Wednesday, 8 June 2022

Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Ms HUTCHINS:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Ms KILKENNY (Carrum) (10:45): As I was saying yesterday, it is deeply concerning, disturbing, that acts of vilification, of violence, of hatred against a group for their religious views and beliefs is taking place in Victoria, across Australia and indeed across the world, but that is where we find ourselves. But like any form of discrimination or vilification, prejudice, it is really difficult to reconcile these acts with the overwhelming sense of inclusion, respect for diversity and support for multiculturalism that the vast majority of Victorians engage in and are rightly proud of. To this end, the Nazi symbol—which is a symbol of outright hatred used entirely to push an agenda of hate, of terror, of fear, of silence—has absolutely no place in Victoria’s proudly inclusive society, and on this we cannot be clearer. And it is a good thing, it is a wonderful thing, that there is bipartisan support for the bill that is before the house.

This bill, the first of its kind in any Australian state or territory, will create an offence in the Summary Offences Act 1966 to prohibit a person from intentionally displaying a Nazi symbol in a public place or in sight of a person in a public place if the person knows or reasonably ought to know that the Nazi symbol is a symbol associated with Nazi ideology. The bill will also give Victoria Police powers to direct a person to remove a Nazi symbol from public display, and failing to do so can lead to fines, imprisonment or both. Victoria Police will also be able to apply to the Magistrates Court for a warrant to enter premises to search and seize a Nazi symbol.

These are important reforms. The Nazi symbol is perhaps the most widely and well-recognised symbol associated with Nazi ideology, and its display without question is abhorrent. It is harmful. It is offensive to all members of our society but particularly to members of our Jewish community. But as well, we know that this symbol is used to demonise other groups—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQ+ people, people with a disability and of course other religious groups.

Hate speech and the display of a symbol of such hatred, which is categorically antisemitic—it is one designed to instil, as I have said, terror and fear—is an absolute affront to decency, to security and to democratic equality here in Victoria, and it must not be tolerated. It must not ever be tolerated, and we cannot be silent on this. At its core you could say that this is fundamentally an issue about human rights. So the task before us is never to talk about this in the guise of freedom of speech; this is instead considering how much value we place on security, on democratic equality and on decency and finding that balance. I think the answer here is pretty simple. It is pretty straightforward. It is pretty clear. The Nazi symbol embodies everything that we detest, everything that is evil in our world. It categorically speaks of a regime of fear and hatred and terror and, as I said, also of silence. So we will ban the Nazi symbol here in Victoria, because we must—and because categorically it is the right thing to do.

But of course we know, tragically, that the symbol has been so thoroughly claimed by the Nazis that the very people from whose culture it originates now themselves have difficulty displaying the symbol, the swastika, celebrating its history and its meaning to those cultures in the way that those people and their ancestors for centuries have done. So I feel I need to say to our Victorian communities who display the swastika as a symbol of peace, of harmony, as part of their beautiful cultural and religious practices, that I am so deeply sorry that your symbol has been appropriated for such evil and for such danger.

To members of our Hindu community, our Buddhist community and any other religious communities who hold up this symbol peaceably to celebrate diversity and to celebrate multiculturalism and to whom the swastika holds such immense significance to who they are, this debate may well be a difficult step. The introduction of this bill may be difficult. It may pose significant challenges for them and the ways that they practice their religion and their culture and their beliefs, but I hope also that this debate and what we are doing here today by banning the Nazi symbol is a positive thing for these communities. I hope that by banning the Nazi symbol and by further education and further communication we are able to disentangle the peaceable swastika from the Nazi symbol and that hateful ideology that it has come to represent. That is going to take some action, that is going to take some work, but it cannot detract from the very pressing and critical requirement here, and that is to ban this symbol from public display here in Victoria and to give specific powers to Victoria Police to be able to enforce that by directing people to take down the Nazi symbol and by executing search warrants so that they can enter premises in order to give effect to the meaning behind this. We are creating a criminal offence because we have established that the public display of this Nazi symbol is so abhorrent to us that it warrants a criminal offence.

I am pleased to note that amendments introduced yesterday will bring forward the commencement date of this bill to six months after assent or even sooner, and this is a good thing, because we do need to take steps. Even since the bill was introduced in Parliament several weeks ago we have seen the symbol raised and I think the flag flown, so it is good that we are able to act more swiftly, but this also gives us time to ensure that the appropriate communication and education take place to protect and preserve the cultural integrity of the swastika for those other religious groups for whom the swastika is important. I commend this significant bill as a very necessary and critical step in protecting human rights in Victoria. In stamping out hatred and prejudice and discrimination we are united in our position to ban the Nazi symbol.

Mr WYNNE (Richmond—Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing) (10:53): I rise to join a number of colleagues to speak on this very, very significant bill, the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022. In doing so I do want to acknowledge that obviously in a previous iteration of my public life I was the Minister for Multicultural Affairs for a period of time and worked very collaboratively with the member for Caulfield in really establishing the genesis of this legislation that is before the Parliament today. I do so recognising that when it comes to the question of multiculturalism there is really no difference between the position that the government and opposition members take in celebrating multiculturalism, and indeed in my experience of working with them they so recognise. We are a better and a stronger and a richer community for the unanimity that comes from this Parliament and the leadership that has come from this Parliament on any range of issues that have affected our community. We remember of course the tragedy in New Zealand—at that time I was the Minister for Multicultural Affairs—and the way that our community collectively reached out and acknowledged the terrible horror that occurred in New Zealand at that time. There are any number of examples of this Parliament working in unison to speak out against these sorts of atrocities.

This particular bill comes to us as recommendation 24 of the Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee, and we thank the committee, as always, for their work. Again, those of us who have had experience of working in committees know of the cooperative nature of these committees. The work that they do together is very different, can I say, to the theatre of question time and so forth, because when we do work collaboratively these are the sorts of outcomes that you in fact get. The work of this committee ought to be acknowledged today.

The Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 introduces a new summary offence to prohibit the intentional public display of a Nazi symbol, specifically the Hakenkreuz, commonly known as the Nazi swastika. This is a symbol of hate and a cause of significant harm to Victorians, particularly those of the Jewish faith. The landmark reform sends a very clear message that the public display of the Nazi symbol has no place in Victoria. I do note some of the disgraceful activities that occurred through the federal campaign, when the former Treasurer of the commonwealth had a number of his billboards and so forth vandalised with the swastika. This is just appalling. It is absolutely appalling, and we as a community repudiate it. We know just how harmful that would have been to Mr Frydenberg, his family and indeed the broader community in which he lives and which he did represent. In that respect I want to call out that harm and I want to knowledge that harm that would have been done to him and his family. That is utterly and completely unacceptable.

In that respect it is just so important that we as a Parliament call this out for what it is: the dreadful, dreadful harm and how this symbol echoes so powerfully back for so many people who were the survivors of the Holocaust itself. Some of those people are still with us today—not so many, but their children live on with this burden because they know what their parents or their grandparents actually went through and in so many ways for so many people the miracle that they actually survived. They had the opportunity to come to this country, a country that welcomed them, a country that said, ‘You are precious. We know where you have come from. We know the journey that you have been on, but you are now in a safe place. You are in a safe place where you can establish yourself and make an extraordinary contribution’—as without question the Jewish community has done for a couple of generations now. We absolutely acknowledge their contribution in so many ways, whether it is in the business community, in academia, in the sciences, in medicine—so many ways. That is why our standing up here today says so much about why we celebrate that contribution, and we absolutely repudiate this hateful symbol that is used in such a vicious way and in such a hurtful way to so many people.

Can I say also, though, that the bill does seek to ensure that the swastika, which is as we know significant to the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities, is not captured. That is really important, because for those communities this symbol is actually a cause of peace and a cause of celebration, and we want to be absolutely clear that these communities are still able to celebrate the significance of the swastika to their particular religious circumstance. There are also exemptions for academic, artistic, scientific or educational purposes, publishing a report, opposition to fascism or Nazism, administration of justice or law enforcement. The penalty, I would argue, is an appropriate penalty. The penalty will be 12 months imprisonment or a fine of around $21 000—I think an appropriate penalty for wilfully trying to display this abhorrent symbol.

I do note that there is an amendment that has been moved by my colleague the Minister for Crime Prevention, which provides that the bill will commence by default six months after royal assent unless proclaimed earlier. Currently the bill will commence by default one year after royal assent unless proclaimed earlier. The government and indeed the Parliament are deeply concerned by the recent increase in the public display of Nazi symbols in our community, as I have already canvassed. The day after the bill was introduced Hakenkreuz stickers were plastered on a number of fences, light poles and bus stops and a Jewish community centre in Caulfield, causing of course great distress to the Jewish community. Again, I simply say, because I know this is a bipartisan position, that this is absolutely unacceptable and it is exactly the conduct that this bill is intended to prevent.

The display of symbols associated with Nazi and Neo-Nazi ideology is deeply harmful and offensive to all members of our society—to all of us it is deeply offensive. But to display this dreadful, abhorrent symbol on a Jewish community centre, that behaviour is—

A member: Unspeakable.

Mr WYNNE: Exactly right, colleague. It is wilful and—

A member interjected.

Mr WYNNE: Exactly. It is unspeakable, and it says so much about anybody who would seek to undertake these sorts of activities and seek in a wilful way to hurt our community—and not just the Jewish community, our community as a whole. I commend this to the house.

Mr EDBROOKE (Frankston) (11:03): I would like to begin by paying my respects to the Holocaust victims and survivors. In my way of thinking this bill is the best way of paying respect to those people and people that have got family members that went through those horrific times. We have heard amazing speeches over the last 24 hours. We have seen Holocaust survivors in our chamber listening to us speak, and that is quite amazing in itself. Can I thank the minister, the committee who ran the inquiry and the members of the community who contributed to the inquiry as well, who have led us to this nation-leading point today where we are banning the use of the swastika in recognition of its role in inciting hate and evil as well. I know my community are fully in support of this ban.

I have been asked a question which is a bit broader, I think: what does banning a symbol do? Well, I would say: symbols are really powerful. Symbols do not require words to explain them. We have got symbols for men and women. We have got symbols for peace and love. We have got negative symbols which symbolise other things, like pentagrams and the divisive Confederate flag issue we have got now in the southern states of the US, and we have got the duality of symbolism as well where a crucifix is a very holy symbol but a burning crucifix means something to a lot of people that is not so holy.

Also the duality of symbolism comes into this, whether it be the Star of David meaning one thing to the Jewish community but a yellow Star of David meaning something entirely different. The swastika, or the Hakenkreuz, is a symbol that has been used for 3000 years at least by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain communities to signify divinity, sun and good luck, and it is important that those communities have been consulted and they can still continue to use this symbol, which was adopted without their permission by a very bad regime.

So as far as 20th-century history is concerned I think it is irrefutable and clear: there are particular symbols that signify very hateful ideologies, and this is one of them. Action needs to be taken, and that is why we are here today. From the outset, and it was even prior to its adoption by the Nazi party, the clockwise swastika—which is actually a Sanskrit word, not a German word—was adopted in Germany as a symbol of Aryan identity, of white supremacy, of antisemitism and of racial purity. I guess that movement became the Nazi party, and the Nazi party adopted it as theirs in 1920 in that clockwise-facing direction. In 1933 the Nazi party decided that the Hakenkreuz was going to be the flag of the republic post the Weimar Republic, and in 1935 the Nazi party, in government this time, declared that the Hakenkreuz would be the official flag of the German nation. It is really important to note that in September 1935, on the same day they declared that the Hakenkreuz was going to be on the official flag of the German nation—literally on the same day—the Nazi government passed a law for the protection of German blood and German honour, which was one of the most racist things you will ever see in history. It prohibited relationships between Germans and Jews, and we know the rest of the story.

