Thursday, 5 October 2023

Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Anthony Carbines:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (10:47): I rise to resume my contribution from last night on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. I will pick up where I left off. I began to delve into a bit of the history of the origins of the Nazi party so we could try to better understand what the wannabe neo-Nazis on the front steps of Parliament are actually saluting and worshipping.

The Nazis were first founded in 1920 and originally attracted very little popular support. As I understand it, they were initially treated like a joke. However, under the banner of a Nazi flag, symbols and the Nazi salute, the Nazis went on to build an ultranationalist narrative and weaponised the impacts of the Great Depression from 1929; the effects of the Treaty of Versailles, which Germany signed at the end of World War I; as well as the gradual and staged targeting of faith cultural minority communities, namely the Jewish community, whom the Nazis increasingly and falsely blamed for the failures and shortcomings of the German state. Taking political advantage of a period of heightened economic and social distress across Germany, the Nazis’ growing ideology went largely unchecked as they continued to spread their propaganda, misinformation and fear – way before the days of social media – spruiking themselves as the solution to Germany’s problems. In just 12 to 13 years the Nazi party managed to go from being a fringe political movement in 1920 all the way to being democratically elected as the largest political party in the German Reichstag by 1932, with Adolf Hitler going on to be appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933. The rise to power made possible through the democratic process provided the Nazis with the legitimacy they sought to implement their hateful and murderous policies, including by the 25-point program that Hitler first envisaged way back in 1920.

As National Socialists the Nazis sought to claim to unify German people through their complete obedience to the state. They called for the state to lead a master race ‘in the racial struggle against the inferior races’. The Nazis’ plan sought to supposedly unite all the German blood with their program calling for the acquisition of new lands and denying citizenship rights to all non-Germans, particularly the Jewish community. This Nazi ideology would go on to become the tragic foundation of some of the most unimaginable and unspeakable acts of cruelty ever administered on humankind. It was also an ideology that turned otherwise everyday normal and well-educated Germans into complicit murderers and accomplices to the Nazis’ regime and agenda.

However, sadly, it was not until the morning of 31 August in 1939 that the West began to stand up and push back against Nazism, with Hitler’s action to invade Poland sparking the commencement of the Second World War. On 3 September 1939 Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies announced the beginning of Australia’s involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station in the country. Almost 1 million Australians, both men and women, answered the call and would go on to serve and fight in the Second World War. Of these, 205,700 Victorians enlisted to serve, which equated to 10.7 per cent of the state’s population at the time, the highest population percentage contribution of any Australian state towards the war effort. They fought in numerous campaigns directly against the Nazis, their evil ideology and the Axis allies on the seas, in the air and on the land, including in theatres across North Africa and Europe. By the end of the war almost 30,000 Australians had lost their lives, with tens of thousands more returning with physical, mental and emotional injuries that lasted a lifetime. Alongside the Minister for Veterans in this place, I would like to say thank you and pay tribute to the service of all the Australian men and women who fought in World War II against the Nazis, particularly those who served from Melbourne’s northern suburbs and who continue to be remembered through the work of the Shrine of Remembrance and locally for me via the Coburg RSL, Pascoe Vale RSL and Coburg Historical Society.

When modern wannabe neo-Nazis stand on the steps of Parliament and salute the Nazis, it is an affront to the service and memory of Australian veterans who sacrificed so much. However, the full scale of lives lost and the horror of the war would not become fully apparent until the end of formal hostilities in Europe, which German high command authorised in the signing of an unconditional surrender on all fronts, taking effect as of midnight over 8 and 9 May 1945. Provoked by Nazi Germany, World War II tragically went on to become the most deadly and destructive war in human history, claiming between 40 million and 50 million lives overall. This is the equivalent of the population of either South Korea or Spain being entirely wiped out in today’s terms, both of which respectively equate to 50 million people.

The war also tragically displaced tens of billions of people and created unprecedented trauma that has continued to be handed down the generations to today. In this regard the Nazi policy of forced extermination of people supposedly of inferior races or creeds, and political opponents, led to the murder of at least 11 million people of various minority groups, as the member for Monbulk pointed out yesterday. At least 6 million of these people murdered by the Nazis were from European Jewish communities – profound horror. At least 1.5 million of these, as the member for Caulfield actually pointed out yesterday, were children. Sadly, ultimately one of these children was Anne Frank, who tragically was a well-known victim of the Holocaust, who kept a diary of her experiences as her family hid for their lives in secret in a home in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam in the Netherlands, which I had the privilege to visit in 2013.

The extermination of minority groups by the Nazis commenced in 1933 and continued to 1945, with Nazi Germany and its allies establishing more than 44,000 camps and other incarceration sites, including ghettos, across Europe. The Nazi perpetrators used these locations for various purposes, including the detention of people deemed to be enemies of the state, forced labour and mass murder, either via mass shootings, gas chambers or other incomprehensible methods of human suffering.

In 2013 my wife and I also visited one of these sites, the Dachau concentration camp just outside of Munich in Germany, which was an incredibly moving and life-changing experience for me. Established in March 1933, Dachau was actually the first regular concentration camp established by the then new Nazi government, originally designated just for political prisoners. Dachau would go on, sadly, to become the model for all later concentration camps and also serve as the training centre for the SS concentration camp guards. The number of prisoners incarcerated in Dachau over this time would exceed 200,000 people, with researchers believing around 40,000 people at least were killed. Like the millions who, sadly, would go on to march through the gates of the Nazi network of future concentration camps, the prisoners of Dachau were some of the first, tragically, to march under the Nazi slogan of ‘Arbeit macht frei’ – work sets you free.

I recently had the pleasure to read Eddie Jaku’s The Happiest Man on Earth book over the winter July break, and with the time left I would like to try and leave us on a more positive note, if I could just get to his quote here, which I have – I do not think I will now. But, look, I really commend this bill to the house. It is all about standing up to these neo-Nazis and supporting our multicultural and diverse community of Victoria.

Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (10:54): I rise also today, as we stand as one in the chamber, every member here, to talk about the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. Like most members here who have stood up to speak on this, in 2023 I would not think that we would have to be up here talking about these horrendous things that happened many years ago, but today we have a few so-called members of our public running around still creating havoc and causing grief to certain parts of our community.

I should not say ‘certain parts’ as it affects all of us. I think that having someone that can use the Nazi salute to cause grief for community members affects all of us. As MPs able to stand in this chamber, we get to not only say our own words but bring the words of our entire communities in here to say ‘This is wrong’ and to call it out for what it is. To have people that are causing grief and evoking and making people revisit memories of lost family members from times gone past is wrong, and we need to stand here and say enough is enough. That is our job, and that is what we are all doing as we stand and condemn the practices of the Nazi salute.

I thank the member for Malvern for his contribution when he led off and for providing some amendments, which I do hope are considered. We need to make sure that this bill, as we put it forward, is absolutely bulletproof, that there is no grey area and that we are giving our police the ability to stamp out and move on these people that want to cause hate and show hatred towards our community. None of us in here are debating the bill. We are all on the same page, and that is one of the things that we can do in the chamber.

Back in March and again yesterday the member for Box Hill spoke about how many times in the past 12 months we have actually seen the Nazi salute on TV and on social media. Certain elements of our community move around in restaurants or out in the open and even out onto our steps – as the member for Narracan said yesterday, the people’s house – pushing us, threatening us and threatening everybody that is in here. As I said, we do not want anyone to be able to spread the word of hate by using a gesture and trying to intimidate us. It is our job to say no, and this is what we are doing now by moving this amendment bill.

I congratulate everybody here in this chamber that is getting up to speak on it. There are some stories that we have heard, especially those from the member for Caulfield, when he stood up and passionately spoke about his family ties being of Jewish origin and what they went through back in World War II when the Nazis tried to virtually exterminate the Jewish community and moved through and killed over 6 million people. To have people in the current day, 2023, using those gestures and symbols that were used back then is not fair, is not just, and we will stand beside every single person in Victoria and stamp out the ability for these gestures to be used.

There were limited consequences if they were doing these things, but we moved a bill last year which closed the loopholes a little bit. Then we have had to come back and redo this to make sure there is no grey area and that we are doing the right thing by our people. The media footage that I see and I suppose our younger generation see is limited on TV – we do get to see the riots and stuff like that when this does happen and the undesirable parts of our community are out on the streets – but it is on the social media of Facebook and TikTok where things can be put up and not explained properly. So for our younger generation, they need to know that we are saying no – no longer can this be done. It is fantastic that we can stand up here and we can listen to stories from other members and actually be as one and be unanimous in that we no longer want to have the ability for someone to stand on our steps, before the people’s house, and use the Nazi salute. That is what we do not want. We have moved on from that, and today we are making sure that that can never happen again.

As I said, there are certain elements of our community that do. They wear masks, and they run around in their black pyjamas and they want to cause as much grief as they can, but they do not want to show their faces. So we call them out here today, and we say, as I said before, enough is enough. Whether it be on the steps of Parliament, on our local streets or on social media, they need to know that in this chamber here the people of Parliament, including all the people that we represent, are saying no. It is wonderful that we can stand here, as I said before, as one, and I am very, very pleased to be able to throw my support behind this and behind everybody in the chamber. I commend the bill to the house.

Steve McGHIE (Melton) (11:01): Today I rise to contribute to the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023, and it is humbling to stand in this place and follow on from some of the incredible contributions from all members across all sides and in particular the member for Box Hill. I agree with his contribution: the speed with which this has come up has been shocking, and I do not think that we expected that this would be an issue that we had to deal with so quickly.

Before I discuss the broader points of the bill, I would like to address the opposition’s proposed amendments. The member for Albert Park made some important points yesterday addressing the opposition’s amendments, including the important point that these two matters have already been carefully considered in the development of the bill. This bill has been carefully drafted, and the proposed amendments are both unnecessary and not appropriate. It is important to note that we can observe through these amendments that both the opposition and the government desire the same outcomes, and we certainly agree on the policy intent for this bill. It is a rare show of unity, and I appreciate that. I think that is commendable. I take the point of the previous contribution, from the member for Morwell – it is fantastic to see that we are all on one side in regard to this particular issue.

