The government of Victoria state in Australia on Wednesday introduced a crucial legislation in the Parliament which will put a ban on the public display of the Nazi Hakenkreuz symbol. The law imposes the punishment of 12 months in prison and a monetary fine of USD 22,000 to anyone who would intentionally display the Nazi Hakenkreuz ot the hooked cross symbol in public.
According to the reports, the government in the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 mentioned that using the Nazi Hakenkreuz symbol would be a criminal offense attracting severe punishment. It added that it would naturally allow the police to remove and confiscate items that breach the ban.
Today, the Andrews Labor Government is introducing nation leading legislation to prohibit the public display of the Nazi symbol which will help root out the cancer of our societies, which is exactly what antisemitism is. pic.twitter.com/Vo3oJ4xjd4
— Ros Spence MP (@RosSpenceMP) May 11, 2022
The attorney general Jaclyn Symes stated that the Nazi symbol is a ‘symbol of hate and division’ and that the introduction of the law will send a clear message that Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology has no place in Victoria. “The Nazi symbol glorifies one of the most hateful ideologies in history, its public display does nothing but cause further pain and division. Victoria is multicultural. We are multi-ethnic. As a government we want to do all we can to stamp out hate and give it no room to grow” she was quoted.
However, she differentiated between the Nazi Hakenkreuz symbol and the Hindu Swastika symbol as she said that legislation will come into effect a year after passing to allow for a community education campaign to raise awareness of the origins of the religious and cultural swastika, its importance to the Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain communities and its distinction from the Nazi symbol. Due to their similar appearances, most people in many countries think the Swastika and Nazi Hakenkreuz are the same symbols.
Meanwhile, Deputy Liberal leader David Southwick said that the ban on the Nazi Hakenkreuz symbol was the proudest moment in his political career. “Enough is enough for these kinds of horrific symbols. The ban couldn’t come quicker. We would call on the government to make this law current and now, not to wait 12 months. The time to act is now. Let’s ensure these evil symbols of hate are banned once and for all,” Southwick said on May 11.
Swastika and the Hakenkreuz debate
There is a lot of fuss around the Swastika and the Hakenkreuz debate. Many people and groups have stood to equate the Hindu religious symbol with the Nazi symbol. However, both these signs are entirely different. The Swastika, a Hindu sacred emblem, was originally mentioned in the Vedas. The swastika is made out of the words ‘su’, which means “good,” and ‘asti,’ which means “to be.” In other terms, bliss. It can be traced back 6,000 years to rock and cave drawings.
Furthermore, the American Jewish Committee, one of the country’s oldest Jewish advocacy organizations, released a leaflet clarifying the distinction between the Swastika used for millennia by Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cultures and the deformed Nazi version of it.
It is important to note that in the year 2020, the Victorian opposition, the Jewish and the anti-racism groups had called for a ban on the use of the Hakenkreuz after police could not stop the act of a Nazi flag being flown above a house in regional Victoria. Also in the year 2019, the state government was unable to stop a neo-Nazi concert in Melbourne, despite significant pressure from human rights, faith, and anti-discrimination groups to shut the event down.
Reportedly, the ban introduced by the Victorian government does not extend to the online display of the Nazi Hakenkreuz symbol. The Attorney General on May 11 stated that the state government had no powers to regulate the digital world.