So there is no revisionist history here and there is no confusion here. The Nazis were extremely efficient at their campaigning and their record keeping. We know exactly how this history folded out, but from that moment on, from September 1935, it was very clear to the Western world that the swastika—I will now refer to it as the Hakenkreuz—was a symbol of Neo-Nazi ideology, of hate, of racism and of fascism, and only a few short years later it symbolised to a lot of other people mass extermination and experimentation on children and even pregnant women. For families connected to the Holocaust it signifies the Einsatzgruppen, the yellow stars, Kristallnacht, Auschwitz, Birkenau and Dachau. I have met some of those families and survivors too, like many people in this place. The Melbourne Holocaust Museum has been spoken about quite a bit. I actually did attend a session at the Holocaust museum as a kid. I was always stunned at school to see a swastika under a table, etched into a table, down in the valley, where I went to school. We went to the Melbourne Holocaust centre, and that was a huge eye-opener to a history I knew nothing about at that stage. To see a kid act like a bit of a smart-arse and say, ‘My dad says that didn’t happen’, and a woman actually lift up her sleeve and say, ‘Well, I didn’t tattoo this on myself’—that swastika was etched out of that table real quick.

My point is that I think a lot of this is about education. People do not know what this actually means. I visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel. The first thing I learned at this absolutely hallowed place, which is just full of stillness and full of tranquillity—the world almost stops while you are there, while you are actually stepping through these people’s lives who are no longer with us and the severity and the inhumanity of what happened, the industrial scale of it. You cannot hear a voice when you walk through; it is quite amazing. You walk out the other side thinking how can this ever happen, but that is when the irony hits you. You have been in this silent place, and the irony is that it was actually silence that let this happen. It hits you pretty hard. Silence is all it takes for history to repeat itself and for Nazi ideology to grab a foothold in people’s imaginations again.

It is really important to note that it was not the dyed-in-the-wool Nazi party members that paved their way to power and in turn paved that power into a Holocaust—it was the indifference to the Nazism at the start that allowed this to flourish. We are here today to say we can in no way—in no way—be indifferent about the protection of our multicultural community. We cannot let our community feel like they are powerless and we cannot do anything. We need to take action like we are taking here today and say we will not tolerate one of the most offensive and abhorrent antisemitic symbols of all time. It is easy for kids these days to get swayed one way or another, whether it be by what they are reading on the internet, which might not necessarily be accurate, or by what they see in movies. There certainly has been a softening for a different generation, I think, of what people think the swastika is. They see it in movies. They see Hugo Boss, who designed the Nazi uniforms with the swastika on them. When they see that, they know they are bad guys, but they do not necessarily know what they did. Again, education is the key to that. I note that education, art, science and the law are really the exemptions on using the Hakenkreuz, as they should be. Even yesterday I read in an article that Tasmania is looking at doing exactly the same thing and putting legislation through their house, as they should, but we are leading the nation here today.

I think it is really important to keep the education side up, because we need to know that our kids will stand tall after us and have zero tolerance for Nazism. I do not know who said it—maybe no-one; maybe someone just made it up—but a statement has stuck with me for a little while that a Jewish guy did say to me. He said, ‘When you’ve got a table and there are 10 people sitting there with a Nazi, you’ve got a Nazi problem with 10 people’. As long as we have got people listening to this, as long as we have people who feel comfortable to be in protests and hold up a Nazi flag without the rest of the protest leaving or people saying ‘Just pull that down’, we have a problem. And that comes down to education.

As to education in our schools, I think the best thing any school can do for their kids is take them to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum. It is shocking, it is amazing. When I mentioned pop culture and movies before, if you were to make a movie that kids would watch about the Holocaust, you could not rate it—you could not make this movie, and that is why it is not made. Often that is the first time that people are exposed to the Hakenkreuz, and they see it as, ‘Okay, that’s what it is. It’s just army people wearing it’. That is not correct. There is a lot more that goes into it. We have heard from survivors, we have heard so many people in this house give such eloquent, detailed explanations of why symbols matter and why we are criminalising this today.

I love the fact that we will be shortening the commencement period to six months after royal assent, not 12. I think it is really important that we protect people in our community from this kind of race-baiting, this hate, this evil as quickly as possible. As I said before, I just want to reiterate: if we have got just one person talking their Nazi ideology at a table of people, we have a Nazi problem and we have got to deal with it. This bill goes a long way to doing that, to making sure that those people cannot be loud and proud. But again I would say that many of the people that have used or graffitied swastikas unfortunately probably do not know the history of it and need education, and it all starts in schools. This is a good way to get it under control. I commend this bill to the house.

Ms GREEN (Yan Yean) (11:13): Usually I begin by saying it is with great pleasure that I join a debate on a bill, but to me it beggars belief that almost 80 years on, that revisionist history in relation to who the Nazis were and that horrendous government requires us to bring in a bill, the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022—we even need to do this. I was born in the 1960s, and it was still very firmly in the memory of my parents and their contemporaries and my grandparents. It was still spoken of in very hushed and fearful terms what that horrendous Second World War did to all of Europe and indeed to the world. I really do not understand how this revisionist history can take hold. I would like to echo what the member for Frankston said: the key to this is education. We must never forget this industrial death machine that was perpetrated primarily on the Jewish people but also on anyone that did not follow that obscene ideology of one culture, named as the Aryan culture, being superior to all others and all other cultures and ideologies being subservient—whether it was the followers of Judaism or whether it was Catholics, communists, journalists, the Romani people or the queer community. I simply do not understand, it just does not compute for me as a human being, that any human being can go down that path and think to revere that regime and revere what those horrendous Nazis did. It means that parliaments, we as community leaders, must act to halt this revisionism and point out what hatred that Nazi swastika, the Hakenkreuz, means, especially to our Jewish people.