I will just address the opposition’s amendment propositions – that issue of the definition to be changed from ‘symbols and gestures used by the Nazi Party’ to ‘used by and associated with the Nazi Party’. This has already been considered through the development of and consultation on this bill and through the drafting of the bill. It was considered that the inclusion of the words ‘and associated with’ will expand the operation of the offence, capturing a wider range of symbols and gestures. I do not think that is the desired effect and what this bill is all about. The point of this legislation is to protect Victorians from the harm caused by Nazi symbols and the Nazi gestures. Of course the definition in this bill needs to be targeted and directed to symbols and gestures used by the Nazi party.

To the opposition’s second amendment, it is a proposal to include police powers to direct people to cease performing the Nazi salute and gestures. What the opposition fail to realise is that the police do not need additional powers to verbally communicate or direct people. That is what police do. That is their job, and we do not need to waste time telling police how to do their job. The amendment is superfluous and it is unnecessary, so I do not think that needs to go ahead. The bill provides powers for police to direct a person to remove a Nazi symbol or display of a picture of a Nazi gesture from public, if the police officer reasonably believes an offence is being committed. This power is needed because it requires the police to direct someone to take a positive action, which is to remove the display. Disappointingly, we are moving an amendment to legislation that is not even 12 months old. In December last year, this government enacted the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022, effectively banning the public display of the Nazi symbol. Since then, we have seen an increase in groups using the Nazi salute, so it is very frustrating that we are here today even having to debate this issue.

The member for Box Hill, who is the Acting Speaker at the moment, reminded us that the Legal and Social Issues Committee, at the time of the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 being passed, warned that infringements and enforcements needed to come in addition to that bill, and that is exactly what this bill will do. The members for Malvern and Bulleen also provided some incredible insights on and dimensions to this debate. I want to acknowledge their contributions, and I appreciate what they had to say.

We cannot pretend that Nazism is just an opinion. It needs to be treated like the contagion it is, like the hateful disease that it is. The fact that we need to be here finding ways to suppress Nazism here in Victoria is just stomach-churning. Some time ago in my electorate I was approached by a Jewish family who were contemplating moving from their area of south-east Melbourne down towards the Melton LGA at Fraser Rise. It was lovely to meet up with them. Fraser Rise actually sits in the electorate of Sydenham. What they indicated to me was that there were about 30 Jewish families that were preparing to move into that area. I just want to clearly state that those families, and every other family that chooses to move into that electorate, are very welcome in our community, and I look forward to engaging with them into the future. I thank them for selecting the Melton LGA and the Melton area as the place where they wish to raise their families, and I know they will make a huge contribution to our community out in Melton. Of course that is one of the great strengths of the Melton population: the wide acceptance, the diversity and the strong faiths that coexist in our community, because all Victorians, no matter where they live, deserve to feel accepted, to be safe and to be included.

Nazis are fundamentally opposed to that. They spout fear and justify biases by seeking out like-minded people, often co-opting them from less acute positions. They name-call and use non-inclusive language. Even when we talk of the systematic extermination of Jews in Europe, in reference to the Holocaust, it is designed to dehumanise Jewish people. We see this kind of language occur when we are being made to believe that class divisions exist between us. It is a deliberate strategy to dehumanise a cohort of people and make them seem less than human. The horrors of the Holocaust are forever relevant and of course the lessons of the Holocaust are forever teachable, and I am pleased that we are teaching about those actions in the schools.

The Tutsis were referred to as cockroaches during the Rwandan genocide, and slave owners consider slaves to be property and subhuman. During the Holocaust the Jewish people were referred to as rats. When we talk about extermination of the Jewish people, we continue in a subconscious way to perpetrate that strategy. The illustrated pyramid of hate that was developed by the Anti-Defamation League demonstrates how hate escalates when it is not addressed: stereotyping, justifying biases by seeking out like-minded people, attitudes that lead to acts of bias, name-calling, ridicule, social avoidance and exclusion, microaggressions and dehumanisation. There are not a lot of steps left after that before genocide.

There is some recent German folklore that tells us that if you go to bed with a Nazi, you become one, and that if you invite a Nazi to a dinner party with 10 people, you have got 11 Nazis. I am not here to argue German folklore, but addressing this infestation and eliminating the spread is the primary goal of this legislation. Exemptions exist around artistic and academic disciplines, and safeguards are introduced to apply to those who may not be aware of the vile and offensive history of targeted and manufactured hatred against those persecuted. When you stand next to Nazis, you lend them your voice, you absolutely show us your solidarity for their cause and you commend their actions and their goals. If you do not speak up, you allow them to get away with it. The member for Monbulk wisely quoted former chief of the army Lieutenant General David Morrison: ‘The standard you walk past is the standard you accept’. In this case, the standard you stand next to on the steps of Parliament is the standard you commend.

I was going to make reference to the band Kiss. German legislation was strong enough to ensure that the logo for the band Kiss, who last week rocked the MCG at the grand final, needed to be redesigned for German audiences.

Before my time runs out there is one point that I really want to make, and that is that I want to speak about these characters that are out there – the groups who stand there doing their pathetic salutes that are designed to intimidate and scare people. Of course they wear their masks, they hide their faces. We know how gutless you really are. You are not a hero. They are all scared to expose themselves and take their masks off, because they might be scared of their mothers and that they might see them. They might be scared to lose their job because their boss might see them. They might be worried about what people think about them at their local football clubs or sporting clubs or community groups. So again it is a really tough way of trying to intimidate and harass and scare people, by masking up. If these people are so adamant about their cause, maybe they would take their masks off. This is a really important bill for this state and for keeping people safe and included, and I commend this bill to the house.

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (11:11): I rise today to speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023, a bill that is sadly addressing a significant problem in our society today. I would like to thank several of the members here today that have spoken so eloquently and emotively on this matter. Like others have said, there is simply no room for neo-Nazis and the hatred they perpetuate in a modern society like ours. The fact we have to address this and legislate for it is something that is deeply concerning. That being said, it is so pleasing to see this entire house join together as a collective and make it clear that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in Victoria. The emotional side of this topic goes without saying, and I am proud to speak on this piece of legislation and what it aims to achieve.

The purpose of this bill involves amending the Summary Offences Act 1966 to make the public display or performance of Nazi gestures an offence, while also extending the scope of offences relating to the public display of Nazi symbols. Essentially the bill’s purpose is to make the public display or performance of Nazi gestures an offence. Legislative changes have been made recently to address concerns with the growing presence of neo-Nazis in this state, most notably through the passing of another summary offences bill relating to Nazi symbols at the end of 2022. After that bill was passed there were sadly still several high-profile incidents by this group, many of which involved the Nazi salute. These incidents made it clear that the existing law, while having the right intentions, still had limitations and more needed to be done. Notably, that bill did not deal with Nazi gestures like the salute, and this is what has led to the bill in front of us today.

This bill makes some definitions to provide clarity and help this legislation achieve what it needs to. A Nazi gesture includes the Nazi salute and any other gesture used by the Nazi party. This also includes gestures that closely resemble Nazi gestures or are close enough that they are likely to be confused with or mistaken for a Nazi gesture. The scope of Nazi symbols in this legislation will now include any symbol used by the Nazi party – an extension of what previous legislation has outlined. When it comes to the offence, this legislation provides further clarity. A person must not intentionally perform a Nazi gesture if the person knows or should reasonably know that the gesture is a Nazi gesture; if the performance occurs in a public place, non-government school or post-secondary education institution; or if it occurs in sight of a person who is in a public place, a non-government school or a post-secondary education institution. The offence would carry 120 penalty units, imprisonment for 12 months or both.

There are some exemptions within the bill. These include when the display or performance is engaged in reasonably and in good faith for a genuine academic, artistic, educational or scientific purpose; when making or publishing a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest; where the display of the Nazi symbol is engaged in reasonably and in good faith for a genuine cultural or religious purpose; and where the display of the Nazi symbol is engaged in reasonably and in good faith in opposition to fascism, Nazism, neo-Nazism or other related ideologies.

This bill, like most relating to offences, will require some policing. Under this legislation a police officer may give a direction to a person to remove a Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture from display if the police officer reasonably believes the person is committing an offence against section 41K. This policing also includes making these directions to the owner or occupier of a property on which the Nazi symbol or gesture is being displayed. However, the police power does not currently extend to a direction to a person to make them stop performing the Nazi gesture.

Those involved with this bill appear to have consulted several relevant groups to ensure this is a step in the right direction. This includes several Jewish groups, including local museums, community councils and anti-defamation commissions. There have also been several legal groups that were contacted to help ensure the legal side of this important legislation can be effectively undertaken.

It is important to note that there is an effective balance that must be reached when it comes to allowing free speech and preventing hate speech and symbols. The goal is to strike a balance that respects individuals while safeguarding society from hate and its consequences. When it comes to combating hate speech and extremism, legislation like this plays a critical role. This legislation will help to curb the spread of such ideologies and by preventing the use of hate symbols in public spaces can help stop the inciting of violence and discrimination. Legislating against Nazi gestures sends an important message to our society. It shows that our society values inclusivity and the safety of all its members. We want to create an environment where people from diverse backgrounds can coexist peacefully without fear of intimidation or violence. By putting this bill into law, we show we will not tolerate this hatred in Victoria.

Luba GRIGOROVITCH (Kororoit) (11:16): Thank you, Acting Speaker Hamer. Before I start to speak on this legislation, I want to just say that I acknowledge all of the contributions that have been made in this place. Yours especially was incredibly touching, as were many around this room, and I think the bipartisan support has been fantastic.

I too had the great pleasure of travelling to Israel and Palestine in 2018, and when I was there I was afforded the opportunity to visit the Yad Vashem – I hope I have pronounced that correctly – which of course is Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jewish people who were murdered, echoing the stories of the survivors, honouring the Jewish people who were fought against and to really tell the story. I learned through this that it is all about education and making sure that we are all properly educated so that the horrors of the past do not happen again.

