would not have to look at it anymore. So I suggest to the Minister for Police: have a look at that to strengthen this bill as well, so if anybody is out there using the Nazi salute, the police can move them on. Give them those powers back. They were powerless on the day that they were on the steps of Parliament. They could not move them on. Maybe the Minister for Police, who is sitting there, has noted that down as something that we can improve on.

It is interesting now that nearly 50 per cent of people in Victoria have a parent that was born overseas, both parents were born overseas or they were born overseas. It is roughly 50 per cent of our population, and it really is incumbent on us to protect our population. As community leaders it is incumbent on us to stamp out racism every time we see it. Every time racism raises its head we should stamp it out.

This bill has my full support, it has our full support, and I would expect nothing less from our side of the chamber. My leader has just joined me here today, and as I said, when we look around the chamber and we see the different ethnicities around the chamber, it is a great place to work, because it makes Victoria a better place. I agree with the member for Bentleigh when he says that in Victoria, Melbourne in particular is one of the best multicultural cities in the world, and it is by far the best multicultural city in the world. I go to a lot of multicultural events, representing the Leader of the Opposition, and it is a fantastic city for multiculturalism. That is what we have to protect. What we have to protect is what we have created in this city – not only Labor governments but Liberal governments as well – over a long period of time. That is what we need to protect, and there is no room in our society today for what has been going on lately, especially this year with the rise in these pyjama-clad morons, as the member for Malvern likes to put it, and I could not agree with him more. They are pyjama-clad morons, and they are that gutless they cannot even take a face mask off. But it is incumbent on us to stamp out racism every time we see it.

Just in closing, I would like to say that I think the government should really have a look at the member for Malvern’s amendments. He has put those amendments forward to strengthen the bill and for no other reason. It has been great to see the contributions from both sides, although some of the stories today were I must admit quite moving and very hard to listen to. I am very proud that we are supporting this bill, and I commend this bill to the house.

Meng Heang TAK (Clarinda) (15:57): I am extremely proud to rise today to join the many speakers before me on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. It is a very important bill, one that creates a criminal offence and prohibits the display and performance of Nazi symbols and gestures in Victoria. It is fitting that this is one of the first pieces of legislation that has come before the house under the Allan Labor government. I would like to say that I am even prouder to have worked alongside many of my colleagues here who have direct or indirect connections with the genocide and with the atrocities that happened. I would like to concur with the trauma and the legacy they leave, coming from both of my parents surviving the killing fields not long ago. They never talk about the experience that they went through during their teen years, but I have listened to many of the contributions here and read a little bit about what happened in the past, and I see many similarities with the experience that they went through. That is why it is a very, very important bill and a bill that I support wholeheartedly.

During my time in the past Parliament the Legal and Social Issues Committee listened to public hearings about this very important issue, and it took me a very, very long time. I remember at one of the public hearings that many of us committee members needed to take some breaks to hear directly from members of the community, the Jewish community, that called upon our government in terms of showing leadership to put a stop to this. Not long ago, I think in March this year, coming to the city and walking past Parliament House and seeing those protesters on the steps of Parliament, it confirmed to me that this bill is the bill that we need to show leadership, and I am very glad to be part of this Allan government once again to contribute and to speak on this bill, which we all –

The SPEAKER: The time has come for me to interrupt business for the matter of public importance.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.