I was so moved by so many speeches in this debate, particularly from my friend and colleague the member for Box Hill and also my lifelong friend and colleague, the member for Northcote. I remember once in passing, a few months ago, that the member for Box Hill mentioned his father was a Holocaust survivor. I have gotten to know the member for Box Hill quite well, and I have not done the maths, but I think he is about 20 years younger than me. To hear his story of his father as a five-year-old boy having to take refuge with his family in the forest in Poland in -30 degrees—I am just in awe of the strength of his father and their family and what their journey to this country must have been. How proud they must be of the member for Box Hill. For anyone who is watching, if you have not read the contribution by the member for Box Hill on this debate yesterday, please do.

The other contribution that I would commend is that of the member for Northcote, who I also had to do the maths on. I know her husband, Julian Margolis, and the member for Northcote spoke of her late father-in-law, Joel Margolis, who was also a very young person and survived the Holocaust. The other contribution I would commend those watching on the livestream to look at was by the member for Burwood speaking of the bravery of Halina, who I believe is 96 years old. I saw a photograph of her yesterday, and I cannot believe that someone who went through such deprivation, being in Auschwitz at 12 years old, is now still alive at 96 and is still able to hear her truth and to read her truth and that she has told her story.

I have dealt with a lot of traumatised people in my time, particularly after Black Saturday, and I have spoken sometimes about my own recovery from that trauma. It never leaves you, and I do not know—I am just in awe of the bravery of people, like Halina, who can speak about what happened. But she must continue to speak, and I am so glad that we have members in this place like the member for Burwood, the member for Box Hill, the member for Northcote and on the other side of the chamber the member for Caulfield—also of Jewish background.

I decry this particularly in an election context. I think, as the member for Northcote said yesterday, when we put ourselves forward for public office, we have got a pretty thick skin for the slings and arrows, of having a beard and glasses or a moustache or devil’s horns put on you, but I draw the line at a swastika, a Nazi symbol, for anyone, whether they are of Jewish background or not. It has no place in a democratic system. There are a number of people of Jewish background in the federal Parliament, and I express my disappointment and my support for the former member for Kooyong at what he and his family must have gone through—not for losing an election; we can all wear that. That is part of the democratic process. But the swastika should never have raised its ugly head during that campaign.

I have a number of Jewish friends. The Pinskier family have just really improved my life. Talking to the member for Northcote this morning, I learned that both of her in-laws were medical researchers. So many of the Europeans of Jewish descent have just added so much to the richness of Australian society and culture. I have become very good friends with David Green and his family—no relation. His daughters, particularly Sarah and Emma, have become great friends of mine and have helped out on my campaigns, and their dad, David, is a Jewish man and resides in South Morang. When Emma and Sarah were at Montmorency Secondary College around the same time as the member for Bulleen—in fact the same year as, I believe—around Montmorency there were swastikas daubed on garden fences. To think of the impact that must have had on them as young people—thinking ‘Are we welcome in our own beautiful, leafy neighbourhood in Montmorency?’.

I am so glad that we have put forward a house amendment that can bring forward the application of this piece of legislation, with very strong penalties, but it is just deeply regrettable, as I said from the get-go, that we even have to legislate in this way. As soon as this bill was introduced that Nazi swastika reared its ugly head around community centres and places of worship where our Jewish community live. This is just not on. I heard the member for Altona yesterday say that we have the alt-right in our community saying that anytime we talk about responding to racism, that is ‘woke inner-city thinking’. Well, it is not woke inner-city thinking. This is about being human and about respecting each other, where we come from and what we believe in and not supporting a dreadful, dreadful regime like what occurred in Nazi Germany.

I am glad that this bill has support on both sides. I really hope that we will see everyone speak on this bill if they want to, and I really hope that we have very few prosecutions on this. But I hope in addition to the penalties that appear in the bill, the significant jail penalties, that there is significant re-education of those people and that they are forced to observe what the Nazi Germany regime did to particularly the Jewish people and all those millions that they killed. Thank you to the committee that came up with this, the bureaucrats and the ministers. I commend the bill to the house.

Mr HALSE (Ringwood) (11:23): I have been listening intently to the member for Yan Yean’s contribution, always thoughtful and considered, on a very delicate matter, a matter that so many people have spoken so eloquently on during the course of this debate. As the Minister for Housing said, it brings out the best of this Parliament, which we do not often see. We see the grabs on the news at 6.00 pm, but we do not often see debates of this nature. So I congratulate those who have spoken on this bill. It would be remiss of me not to mention my friend and colleague the member for Box Hill, who is my electoral neighbour in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, who also sits next to me here in the chamber during question time and who I have got to know quite well. You will not find a more decent human being than the member for Box Hill. It is quite something to hear the stories of individuals in this place. Everyone has a story. Everyone has a unique contribution to make, and to this debate the member for Box Hill has made a significant contribution that will be read not only in its contemporary form but for generations to come when we discuss this really important bill. The courage and bravery for him to tell a story that is so deeply personal and that has so deeply impacted his family should be noted. I note the contribution from the member for Caulfield, who has been a strong advocate on this issue for so many years. I did not hear the member for Northcote’s contribution, but it is something that I will go back and read in Hansard and have a chat with her about on the significance to her and her family.

To echo the words of the member for Yan Yean, it is not a pleasure to get up and talk on this bill—that is not the right term to use—but it is something that is right. It is about righting a piece of legislation that we can get better to address a really significant issue in our community. Again, I do not want to be repetitive of the previous speaker, but we hear a lot about ‘woke’ things in contemporary debate, and somehow to be an anti-racist and to stand up against racism is somewhat woke or is often labelled as being woke. That is not what this is at all. We have multipartisan support right across the Parliament for this bill.