Let me say this is probably the single most important piece of legislation that I have spoken to during my time in this place so far, and the reason why is because this goes to the very heart of who we are as a democracy and our duty to live our democracy. It goes to our duty not only as members of this place but as citizens and, importantly for me as someone that has represented the organised labour movement, to guard our democracy from those who would threaten it. It goes to our duty to uphold the rights of all our citizens, whose very right to be who they are would be threatened by a tiny but intolerable political ideology. It goes to our duty to take a stand and to say ‘Never again’.

I do not need to tell members in this place that on 18 March this year on the streets just outside of this place members of a fascist group marched and performed the Nazi salute at a protest in broad daylight, and the scenes were horrific. What we saw in the newspapers – horrible. Make absolutely no mistake, Nazism and fascism are vile, vile ideologies that we should all not accept. If allowed to go unchecked, their logical and ultimate end could possibly be the destruction of the lives and humanity of all those people who the pathological racism and bigotry at the heart of fascism deem to be less than human.

Nazism and fascism’s only logical end can be in the destruction of our democracy itself, in the destruction of freedom of speech, of protest, of civil liberties, of women’s rights and equality and of working people’s right to strike, organise and have a voice. We have history to teach us this. We have the lives of 6 million Jewish people as well as Romani and Slavic people, homosexuals, disabled people, Jehovah’s Witnesses and political dissidents all murdered by Nazis in humanity’s darkest hours to teach us all of this. When these people performed this vile gesture on the steps of Victoria’s democracy in March, think about the impact it must have had on the Holocaust survivors living in our state who saw it that night on the television. Nazism and fascism are rooted in violent intolerance.

The truth is that Nazism and fascism and the physical displays of these ideologies have no place in our state. The state government has already introduced the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022 to make it an offence to publicly display a Nazi symbol. This legislation commenced on 29 December last year, but since then there has been a steady and concerning increase in groups using the Nazi salute, hence the need for this legislation to be before us today. The bill prohibits the public display or performance of any symbol or gesture used by the Nazi party and its associated groups. It amends the Summary Offences Act 1966 to cover all other symbols and gestures used by the Nazi party, including the Nazi salute. It will be an offence for a person to intentionally display, in a public place or in sight of a person in a public place, the Nazi salute or a Nazi symbol or gesture if the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that that symbol or gesture is a Nazi symbol or a Nazi gesture. The legislation is very clear in both its intent and application. It is clear that Nazi symbols and gestures, particularly the Nazi salute, are being used to convey messages of antisemitism, hatred and intimidation.

Consultation meetings were held to prepare this bill, and feedback was sought from a range of multicultural, community and religious groups and stakeholders from legal and human rights organisations, as well as the arts sector. Round tables were also held with a group of Holocaust survivors and member organisations of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. During this consultation process, it became clear that there is no evidence that any Nazi gesture shares resemblance to other legitimate gestures that may be used in certain cultures or religions. Therefore there is absolutely no need for an exemption permitting a Nazi salute to be used for a genuine cultural or religious purpose. The bill will reduce the risk of harm to the community whilst also ensuring that Nazi symbols can continue to be displayed in solely appropriate circumstances.

Victoria’s diversity is one of our state’s greatest strengths, and I am especially proud of this, representing the people of Kororoit. Kororoit is proudly and vibrantly multiracial, multicultural and working class. It should be remembered that when the fascists and far-right groups made their hateful display outside of this place on March 18, they did so in the presence of a so-called Let Women Speak rally – it was shameful. In reality this rally, organised by fringe, extreme, right-wing and conservative groups, was directed towards demonising trans people under the false flag of standing up for women’s rights. It is no coincidence that a community as commonly misunderstood and marginalised as trans people, sadly, would be singled out by the far right and made into the main target for their politics of hatred.

I want to say to all trans and non-binary people who live in Kororoit and in Victoria that you are loved and you are accepted. You are loved for who you are. Your equality and your right to be seen are things that in no way infringe on my rights as a woman and as a feminist. You will always be welcome, and your equality and inclusion in our community is never negotiable. You have achieved things in your lives, and you will make a contribution to our community that those who seek to spread hatred and bigotry against you could only ever dream of. I likewise extend my solidarity to the wider LGBTQI and queer community. I am so proud that in the week following the events outside of Parliament in March, then Premier Daniel Andrews acted by flying the transgender pride flag outside of the government’s office. This was a sign of strength but also a sign of love. Likewise, thousands of Victorians filled the streets of Melbourne less than a fortnight later to show their solidarity with trans people on Trans Day of Visibility. This is a government that listens and has everyone’s back, no matter who you are.

In speaking to condemn Nazism and fascism and all of its forms, I cannot do so without also naming those who seek to apologise for, foster or covertly attract the support of these hateful ideologies in whatever ways. To political parties like One Nation, who court the votes of fascists and other sympathisers and who stoke the racism that their hate feeds off: you stand condemned in this place. Likewise, all those who do the same: shame on you. Your woeful presence in parliamentary politics in Australia has lasted too long, and democracy means it need not last forever.

I wish I simply did not have to be standing here talking about this subject at all. I would rather be speaking about anything else, because Nazism should not be allowed the oxygen of publicity at all. But the fact is we have no choice, because all Victorians deserve to feel accepted, safe and included. Our government must act and legislate to allow zero tolerance for Nazism and fascism to make itself present in any corner of our community. The right to live safely in a democratic and compassionate society demands nothing less of us. I acknowledge all of those who have died at the hands of Nazism and fascism, and I acknowledge all those who have bravely resisted it. I commend the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023 to the house.

Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (11:25): I rise today to speak and make a contribution on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. The bill before the house follows on from the government’s commitment to legislating a ban on the Nazi salute by prohibiting the public display or performance of any symbol or gesture used by the Nazi party and its parliamentary arms. Acting Speaker Hamer, it has been very emotional hearing others speak on this bill previously and hearing the personal contributions and experiences that have been shared, and I acknowledge your contribution as well. There has been much reflection on the reason why we are here today in support of the bill. It is shameful to think that 80 years later we are still fighting against such acts and displays of hatred. This bill sends a very clear message that such acts of hate will not be tolerated. We live in such a diverse and multicultural state. Everyone should feel safe, respected and valued.

The government’s intention in introducing this bill before the house is to send a clear message, one that denounces Nazi ideology and the use of its gestures and symbols, which are intended to cause fear, intimidate and incite hate. The bill seeks to focus on the harm that is caused with such hateful conduct and to make change. The Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023 amends the Summary Offences Act 1966 to make the public display or performance of the Nazi salute and other gestures used by the Nazi party an offence and to extend the application of the offence of public display of Nazi symbols and for other purposes. The purpose of this amendment is to address the recent increase in the public display and performance of the Nazi salute in Victoria.

During the 59th Parliament last year the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 was introduced and passed. The government has been committed to working with the Victorian police and other relevant agencies to ensure the monitoring of the public display of other hateful symbols to determine whether further symbols should also be prohibited in Victoria. Since coming into effect as an act of Parliament and a law of Victoria there have been several incidents where the public display or performance of the Nazi salute has taken place. These included a group of people who performed the Nazi salute and posed for photographs in a public space to commemorate Adolf Hitler’s birthday and also, on the steps here at Parliament House, an anti-immigration rally where the Nazi salute was performed repeatedly. Unfortunately there have been numerous incidents which clearly show the limitations of current laws in combating this behaviour, and this therefore needs action. Because of this, this bill contributes to this improvement that is needed.

Furthermore, it is clear from these events that have taken place in the Victorian community that Nazi symbols and gestures, in particular the Nazi salute, are being used as a means of conveying messages, as we have said, of hatred and intimidation, causing much trauma and pain. The Jewish Community Council of Victoria, along with many others in Victoria, have also highlighted their experiences with the harm that has been caused through such hateful conduct. The highly visible nature of these expressions, including significant and sustained media attention, has left Jewish Victorians feeling vilified, vulnerable and anxious about their safety. These emotions are heightened for Holocaust survivors and their descendants, people like Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter, who survived six Nazi concentration camps. Today he is a Holocaust educator sharing his stories in film and live events and the traumatic events of his childhood, and he calls for a world without discrimination or hate – exactly what we are all standing here for.

The offence, through this bill, will be accompanied by powers for the Victorian police to direct a person to remove a Nazi symbol or gesture from public display where this has been under limitation in the past. Members of the Victorian police force have had no such powers to authorise this, and this amendment to the Summary Offences Act is a much-needed improvement to current powers. In addition, the bill will enable Victorian police force members to apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a warrant to enter premises to search for and seize a Nazi symbol and, in relation to the additional amendments, to provide a police officer the power to direct a person to cease performing a Nazi gesture in a public space with the same criteria as applies to a direction to cease displaying a Nazi symbol in public spaces.

Any Victorian that is found guilty of the offence of intentionally displaying or performing a Nazi symbol or gesture will face a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 120 penalty units, which also carries monetary value. However, whilst there are important exceptions that apply to the display of the Hakenkreuz and Nazi symbols, the main exceptions have been amended in relation to the display or performance of Nazi gestures. In addition, exceptions will also apply where the display or performance of a Nazi gesture was engaged in reasonably and in good faith for genuine purposes, such as academic, artistic, education or scientific purposes. As such, in making or publishing a fair and accurate report of any event or matter that is in the public interest, these exceptions are intended to apply broadly to protect freedom of expression and to ensure that Nazi gestures can continue to be used and displayed only for appropriate purposes. It is important that Victorians have the fundamental right of freedom of expression. However, everyone must know and understand that there are limits on free speech. People who engage themselves in actions and perform gestures that involve hatred will never be accepted across our state. I commend this bill to the house.

Alison MARCHANT (Bellarine) (11:31): I rise to contribute to the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. I would like to just echo some of the other members’ statements. This has been a wonderful and thoughtful contribution by both sides of the house in this debate. It is probably the best I have seen in this house since being here. It has been a wonderful and thoughtful contribution to this bill to improve our state and our legislation in this space.