I want to just touch upon a few of the particulars of the bill. I feel ill equipped to talk with great authority on this bill given the contributions that have been made, but I want to touch upon a number of the particulars of the bill. Victoria is the first state or territory in Australia to ban the public display of the Nazi symbol. We have heard really poignantly about the swastika as a symbol of culture, of spirituality and of peace that has been used by many faith groups and many cultural groups for generations and generations—an ancient symbol. That is of course not what we are seeking to ban in any way. It is indeed the hateful Neo-Nazi and Nazi symbol, the Hakenkreuz, that is the symbol that we are seeking here through this bill to ban. The bill only prohibits the display of the Hakenkreuz—I hope I have got that pronunciation right—or a symbol that so closely resembles it that it is likely to be confused or mistaken for the Hakenkreuz.

Importantly, as I have said, there are a range of caveats for this amendment—those that can be considered in good faith. Of course we do not want this to impact genuine academic work or artistic work. We have touched upon the religious significance of the swastika symbol to so many communities—and communities in my electorate of Ringwood as well—for scientific purposes or for educational purposes or for publishing fair and accurate information with respect to opposition to those great ideologies of hate, fascism and Nazism and Neo-Nazism and associated ideologies. It is important to note as well that there are exceptions for the display of the Nazi symbol by means of tattooing and for enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The offence is accompanied by powers for Victoria Police to direct a person to remove a Nazi symbol from public display and to apply to the Magistrates Court for a warrant to enter a premises to search and seize a Nazi symbol. I think it was about a year ago that one of the sort of populist TV shows ran a story or a piece about someone who was raising a flag with a Hakenkreuz symbol in their backyard—something that was bizarre and extraordinary—and there was not much to be done. The police force did not have the powers to address that at the time—a very overt example of why this amendment is so, so important. There are a whole range of other things I could touch upon. I know that there are associated penalties with respect to display.

I do want to go back to those from the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths who reside in my district of Ringwood. We see the swastika in my district of Ringwood used in a beautiful and spiritual and cultural way by particular communities, and that is protected and respected. We thank those communities for being part of a process of co-design around this legislation that is deeply important.

We are the multicultural state here in Victoria, but what we are not is the Neo-Nazi state. We see too much of this hatred within our community. If you drive along Canterbury Road or Whitehorse Road, from the city right through to my part of the world, invariably you will see a symbol of white supremacy, a Neo-Nazi symbol that is graffitied on a wall or on a billboard. We have heard about the recent vandalism of corflutes, particularly with respect to the former commonwealth Treasurer but to others as well throughout the federal election.

It is fair to say there are some people who are very confused in their own identity and will display and seek to employ this really hateful symbol. There are others who are malicious in the display of this symbol, the vandalism of this symbol. It is really important that as we consider this amendment and as it comes into force that we as a government—and I encourage the government; I know the minister will be considering this, and I think there will be broad support across this Parliament—engage in a really thorough education process throughout our community, within our schools particularly, on the importance of this symbol and the history that is attached to it.

I remember doing my bachelor of arts degree and doing a history unit on the Second World War, and we spent the whole year studying this one unit, which was quite unusual in the context of an undergraduate bachelor degree, learning about the history of the Second World War and the great pain and trauma that permeate right through the generations and are a part of the story of a whole community. So I commend this bill to the house, and I look forward to its introduction. It is a good thing for the state of Victoria.

Ms EDWARDS (Bendigo West) (11:33): I am also rising to make a contribution to the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022, and can I begin by acknowledging the speakers that have made a contribution before me. Some of those contributions have been so heartfelt, and it is wonderful to see such bipartisan support for a bill before the house. I think this is when the Parliament works at its very best. I also wanted to acknowledge the great work that has been done by the Legal and Social Issues Committee, which undertook the inquiry into anti-vilification protections, and the work that they did collaborating to ensure that this recommendation was put forward—and then of course the Attorney-General and her department for making sure that this particular recommendation, recommendation 24, was brought to the house and put into legislation. I just wanted to acknowledge the member for Ringwood, because he raised some interesting points, particularly in relation to history.

I was reading an article from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. It is probably not a document that people would normally look to, but there was an article in there by a gentleman by the name of Craig R Weiner, who I think captured some important aspects of 77 years ago in our history when the Holocaust happened. Most of us know the historical facts about that period. We know, for example, that roughly 11.5 million people were either murdered, starved to death or died due to inhumane conditions leading to life-taking diseases, of which 6 million of course were from the Jewish faith. We also know that you did not have to be old to be murdered, because 1.5 million of those that died were little children. We also know that you did not have to be Jewish to suffer the wrath of the labour camps or the death camps. In fact you could have simply been a coloured person, a Jehovah’s Witness, gay, a Roma or Sinti, physically or intellectually disabled, an intellectual, a priest, a rabbi or a political opponent. Sadly the death, brutality and dehumanising of people seemed to know no boundaries.

However, I think the Holocaust teaches us more than just the historical facts of how and what occurred during this disgusting blight on human history. It also teaches us very vividly and in a very clear way why there are lessons to be learned from the Holocaust and of course from our history. Just to continue with some reference to that article, it is really sad that even today we have extreme supremacist groups marching and committing terror in communities—not just here but across the world. The rise of Neo-Nazism is quite confronting. And why? ‘Why?’, we ask ourselves—because someone prays to a different god than they do, because someone has a different sexual orientation or different skin colour or ethnicity? It is truly sad that we must all be classified in different file folders rather than all living together in one file folder called ‘human beings’. After all, it is the only thing that really matters. If you are a nice person, should anyone care who you pray for or to or what your skin colour or sexual orientation is? I know that I do not.

It is from these lessons that we have learned, and hopefully continue to learn, through the Holocaust and through education that we can all see firsthand what hatred, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and intolerance indeed can lead to. It is from these same lessons that we must learn how critical it is to stand up against all forms of hate and prejudice and to teach our children not to be followers or pretend that they do not know what is going on, as many claimed after the war. Can we as humans teach our kids to be leaders, to stand up and to do the right thing so that bullying and hatred can be put to a stop? These are our many challenges as a society, and these are some of the lessons from the Holocaust: tolerance, respect for others, understanding, patience and practising compassion over judgement. It is these lessons that we will give our young people in particular the examples to follow in order to achieve what they all want out of life, and it is through the lessons of the Holocaust that we can help our young people and ensure that they continue to learn these life lessons. That is exactly what we are doing here today in debating the bill before the house in relation to the banning of the Hakenkreuz, which is the Nazi symbol of hate.