I will speak a little bit about the bill and what it is intended to do before making some personal remarks. This bill fulfils the Victorian government’s commitment to legislate a ban on the Nazi salute and prohibit the public display or performance of any symbol or gesture used by the Nazi party and its paramilitary arms. This bill amends the Summary Offences Act 1966 and extends the existing prohibition on the public display of the Nazi symbol. The expanded offence is where a person intentionally displays, in a public place or in sight of a person in a public place, a Nazi symbol or gesture if the person knows or ought to reasonably know that the symbol or gesture is a Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture. The purpose of expanding this offence is to ensure that the expression of harmful symbols and gestures associated with the atrocities, ideology and resulting genocide is prohibited.

The government acknowledges, and I think the vast majority of Victorians acknowledge, that Nazi symbols and gestures such as Nazi salutes are indeed there to be used to intimidate and to cause harm to a wide range of groups. These groups include the Jewish community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQ+ people, people with a disability and other racial and religious groups. This bill is certainly sending a clear message that condemns the Nazi ideology and the use of its gestures and symbols to incite hate. I think we would all here agree that Victorians deserve to feel safe and feel included and accepted in this state. It is in stark contrast that we have seen these displays which, as I have alluded to, are intended to cause fear in our community, and that is why this bill is focused on the harm caused by such hateful conduct, which can be profound. The use of the Nazi salute is unacceptable and has no place in Victoria, and I was saddened and appalled to see it here on the steps of Parliament and indeed in my own home town of Geelong. I thought that I would never see that in my lifetime. It is clear that the Nazi symbol and gestures are there to convey a message of antisemitism, hatred and intimidation. This offence is also accompanied by powers for Victoria Police to direct a person to remove the Nazi symbol or gesture from public display and to apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a warrant to enter premises to search and seize Nazi symbols.

Just as background, this reform package has been developed in response to a parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s anti-vilification protections. Of course I think indeed the majority of Victorians and – from what I have heard – all in this house believe that this vilification has no place in our community, but sadly, evidence through that inquiry that was presented and evidence that authorities have spoken to suggest that hate conduct and vilification are present in this state. We have clearly seen that it is on the rise. Exposure to vilification and hate does appear more prevalent for Aboriginal people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities and backgrounds, people from particular faiths, women, people who identify as LGBTIQ+ and people with disability. And sadly vilification occurs in many of our settings. It occurs in our schools, in our sporting clubs and in our services, and of course it does also present itself online. This harm is enormous. The harm caused by hate conduct and vilification is profound. It can affect someone’s physical and psychological wellbeing as well as a whole community’s ability to participate in everyday life.

In doing a little bit of research on this topic, I would like to thank the committee for their work. I note in the chair’s foreword she remarked:

In recognition that prevention is as important as changing the law, the Committee has recommended various initiatives in the areas of research, school-based education, public awareness campaigns, and responsible media reporting to address the causes of discrimination and hostility towards minority groups …

I strongly believe that effective anti-vilification laws can protect … communities and promote social cohesion and harmony. This inquiry has been an important reminder that preventing and addressing vilification cannot be achieved at the individual level but rather is a societal responsibility.

It talks about education and other measures, and this bill is one tool that we can use as a Parliament to be proactive, to be responsible and to call out this behaviour. Legislation is important, but so is education. In an education sense, the Holocaust and the issues surrounding it were part of my education growing up, learning about them in high school. I remember then being so moved that I asked my mum to take me to the Jewish Museum of Australia here in Melbourne. I spoke to a survivor there, and it has stayed with me forever. I learned so much, but I think it is more about the feeling that I learned, and that stays with me. This year my son, who is in year 7, has also learned about the Holocaust and the atrocities in his English class, and I know it has had a profound impact on him – we had a discussion at home about that. I know that that is how we can create further change, through that education, and really call out this behaviour for what it is. While I do not really like to give the extremists the attention that they so desperately crave, their intolerance and their bigotry cannot go unanswered.

In terms of this bill, I will just touch a little bit on the offences and how they will be enforced. This bill expands offences and will extend existing powers available to police for the offence of public display of the Nazi symbol. A police officer will have powers to direct a person to remove from display a Nazi symbol or gesture, whether it is on private or public property, if the police officer reasonably believes an offence is being committed. Consistent with the existing offence, the bill also enables police to apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a warrant to search premises and seize property that displays Nazi symbols or gestures and has a connection to or is evidence of committing that offence.

I know the government sought a variety of feedback from stakeholders, and I really thank those who engaged in that process. Your lived experience and your expertise have informed further work and this bill. Through this engagement I am confident that this bill appropriately gets that balance right in order to address the harm that is caused by the public expression of Nazism while ensuring that innocent gestures and displays cannot be captured.

As I have talked about, we know this Nazi ideology is rooted in hate and racism. Displaying the Nazi symbol promotes these harmful ideologies and can incite hatred, discrimination and violence against specific groups. We know that that harm can be profound. The use of this symbol is a painful reminder of horrific events and the suffering that they have caused. Banning the symbol and the salute and prohibiting the public display or performance of any symbol or gestures used by the Nazi party does help prevent the spread of ideologies and limits the recruitment and radicalisation of individuals. Even authorities such as ASIO have argued that neo-Nazis should be deprived of using such symbols to:

… raise their profile and to recruit new members.

ASIO has also indicated that banning the Nazi salute and other symbols would in fact assist law enforcement in early intervention.

In conclusion, this bill really does send a message that we will not tolerate this behaviour and these symbols and gestures in a democratic and inclusive society. I believe that we have seen the best of this Parliament in contributing to this bill, because even though the hate may be there, in our greatest days we here as members of Parliament and as a community need to have the backbone to stand up for what is right. We stand up for what is the best in us. To end on a positive note, we have a tremendously diverse community, and that is our state’s greatest strength. We have the right to feel accepted, safe and included. The government is committed to protecting the rights of Victorians, free from racism and free from vilification and hate. That is the kind of Victoria I stand for – a compassionate, accepting and safe Victorian community. I commend this bill to the house.

Vicki WARD (Eltham – Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Employment) (11:41): I also rise in support of this legislation. I am very glad to see that it is uniform across this chamber that everybody in this place wants to see an end to this behaviour. Acting Speaker Hamer, as you would know, we have a zero tolerance for hatred, for intolerance and for bigotry in this state, and this is legislation that speaks to just that. We are absolutely proud of our multicultural history in Victoria. The success of our state is our multicultural history and the people who live here and the lives that they have built for themselves, as people have come here to start new beginnings. It is something that we should absolutely be proud of, because it is at the heart of our prosperity as a state, our multicultural history. To fight against prejudice is something that we absolutely have to do, because it has no place in our state, it has no place in our country and in fact it should not have a place anywhere. I am really proud of our multicultural history. I know you are, Acting Speaker, and I think everybody in this place is.

As the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, violence has no place in our state. Nazism is absolutely about hatred and about violence. Why else would we have particularly men standing out the front of this place, in black with masks on, using physicality in a violent way, occupying space in an intimidatory way? It is to develop hatred and division, and the result of it is violence. We know that this is the Nazi method. We saw this in Europe. Acting Speaker, I heard your speech, and I commend you for what you said. You know firsthand what that violence, what that hatred and what that bigotry does, and your family saw that all through Europe. They saw it in Germany. They saw it in Poland. I still cannot imagine what your dad went through in those years that he spent in a forest. I cannot imagine how anybody can rebuild their life after going through what they went through, because it is such a shame on humanity what happened in Europe. It personally affected your family, but there are people throughout this country who have family members in Europe who were all at the butt end of that hatred, that division and that violence of Nazism throughout Europe.

It has been mentioned in this place that they bombed the United Kingdom, they tore through France and they raped and pillaged through Greece. The hatred that is still in Greece for Nazism runs so strongly, as it does in Italy. I spent over a year in northern Italy in my early 20s. The hatred, the dislike and the embarrassment of fascism and of Nazism still hold true in Italy today. They abhor what happened to them. I have spent time in St Petersburg in Russia. There are people who had to endure the blockade that was in St Petersburg and those years of starvation in St Petersburg during the Second World War because of the Nazi occupation and them fighting against it to keep it away. There is the ripple effect of that. As you well know, it is that intergenerational trauma that stays with people. It is a ghost; it is a spectre that hangs around you. The way that the Nazis damage people – they damage the way that people think about themselves, they damage the way communities connect with themselves and they damage children. Your children will still carry some of what your family has been through, as will their children, because how do you forget? How do you let go of something so traumatic? You cannot. This is why we as a community have to do everything we can to stamp out this behaviour, because it is disgraceful. It is wrong and it is disgraceful, and I just cannot imagine how people think it is appropriate to stand out the front of this place and put up a Nazi salute. For what purpose? It is only to create division. It is only to create hatred. It is not to do anything constructive, because there is nothing constructive that comes out of Nazism. Nazism is by its very essence about destruction. That is all it is, and it is something that does not need to be seen and that we do not want to be seen.

I do not want this in my state. I do not want it in my country. I do not want it anywhere near me, because these are bad people. This is about being a bad person and doing bad things to others. I can well imagine that every one of those men who stood out there in black, masked up like the cowards that they are, would be descended from people across Europe who bore the brunt of Nazi destruction. Their families will have experienced, by whatever connection, something to do with the destruction the Nazis wrought on Europe. And you want to bring it to our country, you want to bring it to our state? You want that hatred, that violence and that division in our state – for what purpose? You cannot achieve anything with Nazism. You cannot build anything with Nazism. You cannot create communities with Nazism, because Nazism by its very essence is about destruction. It is about destroying communities, it is about destroying families and it is about destroying culture, and that does not belong in this state, because these are the values that we embrace as a state.

We embrace diversity, we recognise the importance of diversity and we embrace the strength that diversity gives us. It is by diversity that we are strong, and we see this even with our gender strategy. We know how important it is to have women at the table making decisions. It is important to have people of different backgrounds, different perspectives and different life experiences in our community. That makes us stronger. To have Nazis makes us weaker, because Nazis are by their essence not just destroyers, they are weak. They are weak cowards who hide behind masks, who hide behind violence, who sit behind screens in basements causing destruction and causing hurt – and getting off on causing hurt. It is hard to see and it is hard to understand how they get excited and how they are energised by violence and by negativity. How can they be? There is something wrong with them, because Nazism is an absolutely horrible mindset. It is just horrible. How can you have so much hatred in your heart for someone you have never met before, for someone you know nothing about? How can you want to destroy them, their families, their communities and who they are connected to? How do you want to take away the beautiful culture that our diverse communities bring to our state?

A small example of this is that in a few weeks I am planning to go to the Jewish Museum of Australia to have a look at the Chagall exhibition. This is a beautiful thing that will be part of our culture, that is being brought to us – Jewish Belarusian culture. An artist who spent lots of time in France, Marc Chagall created beautiful art, and it celebrates so much of his Judaism. The colours, the movement and the symbols that he puts in his art are beautiful. So much of it is joyful. Why would anyone want to destroy that? Why would anyone not want to have that beauty available to them? Why would they not want to celebrate that and have that be part of their life? Why would you want to smash it? Because there is something wrong with you. The generosity of our multicultural communities who share their culture with us, who talk to us about their culture and who help us expand our own minds, our own intelligence and our own wisdom through sharing their cultures with us in this place – why would you want to destroy that? Because there is something wrong with you. What you are doing is wrong, and I am so glad that we as a government have zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour.

It is shameful that we have actually got to the point where we have got to outlaw it, because common sense would tell you it is not acceptable behaviour. It is not the way that people should behave, and it is not what people in this state accept as acceptable behaviour. It does fill me with despair that we have had to take this measure, but I am glad that we have and that we have sent this message. It is not acceptable. We will not tolerate this. We will put you in jail. We will make you stop this behaviour, because it has to stop. It is not reflective of this state. It is not reflective of our values. It is not reflective of who we are. Hatred, division and violence have absolutely no place in this state. I commend the legislation.

Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (11:51): It gives me absolute pleasure today to rise to speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. Just before I do, I would like to acknowledge, Acting Speaker Hamer, how much this piece of legislation means to you and your family and also acknowledge the contribution that you made yesterday. This bill, unfortunately, is absolutely critical in addressing the harm caused by public displays of the Nazi salute. I said it gives me pleasure to rise to speak on this bill, but quite frankly it gives me absolute displeasure, and I am absolutely surprised that we have to rise and speak on this bill and take these measures in 2023.

I represent a community in the west of Melbourne, Tarneit, that does not have a large Jewish community within it, but I represent a community that absolutely knows what it feels like to be subjected to racism, to be subjected to hatred and to be excluded. This state, Victoria, prides itself on its rich diversity, and it has become a home for so many people from a range of cultures, religions and backgrounds. There is no room here for racism, and there is no room here for antisemitism. Every individual, irrespective of their background, should feel safe, accepted and celebrated in this state. We know, because we have seen it and have seen it on the steps of this place – a place of democracy and a place that is here to support absolutely everybody in this state – that there is a rise in people using the Nazi salute and using Nazi symbols, and we know that that rise has been used to harass, to intimidate and to inflict psychological harm upon some in our community. As I said, we have witnessed firsthand how these symbols are not a mere relic of the past but active tools of hatred aiming to evoke the horrors of the Holocaust and the brutalities of the Nazi regime.

This bill will ensure that these disgusting actions have absolutely no home in Victoria. On 18 March this year, we saw members of the National Socialist Network repeatedly perform the Nazi salute at a protest on the steps of this place. I was not in the city that day, but from watching the news that evening and looking at social media, that was one of the more disgusting and abhorrent displays that I have seen from a bunch of cowards, and they are nothing more than that – a bunch of absolute cowards. It was one of the more abhorrent displays that I have ever seen – to come to the steps of this place and use that symbol and that salute that evoke so much hatred but also bring up so much emotion amongst some in our community because of what has happened in the past. To not only do that but to also do it in support of an anti-trans rally was absolutely disgusting. How many parts of our community, how many parts of our state, would you like to marginalise at one time? What happened on 18 March was abhorrent. It was following this that the Attorney-General and the Premier announced their commitment to banning the Nazi salute, and that is why we are here today.

Last year we took our first step in this space by implementing the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Act 2022, which of course made it an offence to publicly display the swastika. However, these challenges have unfortunately evolved, which is why we are here debating this piece of legislation today. This disturbing trend of increasing public performances of the Nazi salute has shown us that unfortunately our work is far from done. The act of individuals brandishing the Nazi salute on Parliament’s steps earlier this year further emphasised the urgency of additional legislation. The sentiment is clear: such symbols of hatred have absolutely no place in our state.

To go to the crux of the bill, it prohibits the public display or performance of any symbol or gesture used by the Nazi party and its associated paramilitary groups. The bill will expressly list the Nazi salute as a banned Nazi gesture along with what we did last year. It will be an offence for a person to intentionally display in a public place or in sight of a person in a public place a Nazi symbol or gesture if the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the symbol or gesture is a Nazi symbol or Nazi gesture. It will also be an offence for a person to intentionally perform in a public place or in sight of a person in a public place a Nazi gesture if that person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the gesture is a Nazi gesture. The bill will cover a range of other symbols or gestures as well.

At its core this bill aims to address and mitigate the harm caused by these symbols, and as we know, these symbols and these gestures cause significant harm. To be clear, this legislation does not just target any symbol vaguely linked to Nazi ideology; instead, it specifically addresses symbols and gestures used by the historical Nazi party, which of course was active between 1920 and 1945. This is a crucial distinction. It safeguards innocent symbols and gestures from being misrepresented, ensuring that the common okay sign or a friendly wave is not mistaken for something more sinister. Additionally, we recognise the need for exemptions, so symbols used for genuine academic, artistic, educational or scientific purposes or used in opposition to fascism and related ideologies will not fall under the purview of this legislation. However, given the potent nature of the Nazi salute, its performance will not find exceptions. Such gestures when used out of context hold the power to evoke fear, pain and trauma. The bill also includes exceptions for the display of a Nazi symbol or gesture by means of tattooing or other like processes and for law enforcement or administration of justice purposes.

I will repeat my remarks from the beginning of my contribution. It gives me absolutely great displeasure that in 2023 I stand here debating a bill to ban the Nazi salute. The notion that we have to be in here because of the actions of a group of absolute cowards on the steps of Parliament earlier this year and in other places in our state – the notion that we have to be here doing this – is absolutely disgusting. It is absurd, but unfortunately it is absolutely needed. Racism has no place in our state, and I commend the bill to the house.

Iwan WALTERS (Greenvale) (12:01): I rise to contribute as well on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023, which seeks to amend the Summary Offences Act 1966, and I do so not with pleasure, as with so many contributions to this place, but out of a sense of profound obligation. The intent of this bill and the reasons why it is unfortunately so necessary have been well traversed by speakers in the debate so far. I just want to reflect on the fact that Nazi symbols are a reminder of one of the darkest times, if not the darkest time, in humanity – the murder and the attempted eradication of Jewish people from the face of the earth, among other targeted groups. By the end of the Second World War, after 12 years of Nazi tyranny in Germany, 6 million Jews or two-thirds of the prewar Jewish population of Europe, including at least 1 million children, and approximately 12.5 million others – Poles, Sinti, people with a disability and many other minority groups – had been murdered by the people who comprised the Nazi regime. I do draw that distinction between people and regime, because that number is so gargantuan, those numbers are so enormous, that it can be perhaps too easy to view the Holocaust as an abstract and to apportion blame to a regime. But it was human beings with agency who forced men, women and children into the cattle trucks, who forced Jewish people to dig mass graves and then shot them or buried them alive during the advance across Poland. It was human beings who built and operated the gas chambers. The Holocaust was the product of human choices and must stand as an eternal reminder of humanity’s capacity for evil and the responsibility of government in legislating just laws to combat that evil.

I want to acknowledge some of the extraordinary contributions not just in this debate but in consideration of this bill, particularly from the member for Malvern, the member for Caulfield and the member for Box Hill, who talked about his family’s personal experience of the Holocaust – the complete eradication of any history of Jewish occupation of his family’s village in Poland – and also the members for Monbulk, Northcote and Narracan. The member for Brighton quoted a Holocaust survivor who reflected that a symbol can incite hate in the same way that a word can, and unfortunately we have learned from history very well that incitement to hatred through words, symbols and gestures is a precursor to violence if it is not addressed quickly and decisively. Normalising hate symbols is the first step towards desensitising people to abhorrent behaviour, and it is the first step to forgetting and enabling history to repeat. That is why the behaviour on the steps of this place on 18 March and the behaviour of pathetic, weak, ignorant men in the Grampians in 2021 is so significant.

The members of my community know very well how symbols can terrorise. As the minister at the table, the member for Kalkallo, knows, our community is home to many who have escaped tyranny, persecution and murder in Iraq and Syria, and for them the ISIS flag is a pernicious symbol of hatred, among other symbols of ISIS. The now shadow Northern Ireland secretary in the UK in a very memorable speech in the House of Commons in December 2015 drew a comparison between ISIS and fascism and Nazis, and I think it is an important reminder that these behaviours are not unique to Nazis. They can prevail in other parts of the world, and people have referenced the Rwandan genocide. But it does emphasise the point that symbols matter and symbols can terrorise and hurt.

Much of my youth may have been misspent, but one of the more important periods was my study of history. I particularly focused on middle 20th-century German history, primarily because I was always confounded by a question that many historians continue to ponder: why and how did the Holocaust come about? How could the country of Goethe and Beethoven and the scientific genius that led to the most advanced industrial economy in the world by the turn of the 20th century have perpetrated what we are all talking about today, the Holocaust – the murder of 6 million Jews and 12.5 million others in the space of 12 years? How could that bestiality, that depravity and that tyranny have come about from a country, a civilisation and a society that had been so accomplished in so many other areas?