I think that one of the first lessons that we can learn in relation to remembering the Holocaust and the 6 million Jews that were killed, defamed, demonised and dehumanised as a prologue and a justification for genocide, is we have to understand that the mass murder of these people, of the Jews and the millions of non-Jews, is not just a matter of abstract statistics; these were real people. There is a saying that says whoever saves a single life, it is as if he or she has saved an entire universe, just as whoever has killed a single person, it is as if they have killed an entire universe. That sets the picture for what really happened particularly to the Jewish community in Europe.

This bill is important for many, many reasons, but symbolism goes hand in hand many times with language. Even the term ‘Nazi’ is emblematic in itself of the horrors of Nazi Germany and the war in Europe, but alongside that language around Hitler and dictatorship and genocide is that symbol that everyone recognises and understands as a symbol of hatred. Many contributors over the last day or two have referred to that symbol. That symbol can instil fear and pain in so many people, particularly the survivors of the Holocaust and their families, and banning that symbol seems such a simple way to prevent the damage continuing for many of those people but also sends a message that we will not tolerate any forms of bigotry or hatred or racism or inequality that are so synonymous with what we saw 77 years ago.

I have many, many Buddhists in my community, particularly at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, and I know that for them the swastika, which is not the same really as the Hakenkreuz, is a very important symbol. So we want to make sure that people from other faiths, particularly Buddhists and the Hindu and Jain communities, have their religious and cultural use of the swastika acknowledged for its relevance to peace and harmony. There is a statement in this bill—in fact it is the opening statement in the bill—that reveals the exceptions to the offences and various examples for those faiths. It is really important for them that they acknowledge that the swastika is their symbol but the Hakenkreuz is not. The Hakenkreuz is the Nazi symbol; it is the symbol of hatred.

I am really, really pleased that this bill has come to the house. It does fulfil one of our commitments as a government to implement all the recommendations from that inquiry, and I am really grateful that the committee members have been able to bring this particular recommendation front and centre and that it is one of the first of those recommendations to be implemented. I just hope that it goes some way to making a difference to the lives of the many, many people who were impacted by the Holocaust, to the survivors of the Holocaust and to those who have been more recently impacted by the use of the Nazi symbol for hatred, the Hakenkreuz, in our own communities. It is still unfortunately too prevalent. Banning it is the best thing, and I commend the bill to the house.

Mr T BULL (Gippsland East) (11:43): I rise to make a few comments on the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022. I caught a bit of this debate yesterday, and being on table duty today I have heard the contributions of members on both sides of the chamber and certainly commend them. I visited Israel a few years ago with the member for Caulfield, and I know that he has been an extremely strong advocate for this legislation to come through the chamber from the many times he has brought it up in the party room—but I certainly acknowledge the support on all sides of the chamber. I caught the tail end of the member for Box Hill’s contribution yesterday, and while I did not hear his whole speech it was a very touching speech from the heart from him as well. So I certainly commend the speakers on both sides of the chamber.

I think that over recent years there has been a growing recognition of how hurtful to people the swastika symbol actually is. I find it incredible and amazing that within our community we still have a very small element that refutes that the Holocaust even occurred. That is just a disgraceful thought process—that anyone can be in denial about that. But I want to talk just for a couple of moments about, I guess, where I first became aware of the Holocaust. When I went to primary school the whole school, Metung Primary, had seven students, so I probably had somewhat of a sheltered upbringing. But I can remember going into Nagle College in secondary school. It was year 7. I can remember this vividly. We had a person come to talk to us by the name of Sarah Saaroni. I can remember her name to this day, and I can remember elements of her speech. Sarah had travelled down from Melbourne as a Holocaust survivor to address the year 7 students at my school. I can remember sitting there as a naive person with my head spinning, trying to find my feet, going from a school of seven into a school of 700, but I just could not believe what she was saying, and I could not believe the trauma that she had been through in losing the majority of the members of her family. It really got me interested in that element of history—to find out a lot more and understand a lot more about the atrocities that had occurred. That was my first introduction, hearing this woman speaking from the heart when I was in year 7.

Subsequent to that I had the opportunity to visit Israel with a few of my colleagues on a trip organised by the member for Caulfield some years ago. I know other members in this chamber in their contributions have mentioned that they had the opportunity to visit Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. We spent the best part of a day there. You see and read of experiences that it is just nigh on impossible to get your head around in relation to what occurred. I defy anybody to be able to go through that centre and not cry. It is just one of the most emotional experiences you could ever have—and then to come back to this great state in which we live. We went through the recent federal election campaign where we saw antisemitism and the swastika rearing its head again on the corflutes of members. I know Mr Frydenberg has been mentioned here. He was probably the main one on the receiving end of this abuse, but to think that that is still going on in our community is just mind-boggling to me.

So whilst we will pass this legislation, and it is clear from the speakers in this chamber that this legislation will go through both houses, the effectiveness of it on the ground is going to be questionable to a degree, because someone can walk past and do what they do, and unless you catch them in that particular moment it is going to be hard to prosecute offenders. But the pleasing element of this is that it sends a very clear message from the Parliament of Victoria on behalf of the Victorian people to the wider Victorian community that this is not acceptable behaviour and it should not be accepted in any way, shape or form. In that regard I think it is terrific that we are sending from all of the different parties and independents that are represented in this chamber a clear voice of unity in relation to this bill. It is for those very reasons that I commend this bill to the house.

Ms HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (11:49): I also rise to make a contribution to the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022. Of course the main purpose of this bill is to amend the Summary Offences Act 1966 to make the public display of the Nazi symbol or Hakenkreuz an offence. This bill is the result of a recommendation coming from the inquiry into anti-vilification protections by the parliamentary Legal and Social Issues Committee. It was chaired by the member for St Albans, who is in the chamber at the moment. I commend her and all the other members of the committee for this really important work and also the many organisations and individuals that provided submissions, gave evidence and told of some really most terrible experiences that nobody should have to endure.

The legislation has also been the subject of extensive consultation, and it has been difficult not because there is widespread opposition to this reform but because the swastika symbol was taken—or more likely, or more aptly, stolen—by the Nazis and made their own. It was a symbol twisted into a sign of hatred, violence and vilification when in fact it is an ancient symbol of the very opposite—a symbol of good fortune and wellbeing. Even now it is a sacred symbol for the Hindu religion, Buddhism, Jainism and Odinism, and I see this symbol in many of the temples in the Thomastown electorate, where it stands for peace and for hope. The ongoing use of the religious and cultural swastika will be allowed by faith communities and will not be inhibited by this bill. However, I think in all legislation and changes to law there are always consequences. And of course, understandably, there were some concerns, but the consultation has meant that everybody is now supportive of this, because we all had the same view—and that was that the Nazis swastika should not be able to be displayed.

Now, some people might ask, ‘Why is the Nazi symbol is so offensive? Why should it be prohibited?’. But it is not just a symbol, it is so much more than that symbol. It is what it stands for, and it stands for a fascist ideology that should disturb all of us who believe in a civil and humane society. And it carries additional pain, horror and trauma in the Jewish community, which bore the brunt of this horrific ideology in Nazi Germany and other places that supported fascism at the time leading up to and during the Second World War. And there are others who have also been murdered, tortured and imprisoned, like the Russians, Romani-Polish people, those with disabilities, queer people, trade unionists and those of colour—and why? Because they were either enemies or the objects of this violent and terrible ideology. This symbol, however, has not been designated to the past with the defeat of fascist Germany in the 1900s. It is an ideology that we have even seen rear its ugly head recently, leading to murders, vilification, assaults and intimidation. And it seems that those that believe this hateful and dangerous ideology of fascism are becoming more emboldened and their support may be increasing, as we have seen increasing reports of the use of the Nazi symbol and also the desecration of sites with this awful symbol.

We need to remind ourselves of what fascism is and what the Nazi symbol is. There was an article in the Conversation by John Broich, who attempts to define what fascism is. I would like to go through a few of those points because I think in the last couple of years we really have seen this ideology rear itself again. We need to remind ourselves of what it has done in the past and what it can do also in the future. I will not quote word for word what this article does in defining fascism but just go through some of the points that this academic makes when trying to define what a fascist thinks and why of course it is such a dangerous ideology. He says:

Above all, fascists view nearly everything through the lens of race. They’re committed not just to race supremacy, but maintaining what they called “racial hygiene,” meaning the purity of their race and the separation of what they view as lower ones …

or even genocide.

That means they must define who is a member of their nation’s legitimate race.

And they then:

… invent a “true” race.

And this is what happened in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, where the so-called Aryan race was created. It really was not based on history or biology or anything in reality; it was made up. Again, fiction was made into facts, and again, we have seen this happen through the last couple of years of the pandemic where there has been a lot of fiction that has actually been made up and put forward as fact.

Fascists believe in the survival of the fittest, and if an economy or a society is not providing for the needs of the people, a fascist will divert attention from those shortages and will talk about finding or creating an internal or external so-called enemy to attack or against whom to display their violence and blame and divisiveness. Important to most fascists is the idea of being patriotic, that there are good people and there are bad people, that the good people are humiliated and the bad people always seem to do better in society—and again we have seen some of that. If these grievances cannot be answered, fascists say, if things remain under the status quo, there needs to be revolutionary change allowing the real people to break free from the restraints of democracy or the law and to get even. And since the law should be subservient to the needs of the people, there is a need to crush liberalism, the fascists believe, and they encourage militias to enforce the fascists’ will, break unions, distort elections and intimidate the people, the police and anybody else. These are some of the tendencies or the beliefs within that ideology, and again they are things we are seeing starting to surface within Australia and throughout the world.

It is such an important time for the Parliament of Victoria to take a stand against those movements, against those beliefs, rejecting division and rejecting views that we should not have social welfare policies. We should be trying to have an equal society where we should be supporting and embracing diversity and gender equality. Fascists oppose all these things. We need to make a stand and ensure that we believe these things and that we protect, support and fight for these things.

In this debate I think all members of the Parliament are in agreement in speaking in favour of this legislation to outlaw or make it an offence to display the Nazi symbol. I would like to give a bit of a quote about what I really feel this Parliament is doing, because it is so much more than a symbol. Even though the symbol is terrible, it is all about a movement, it is all about an ideology. There is a much-used quote. I think it is displayed in a number of the Holocaust museums. I think everybody here would know what it is and would have heard of it before, but I would just like to go through it because what we are doing today is a really significant and important thing. The quote says:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Today in this Parliament we are speaking out by banning the symbol of hate and terror, a symbol used to instil fear and division and prejudice, and we are sending a message that we will not tolerate this ideology or those that stand up for it. In closing my contribution on this legislation, I know there will be various fines and even imprisonment and that police will be able to enforce it and make people remove and bring down signs of the Nazi swastika. I look forward to this bill coming into effect. Hopefully this will be one step more against fascism.

Mr McGHIE (Melton) (11:59): I rise today to also contribute to this vital piece of legislation, the Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022. Firstly, I should say I think it is a bit of a shame and it is disappointing that we even have to introduce this bill and debate it in this house, but of course we do that off the back of the actions of some people in our communities—and obviously a minority of people in our communities—taking some serious actions using this particular symbol.