Under the Weimar Republic, between 1919 and 1933, German Jews played a major role in politics and diplomacy for the first time in their history and strengthened their position in financial and economic affairs. Hugo Preuß was the interior minister who wrote the first draft of the liberal Weimar constitution. Walter Rathenau was the chairman of an industrial conglomerate known as AEG, which still exists, and the head of the German Democratic Party, who served as foreign minister in 1922. So how, only a few short years later, could that industrial might of a world-leading economy have been perverted to seek the systematic state-sponsored and directed extermination of an entire people?

I think it is a point that we need to reflect upon, because it can be too easy to look at some of the actions we are seeing in Victoria, the pathetic spectacle of men parading around with masks and absurd clothes performing the Nazi salute and waving and parading Nazi symbols, and to find it in some respects faintly comic. But there is nothing comic about it, just as there was not in fact anything comic about an absurd man with an absurd moustache and his pathetic friends in a Munich beer hall in the early 1920s, because the consequences of the normalisation of that hatred, of those symbols, of, as I say, that depraved attitude towards their fellow humanity led in very short order to the near destruction of European Jewry and so many other minority groups.

This has been something which I have always felt a human connection to. I am immensely proud of my family’s service in fighting Nazism during the war in the Commonwealth and American armies, in fighting the Nazis in northern Italy, as the member Monbulk has reflected upon, and that has given me a sense of a tangible connection to the war and to the cause in which it was fought. But I fear that the breakdown of that lived experience and history becoming forgotten and lost is perhaps resulting in the increasing and disgustingly casual use of Nazi symbology, born of ignorance and hate and callousness.

It is an insult to the 6 million Jews who were murdered, to the millions of Poles and minority groups who were murdered, to the millions who were brutalised and beaten and starved and who still carry the burden and trauma of that for the rest of their lives. It is an insult to every survivor of the Holocaust, and I note that Melbourne was home to 38,000 Holocaust survivors, a denser concentration than any other location in the world outside of Israel. It is an insult to every veteran, Australian and otherwise, who fought the Nazi regime to preserve the light of freedom and liberty; to every Jewish Australian; and to all those who have made an immense contribution to our city and to our state and to our country. It is an insult to people like John Monash, who I think is the greatest Australian, who led our country during the Great War, who arguably won the Great War, who then rebuilt modern Victoria as the chairman of the SEC, who was the vice-chancellor of Melbourne University and who we commemorate in so many institutions across our state. But as we move further away in time from the events of the Holocaust, it is essential that we do not allow the lessons of that history to be forgotten because that brings us one step closer to those events being repeated.

Education is important. It does play a role. I want to touch on part of the contribution of the member for Malvern, who reflected upon the contribution of Liberty Victoria through the consultation process, and I thank the Attorney-General and her team for engaging in such an exhaustive consultation process. Liberty Victoria oppose this legislation, believing that education instead is the route. I do not see them as remotely mutually exclusive propositions. Education and enforcement both have a role to play. I want to acknowledge the schools in my electorate, like Kolbe Catholic College in Greenvale, and the work that they do to ensure that the memory of the Holocaust and the destruction in Europe in the war is never forgotten. Their namesake, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, was a Polish Catholic priest. At the end of 1941 a prisoner escaped the Auschwitz camp where Maximilian Kolbe was interned. The camp commandant picked 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker, and one of the men cried out, ‘My wife and my children’. Kolbe volunteered to take his place. He was starved along with other prisoners in a bunker for two weeks, although he remained alive, at which point the guards murdered him and four remaining prisoners with lethal injections of carbolic acid. It is one story among millions, but it provides a chilling insight into the casual brutality and inhumanity of that regime.

That is why this bill is so important. It is an opportunity for us to draw a line in the sand regarding the ethical standards by which we choose to live in a liberal democratic society. It reflects our government’s commitment to the very challenging task of balancing societal expectations, protecting religious rights and preserving freedom of speech. I think this bill does that. I commend it wholeheartedly to the house.

Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (12:11): I too rise to speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. I usually stand in this place to say it gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise to speak on bills before the house, but today I do because I think it is everyone’s duty to speak here in this place and support a bill that is fighting back against the most abhorrent regime the world has ever known. Before I make my contribution I just do want to say that I cannot believe we are having to stand here in this place talking about introducing and passing legislation on the Nazi salute, following on from other bills that we have put through this house to try and do something about the rise of this right-wing, abhorrent extremism that seems to be seeping into countries like Australia and indeed here in Victoria and Melbourne.

I am deeply, deeply disappointed and disgusted by the people that have acted and turned up to places, not just here in Parliament – I am going to talk about my electorate of Laverton and in particular Sunshine West. You may have read in the newspaper about having a Nazi-affiliated gym, of all things, in the heart of Sunshine West, a very, very multicultural place full of people from all cultures and backgrounds that came to Australia, landed here in Melbourne and made their home here, because they had escaped such violence and devastation inflicted by the Nazis during and after World War II. I cannot believe that a place can exist in the heart of Sunshine West that supports such views and is so blatant and appears to be so disgustingly proud in showcasing what they stand for. As the member for Greenvale has just talked about, it is not just abhorrent, it is depraved. I feel quite disgusted that I have to stand here and talk on this.

I do feel that in recent times, during COVID and now post, we have seen those people turn up and stand in front of this place on numerous occasions, particularly turning up to again inflict fear, hatred and pain towards our LGBTIQ community. When I bring my children to this place to have wonderful, happy outings here in the heart of Melbourne, which is a beautiful, fabulous, multicultural, exciting city to live in and experience, every now and then there is something happening up here and I have to now think to myself, is that going to involve the Nazis that I have seen here previously, because quite frankly I do not want my children exposed to such abhorrent, depraved people, practices and values. They have no place and have never had any place, not only in Australian history but in the world’s history, as the member for Greenvale – I have just sat through his quite moving contribution – talked about. Others here in this chamber have also talked about it, have contributed and have had lived experience – and I am pointing to the member for Box Hill, who has talked openly in this place about the history that his family experienced and went through firsthand. It has no place in our society – no place – whether it is here in Victoria or other parts of the world or in Sunshine West, quite frankly.

What we do know in this place – and I do not think you have to be a member of Parliament; quite rightly, you can just be regular folks living your normal life in Victoria, and you can read about it in the paper if you have not walked past some of these protests here in Melbourne recently – is that with extremism and Nazism, people appear to be becoming emboldened, and it is happening more often. It is happening too often. It is something that is happening all over the world, as unfortunately right-wing parties right across this globe are falling further into extremism. It is something I do not think, in my 42 years here, I have seen, and it is very, very concerning and alarming. We have been particularly fortunate in Australia that none of our major parties have flirted with this extremist element. I will say that. I generally think that it is a good thing that our approach to opposing Nazism, and indeed the hate and vitriol that always accompany it and always have, is a bipartisan approach. The member for Caulfield talks passionately in his contributions about the need to fight back and stamp this type of behaviour out. It is a bipartisan approach, and it always should be.

Despite that, we know that Nazis have nevertheless been emboldened. In 2021 we saw a troop of them terrorise hikers in the Grampians, shortly before the swastika was banned. Now, many here would know that we have seen an unfortunate number of Nazi demonstrations across our community this year alone, and the minister outlined at least nine instances in 2023 when groups and individuals have publicly performed the salute. I mean, really? Get real. Is this where we are at? This of course included the unfortunate public display at that hateful rally that took place outside this place in March, when Nazis attended an anti-trans rally to protest and spread hate and bigotry towards the LGBTIQ community.

As I said before, unfortunately in my own electorate of Laverton we have had a neo-Nazi presence right in the heart of our community in that gym operating out of Sunshine West. I have not spoken about that until now in this place because I do not wish to give any airtime at all to the practices that perhaps go on at that place, but I do want to take the opportunity to acknowledge those in our local community in Brimbank who took to the streets, no less than three times last year alone, to protest against this unfortunate presence.

The Sunshine community has an incredible history, with many, many different people from many different backgrounds. It is vibrant and it is a diverse community, and this kind of hatred has no place there. This is a community that was built in the postwar migration period. When I am out on the street or when I am doing my street stalls or indeed attending many of the senior multicultural citizen groups – and there are a lot of them now, because remember those migrants are starting to get older – they talk about what life was like and how they arrived in Melbourne and ended up in Melbourne’s west in places like Sunshine and Sunshine West, and importantly why they came here and what life was like, but also who they left behind. There are many of us. There are refugees from the Vietnam War. We have got Greeks, we have got Italians, we have got Poles and we have got Ukrainians. The Ukrainians were telling me incredible stories when I visited them recently to talk about the situation in Ukraine. Many of them were reflecting on family members who during World War II were taken – dare I say kidnapped – from the fields of their farms, never to return to their home towns and see their families again. Indeed after the war many of them were not welcomed back into those towns and had to leave and find a new life, and they came to places like Australia and Melbourne and then made their home in Sunshine West.

I do want to acknowledge a constituent who contacted my office a couple of weeks back. I will not say her name because I am conscious about her safety – she is an out and proud trans woman living in Sunshine West. She was really worried about living in an area where there is a presence of neo-Nazis identified who are openly having gatherings and being quite emboldened to have those principles and practices like salutes on display in the community. She felt fearful for her own safety, let alone prejudice and other things. She cannot help who she is, and she is proud to be who she is, but she was worried about her safety. It is not just people who are from our trans and LGBTIQ community that are worried for their safety. Australians know or should know the history of what happened in World War II – what it means to be a Nazi. Engaging in practices like neo-Nazi salutes is something that should be banned. I am very proud to stand here, speak and commend this bill to the house.

Matt FREGON (Ashwood) (12:21): I rise to also speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. As many members have said, I do so with a sense of sadness that we must do this at all. The scenes that we have seen not only on the steps of Parliament but certainly a number of times outside this very chamber are, and I think should be, distressing to every Victorian. There is no silver lining to the idiots who are outside. I doubt they even have a clear understanding of what they are representing.

I have been able to sit in the chair for a number of hours over the last day, and at the very least this chamber has shown that all of us who represent all Victorians stand as one on this. As other members have said, Victoria is, if not the best, one of the best demonstrations of a multicultural, tolerant society. It is something that I think every member without a doubt, in this house and the other place, takes as a matter of pride every day we get up to do this wonderful job we are given. Part of what makes that possible in Victoria is tolerance; we have a sense of tolerance that brings us together as a society. One of the sad ironies about this bill is that we must, for very good reason, draw the line on what we cannot tolerate. This bill draws that line, and it says no. It says no for the 6 million innocent people of Jewish faith that were slaughtered systematically 80-odd years ago. It says no for the 11 or 12 million other people – for no other reason than being themselves – that were also slaughtered. But as many members have said, it not only says no for those souls that we have lost to history, it says no for everyone else that has lived since that moment.

I want to commend every member I have heard speak: the members for Malvern, Box Hill, Caulfield, Monbulk – I could literally name everyone. The contributions have been heartfelt, sincere and honest. Politics has not played a part in any of this, and to be fair, this is the Parliament at its best. But I do not take any pride in that, in the sense that it is the least that we could do.

Other members have mentioned the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, which I attended in 2019. For those who have not been, you really should go. I think it is a testament to the Victorian Jewish community that they hold dear the sense of ‘never again’. As other members have said, this bill will not fix the problem by itself, but this is a necessary step to draw that line, to give our police the powers that they need and for our whole society to come together and say no. There is still education to be done – others have mentioned inclusion in our school curriculum – to make sure that our next generation of Victorians understand the severity of what occurred, and we must not forget, not only for the memories of those who have had their lives taken or affected but also so that it will never happen again. We cannot just put it on the shelf and go, ‘We’ve dealt with that now and it’s never going to happen again’ – because it did happen.

As the member for Greenvale mentioned, it boggles the mind how a society could accept or turn the other way with this going on. I cannot conceive of the world that I know allowing that to exist with us. But the very fact that it happened and we know it happened means that it can, and if it has happened before – and I hope it never happens again, and it is up to us to make sure it does not – it is conceivable that it could. So every day that we say no, every day that we draw that line, we are doing our best to tell all Victorians that it is not okay and we are turning up to make sure it is not happening today.

Recently the member for Box Hill organised a meeting – and I am pretty sure the member for Caulfield organised another very similar meeting – where they were discussing a survey, as others mentioned, about antisemitic behaviour in our universities. I think the thing that concerned me the most and shocked me the most about some of the stories we heard was a young woman who said, and I hope I am not paraphrasing too widely, that she was in a class and someone else in the class said to her something to the effect of ‘Well, we all know’ – which is never a good start to an argument – ‘that Jewish people are violent’. I mean, it is the dumbest thing. But what shocked me even more than such a stupid, racist, intolerable comment was that no-one called it out. We cannot allow this to happen while we are watching.

Today the Parliament is saying, this is not happening on our watch. We are not going to tolerate this. We draw the line. To the idiots who somehow – and I do not know how – find merit in racism, antisemitism and just being a downright clown, the answer is no. It is not on. Victoria does not agree with you, and you are outside the conversation. Our democracy stands on the ability of us to all have our say. As others have mentioned, freedom of speech is important. I might have arguments with my wife on whether there are moral absolutes in this world, and I think we both agree that I usually see grey in everything – but not in this. This is an absolute. The Nazi regime was evil. It is that simple. This bill states that. The people in Victoria will not tolerate this. I commend the bill to the house.

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (12:31): I rise to contribute to this bill, the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023, and as many who have stood and spoken before me, I am not pleased to do so. It is with a heavy heart and sadness that I do. I do want to commend every member, as those who have spoken before me have, for their contributions on this bill. The member for Malvern articulated his reply to the second reading very well, and the member for Caulfield on our side and then the member for Bulleen. The member for Box Hill is still sitting in this chamber, and I can see the hurt that he feels as this bill is debated. What you and your family have gone through no-one should have to experience ever again, or experience the hatred that we have seen outside of this place over recent times.

Personally, I remember a few years ago – it was as a private citizen before being in this place – seeing the rise of neo-Nazis on current affairs programs on TV here in this state and thinking, how does this exist in this day and age in Melbourne, in Victoria, in Australia. I have been lucky enough to travel to many parts of the world, and I think there is probably no place more accepting of multicultural communities, of differences in faith and of differences of opinion or views. To think that this was going on in the shadows in this city, online and behind closed doors is abhorrent enough and disgusting enough in itself, but then to see them becoming more angry, more agitated and coming out into the public domain – it is almost hard to put into words how disgraceful that behaviour is. It is hard for me to find words to describe the feeling that I feel when I see that and the feeling that I feel when I see people like the member for Caulfield and the member for Box Hill and how much it actually hurts them. There should be no place for this. While there are some amendments to this bill from the member for Malvern – and I urge the government to take those up, and I mention that quickly – the fact is that this whole chamber, every member in here on behalf of the Victorian people, stands united on this bill. I think it is the right thing to do, and I hope that we never, ever see these sorts of behaviours in this state or anywhere else ever again.

The Holocaust is probably the greatest atrocity in human history. The fact is that Nazis attempted to murder every single Jew in Europe, over 6 million of them. We hope we never see something like that again. We will do everything we can to never, ever see something like that ever again. As I said, it is sad to have to debate this legislation, but we cannot continue to see that behaviour, and there is no place for that at all. It is not just about the Nazis and their targeting of the Jewish community; it is their hatred for anybody who thinks differently or expresses anything different or who is multiculturally different to that group of people. In my eyes it is disgusting. It is anyone: our LGBTIQA+ community, the physically and mentally disabled – they target the most vulnerable in our community.

I remember the member for Tarneit said they are weak. The minister at the table at the time, the member for Eltham, said they are weak, they are cowards, they hide in the shadows and they target people who are seen or they see to be weaker than them. They target the most vulnerable in our community, the people that I believe are the reason a lot of us sit in this place – the people that we want to be standing up for, those people that do not have a voice or do not always have the strongest voice. That is who they target, and there is no place for it. They have such a narrow view of the world, and anyone who does not fit into their box is who they target, and it is disgraceful. We know there is such a huge Jewish community, and I appreciate the member for Greenvale’s comments around the numbers. We know the contribution that that community has made to this city, to this state and to Australia. I have been lucky enough many times to travel to Israel, and I have many, many friends from Israel as a whole. I stand with them today in speaking in this place in support of this bill.

I do not have too much more to add other than to say that we should never, ever see this behaviour. What happened to the member for Box Hill’s family should never have happened. We should never, ever see those people in black pyjamas, hidden behind masks, hiding behind ideology that is unacceptable, that is abhorrent, that is disgusting and that is disgraceful and showing symbols of hate – the Nazi salute of hate. We should never, ever see that again, and I commend this bill to the house.

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (12:36): I rise to speak on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023. It is troubling in our community and in our state and society that we need to rise and reflect at this time on the epitome of hatred. The epitome of dehumanisation is anything that symbolises or is associated with the ideology of Nazis. It is in living memory of so many people, and we are still aware of that trauma of the more than 70 million people that died during World War II and the 6 million Jews. It is an extraordinary thing to try to comprehend – the scale of inhumanity, of hatred and of pure evil. But it happened, and it happened in living memory of so many people and people that share their lived experience. That is harrowing. I reflect also on the contribution of the member for Clarinda, who shared the story out of Cambodia. We have seen examples where genocide and dehumanisation of people have led to millions being murdered and killed. The notion that anyone sees that as something to associate with, celebrate or glorify is really troubling.

There is an interesting fringe to some of this movement that comes from this ultrapatriotism and analogous collaborations which we see almost glorifying and trying to lean into that patriotism around Australia, which is really troubling. That then flows into neo-Nazism. There are parents and grandparents who fought regimes like the Nazis for the freedoms that underpin our values today, and the notion that those individuals would try to make an analogy is truly extraordinary, puzzling and troubling.

I know that some people have talked about education and talked about awareness. We see an intentional attempt to radicalise. There is terrorism in our state – this is what it should be called out as. There is an extremist ideology that has all the hallmarks of radical terrorism in Victoria. That is why our Australian Federal Police and ASIO are so concerned. Almost half of the referrals and work they do are about far-right or neo-Nazi elements. So we have to be aware and call that out for what it is, because silence in this space has led to atrocities, impacts and erosions of democratic values and outcomes in the decades before. We have lived experience, we have examples.

When I go to the lived experience, I want to say something about those that share their stories. I follow Auschwitz Memorial on Twitter. Each day I see a feed pop up; the algorithm sees that I clearly search for that. It is so harrowing to think of that lived experience and the stories of each and every person that have come before. If anyone is not following it, I really encourage them to follow that page and to always check in on their awareness of the atrocities that humanity can bring. Do not just say ‘6 million’ or say numbers but think about the individual stories and the generations that were never to be from those lost and taken before. That is the true scale and ferocity of inhumanity. The survivors of the Holocaust and the brutality that came to so many people who share their lived experience, who go through a huge amount of trauma to educate others and generations to come – we owe a huge debt of gratitude to them. This is not just academic, it is real. It is their lived outcomes of families and loved ones and communities that are no more. We pay our deepest and most profound respect and appreciation for what they do to educate others. We must remember and always reflect on their sacrifices and how that retraumatises communities over and over and over.