Before I start I would like to note and acknowledge a number of my colleagues’ contributions both here today and yesterday—the moving contributions from the member for Box Hill, the member for Burwood and of course the member for Oakleigh, the personal account from the member for Bentleigh and in particular the member for Northcote’s personal account of her family’s situation. They are really acknowledged. Again this morning, or today, there was the member for Yan Yean’s quite emotional contribution, and I really appreciate that from the member. The member for Altona helped us understand that the trauma of these horrors are not some notes in a history book. The trauma of what occurred during the 1930s and 40s is still a lived experience for many of our communities that lived through those horrors but also their families that shared in that generational trauma. There are people alive now that we can talk to and that can share their firsthand experiences, and of course they can be further traumatised by some of the actions that have gone on throughout our community by some of those that seek to terrorise by the actions of using these symbols.

It is only right that we have this legislation today before this house, and it is only right that this house stands in solidarity with these protections for our community. I acknowledge the opposition’s contributions on this bill, and it is pleasing to see that we do have a united front on it. The evil that occurred in the 1930s and 40s to innocent people destroyed their dignity and it certainly destroyed their lives. It corrupted the very fabric of society, and it stole the lives and culture of not only the Jewish community but other religions, ethnic groups and the LGBTIQ community.

Nazism also did a severe injustice to the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities by appropriating their symbols and fouling their religious symbols for its own sick objectives. The biggest Hindu community centre in Australia is on the doorstep of my electorate. It serves many of my constituents along with those of many other members, like the member for Tarneit, who also made an excellent contribution on this legislation earlier. Many of my constituents have been worried that this crime against their religious expression would be further prolonged. The Hindu community, along with the Buddhist and the Jain, stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community against Nazi ideology and the fear used through the Hakenkreuz. The Nazis chose a symbol, excavated by German archaeologists, that was similar to the swastika in this campaign of hate. The Hakenkreuz is the most widely recognised symbol historically associated with Nazi ideology and has been the most common symbol used in recent high-profile displays throughout Victoria. A ban on the public display of the symbol is therefore a sensible starting point.

Many of my multicultural communities have been worried that this warranted legislation to ban this hate symbol would adversely impact their religious practice and use of their holy symbols. The religious ‘swastika’ has its etymological basis in Sanskrit, meaning ‘conducive to wellbeing or good being’. So when you walk through the new housing developments in Melton and other growth areas of Melbourne you see new families moving into their newly built houses, blessed through their religious ceremonies, a holy symbol of the swastika bringing goodness and wellbeing to their homes and they themselves bringing blessings to the community that they are moving into and creating. These good families are the polar opposite of what the Hakenkreuz stands for. It is important for these communities to know that this legislation helps this community to reclaim their cultural identity in the midst of those who wish to appropriate their symbols for hate. The Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities stand together with other people of goodwill and support communities like the Jewish community, which has received harm from the ideology of Nazism and other hate.

The Summary Offences Amendment (Nazi Symbol Prohibition) Bill 2022 introduces a new summary offence to prohibit the intentional public display of a Nazi symbol, specifically the Hakenkreuz. The Hakenkreuz is a symbol of hate and causes significant harm to Victorians, particularly the Jewish community. This landmark reform sends a clear message that the public display of the Nazi symbol has no place in Victoria. The bill will acquit the government’s commitment to ban the display of Nazi symbols as recommended by the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry into anti-vilification protections. The bill will create an offence in the Summary Offences Act 1966 which prohibits a person from intentionally displaying a Nazi symbol in a public place if the person knows or reasonably ought to know that the Nazi symbol is a symbol associated with Nazi ideology.

We are proud to deliver this bill, which will make Victoria the first Australian state or territory to ban the public display of the Nazi symbol. The bill fulfils a Victorian government commitment to implement recommendation 24 of the 2021 report of the Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry into anti-vilification protections in Victoria to ban the public display of this Nazi symbol. It also forms part of the government’s broader commitment to introduce a suite of reforms to strengthen anti-vilification protections in Victoria. I would like to thank the member for St Albans, who is in the chamber, for her work on the committee and for chairing the committee, as well as all the committee members for their contributions and providing a great outcome. Of course my thanks also go to the Attorney-General and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs for their and their staff’s hard work on this legislation.

We saw scenes in the Grampians in regional Victoria of young idiots trying to intimidate and revive hatred, which needs to be addressed. The re-emergence of fascism, especially during the pandemic, was really concerning. We simply cannot allow the lessons learned to disappear with the new rise of fascist ideology. Our government is committed to protecting the rights of all Victorians to be free from racism, vilification and hatred and to ensure everyone feels welcome and accepted. We know that the harm caused by hate conduct and vilification can be profound and can affect the physical and psychological wellbeing of individuals and often prevent them from feeling comfortable participating in their community. As I said before, we have seen a number of events throughout the state in regard to the displaying of Nazi symbols, and some of those have been referred to in previous contributions, so I do not think I will go to those now—corflutes being destroyed and damage done with Nazi symbols and things like that, which is just totally inappropriate.

The opening statement for the new division outlines that the bill was designed with leaders from the Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities to ensure it appropriately reflected their views. We recognise that the swastika is an ancient and auspicious symbol of purity, love, peace and good fortune, and we heard from faith groups about its widespread use, including in places of worship, on clothing, in art and architecture and on shopfronts. This swastika is to be distinguished from the appropriated and distorted version of the symbol, also known as the Hakenkreuz, noting that the swastika was also appropriated by the Nazis. The Hakenkreuz became a symbol of the Third Reich, under which heinous crimes were perpetrated against humanity. We have all heard that recounted through some of the contributions, and of course some people in the gallery have given personal accounts through members here who have contributed.

We all know what the Nazis did back in the 1930s and 40s and about the Holocaust and the trauma that has caused many, many people in our community and their families. So it is pleasing that this house is united on this bill. It is important legislation. It is making the rightful move of banning this hate symbol, and it is making it clear that this type of hate has no place in Victoria. I commend this bill to the house and I wish it a smooth passage.

Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (12:09): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned.

Ordered that debate be adjourned until later this day.