There is an important moment here, though. When these things happen – where we see the glorification of terrorism, of hatred and of ideology that is symbolised by Nazis – we as a collective democracy in this community must call that out. As the years pass on, we must reach back and educate more and more of our communities on what has come before. This is a reminder again of why symbols of hate need to be called out. Even the mere association with this undermines the values that underpin our democracy and a freethinking and fair society. Even the association, whatever the intent, needs to be substantially called into order, and that is what this summary offences bill does. It says that as a freethinking and inclusive society in Victoria, we will challenge and we will always call out this hate-filled behaviour that devalues so many people, that was such a horrific moment in our history and that impacted on the world and still has ramifications around our globe. The real moment in time here is to reflect that we always need to be on guard. We need to always be aware of what has come before. We will see people that try to glorify and idealise symbols of hate, and we need to be aware of that. This is a moment for all members of Parliament to call that out and state why this is so important. The media coverage of this has been really inclusive around educating, in that moment, why we challenge that. Empowering Victoria Police in those moments where we see an attack on people is really key.

I used to have the honour and opportunity to work for the federal member for Isaacs and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. I had an academic understanding of risk from my time in government – in state and then in federal – but I did not realise the personal toll that this takes on our community, particularly on an elected representative of his standing. I will not go into too much detail but will say that this is an ever-present concern. Each and every day, people are impacted in our community. The member for Bentleigh and the member for Box Hill described some of those risks and those intersections. We see a scaling up of discrimination and its impact on our Jewish Victorians. Not only through this bill and not just in the collective will of banning and alienating these symbols of hatred and what I would term acts of terrorism, but we need to go further into education and understanding so that those that may not have an academic knowledge get that awareness and that inclusion.

I saw this play out really importantly at my local secondary college, Parkdale Secondary College. We got to meet an incredible person, Edith Gluck, who was at that time a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor. Her gentleness, her point of reflection and the power that that moment left a few years ago will live with me forever. That was just being in her presence, let alone thinking of her lived experience and the trauma that had gone before to get to that point to tell that story. The impact that that had on secondary students at Parkdale Secondary will live with them through their education and learning. That is an important opportunity and moment. It is why in secondary education, in primary education and in that ongoing understanding in our community when we front up to understand on Anzac Day and on Remembrance Day we have a peripheral view of what happens when we dehumanise people and what happens when faith, when individuals and when communities are targeted and impacted – and there were so many communities that were impacted during World War II and that were murdered and targeted.

This bill is a moment in time to reflect on what we do not stand for and what we call out. There are in circumstances things that are so offensive and so impactful that even a gesture embodies so much trauma and so much hatred that it is a symbol that we should really detest. This is about our standards in the community and what we stand for and what we accept. We have seen it in our community as well as some elements have tried to establish what they call ‘gyms’ but really are recruitment exercises. I think that is one of the messages as well. Our law enforcement agencies, our federal police and ASIO need to be empowered and emboldened to make sure that terrorist elements in Victoria and across our nation are called out as such.

This is not just the fringe, this is not just people that have gone astray; this is a meticulous, articulated strategy for the escalation of neo-Nazis in Victoria. There is a reason that they target certain moments of division in community, because it is all about recruitment. It is all about scaling up. That is why the banning of symbols and salutes and the constant vigilance and ongoing education, which traumatises a lot of people, is so important, is so critical. This bill is really important for our communities, and I commend it to the house.

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (12:46): I rise to address the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023, and I am delighted to do so after the member for Mordialloc and after the contributions of my colleagues as well. I note the presence at the table of the former Speaker of the Assembly, the member for Bundoora, and he and you especially, Deputy Speaker, will know better than most that there are not very many opportunities in this place for the unity that we have seen throughout the course of this debate. That is a great credit to this place. It is a great credit to the members who have contributed to this debate so far. Although I was not scheduled initially to speak on this particular bill, given the unity and the way in which this debate has been carried so far, I thought it only appropriate to add some short remarks through my own lens.

The obligation of every single one of us is to respect every other human, to treat them with regard, to treat them with respect and to value people for who they are. If you see the world through those eyes, there is no place for hatred and there is no place for some of the atrocities that have been committed against the Jewish people in the course of our history. I am pleased to be part of a coalition team that championed initially the banning of Nazi symbols in the last Parliament. I am pleased that the government saw goodness and purity of intent in the conversation that the member for Caulfield initiated amongst my colleagues in the last Parliament, and I am pleased to see the progression of this bill through the Parliament. I do note the amendments moved by the member for Malvern, and I think that if the Parliament gives consideration and agrees to the amendments circulated by the member for Malvern, which I believe to have been made in good faith in a way that does not seek to undermine the policy intent of this bill on behalf of the government but aims in fact to in strengthen that intent, Victoria will be a better place for it. I commend the amendments circulated by the member for Malvern in the chamber and respectfully request that the government give them due consideration – if not in this place, then in the other place – in due time.

I also note that this bill has been introduced at a time of increasing concern about the public display of neo-Nazi and antisemitic behaviour in our community. My personal belief is that that rise in activity is absolutely shameful. It does not reflect Victoria, it does not reflect Australia and it does not reflect the best of us. I also note, and as members previously have addressed, the horrid acts on the steps of this place. I have said before in this place, and I will say it again now: the Parliament is the very foundational institution of our democracy. To those men, those neo-Nazis, who stood on the steps of this place and did what they did: that is an absolute and utter disgrace. There should be no place for that in our community, and I am hoping that with the passing of this legislation we will empower Victoria Police to do the right thing and to uphold the community standards which we all hold so dear.

It is again a reason why I believe the member for Malvern’s amendment to the bill should be introduced, because it would give police officers not only the opportunity to hold people for performing such a vile act, a salute, but effectively another opportunity to – if police issued a direction for those people to stop doing that and they did not do that – charge those people or to pursue a case against those people, not once but twice. I think that the member for Malvern’s amendment again strengthens the bill and strengthens the policy intent of the government.

I am also pleased that there are quite practical exemptions in this bill which allow for genuine academic, artistic, educational, or scientific purposes and the making or publishing of a fair and accurate report of any event or matter of public interest. I think that is important because in introducing this legislation we must not seek to discredit or wipe away the history of the past, but we also must seek to be pragmatic and practical about that history of the past and use it as an instructive opportunity for the future. I am pleased that on this side of the house we support this legislation, and again I commend, for the consideration of all members, especially government members, the amendments moved by the member for Malvern.

Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Minister for Development Victoria, Minister for Precincts, Minister for Creative Industries) (12:53): The Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Salute Prohibition) Bill 2023 is a fairly small bill – nine pages – but carefully thought through, well consulted and incredibly important. As small as this bill is, it is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation that this Parliament will deal with in this session, because it says something about who we are as a state and as a community. As other speakers have spoken so eloquently, I want to commend everybody on all sides of the house who have contributed to this debate and thank them for their support of the bill and the way in which the debate has been conducted. I heard yesterday the passionate contributions of the member for Box Hill, the member for Caulfield, the member for Monbulk, the member for Bulleen and many, many others who recounted family, personal and community connections to the evils of the Holocaust and the evils that Nazism brought to so many parts of the world.

This bill, following the previous legislation to ban Nazi symbols, is a bill that says very clearly that we will meet Nazism wherever it rears its head. ‘Criticisms’ is probably the wrong word, but one of the concerns that has been raised about the approach of banning the symbols and the gestures that these two pieces of legislation have brought forward is that it is a bit like treating the symptoms, if you like, or playing whack-a-mole, which I think was a quote from one respected advocate in this space. I will come back to the broader piece of work that is being done, but it is important to recognise that it is still important to meet these challenges when they arise, whether they are symbols or gestures. Wherever Nazism raises its ugly head we need to push back on it really hard as a community, and it is so great to see the Parliament of Victoria taking a strong stand on these matters.

It is important to recognise that this is not a piece of legislation that should be viewed in isolation. It goes to the bipartisan support that we have seen over decades in this place for multiculturalism in this state and for support for our diverse communities in this state. It goes to the support that is delivered in terms of budgets for multicultural communities, for First Nations people and for gender-diverse communities, and it is no surprise that when we have seen those Nazis out the front of this place on a number of occasions it has been around protests against the trans community or against First Nations rights in terms of the referendum coming up. This is an ideology that targets minorities, and it is so good to be part of a state that stands together with every part of our community. We value all Victorians, and this legislation ensures that those people who would seek to divide us and to persecute those that they think they can pick on – the weakest –will be rudely surprised by the views of the Victorian community, which will say, as we have through the Parliament here today and yesterday, that we will stand with all Victorians and push back on that evil ideology.

It is important that we continue consultation on our anti-vilification reforms more broadly. This is a broader piece of work to ensure that we broaden our legislation that is currently in the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 to look at the different attributes that people are vilified about and at the same time give that sort of legislation more teeth to ensure that when people commit acts of vilification and they deliberately seek to perpetrate hatred on people and diverse communities there are ramifications for people who do that, who would seek to divide us and take us down that path.

It is also important that we never forget the lessons of the Holocaust, and I want to pay tribute, as others have, to the work of the Holocaust Museum of Australia – an incredible testament to our wonderful Jewish community here in Victoria. Many people have spoken about the strength of our Jewish community, the generosity of our Jewish community, not only to look after their own community but to reach out and share the hard lessons that they have learned through so much pain over the journey to protect other communities, to make our community better. I have had the privilege of being multicultural affairs minister previously and working with organisations like the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Zionism Victoria, the Anti-Defamation Commission, the Community Security Group and so many others and have had the privilege of visiting so many synagogues and communities and having so many discussions. It is a wonderful community. It is such a vibrant part of our society here in Victoria. The Holocaust museum does that education work, and I am very proud of being part of a state where we have funding for mandatory Holocaust education in schools to make sure that our young people are aware of the dangers of extremism.

That is the danger that we are addressing through this legislation – that those people that we saw out the front, those people who purport to be Nazis, will seek to play on people’s fears and prejudices, and this government, this Parliament, through this legislation, is saying, ‘No, we will meet that at every step of the way’. I hope that when we come to debate the anti-vilification legislation, we can do it in the same manner in which we have discussed this legislation – that is, one of bipartisan strength in favour of our wonderful, diverse Victorian community.

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:02 pm.

Business interrupted under standing orders.

The SPEAKER: Can I acknowledge in the gallery a former member for Ballarat East and Buninyong, Geoff Howard.