Wednesday, 30 August 2023

Legal and Social Issues Committee

Inquiry into Extremism in Victoria

Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (17:24): I rise to make some brief comments on the government response to the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry into extremism in Victoria, which was tabled on 21 June. The Greens welcome the government’s response to this inquiry and its in-principle support of all 12 recommendations. We are pleased that this government is responding to the threat of far-right extremism and has committed to a range of reforms to counter violent extremism in Victoria, including the Nazi salute ban announced yesterday. But we would urge this government to be bolder and go further than what it is outlined in its response to the inquiry.

To date, the government has defaulted to a law-and-order response to far-right extremism in Victoria. Its response to this inquiry has a heavy emphasis on the role of Victoria Police in managing counterextremism and counterterrorism measures, and it has so far focused on justice reform to tackle far-right extremism, like banning the Nazi salute and symbols. But creating new offences or proscribing symbols is only one tool in the toolbox in responding to the rise of neo-Nazism and other hateful ideologies in this state. We cannot rely on a heavy police response as our only solution. The more effective approach is to stop these hateful movements from taking root in our community in the first place. This means supporting communities, building social cohesion, investing in anti-racism and anti-discrimination education and building trust in our political systems, our social institutions and our civic institutions.

To that point, I want to bring the house’s attention to four key findings and recommendations that we need to start investing in as a state now if we are going to take the threat of far-right extremism seriously. They are:

Finding 38: Anti-racism public education campaigns and education programs that teach respect and appreciation for multiculturalism are important for improving social cohesion in Victoria.

Finding 39: Education about the Holocaust is particularly important for understanding some of the consequences of racism and vilification throughout history and should have ongoing inclusion in the Victorian school curriculum.

Recommendation 7: That the Victorian government support the ongoing provision of existing anti-racism education programs and actively seek to improve and increase the provision of such programs in the community.

Finding 40: Digital and critical literacy are essential skills for young people to navigate the internet safely, develop resistance to the influence of extremist messaging and analyse the quality of information they are exposed to.

Along with these actions, taking the threat of far-right extremism seriously also means looking at the root causes of extremist ideology and the drivers that push people into far-right movements. The committee report canvassed the risk factors for far-right extremism in Victoria, including social isolation, economic insecurity and inequality. While these may seem like complex problems with complex solutions, we cannot address the rise of far-right extremism without also addressing these. We have to commit to tackling the inequalities and the injustices in our society that push people towards hateful movements, including ending poverty, building communities and reducing inequality.

As the report notes, we are also seeing worrying links between far-right extremism and other prejudiced views like transphobia, anti-LGBTIQA+ sentiment and misogyny. We saw this in action as recently as March this year when transphobes and neo-Nazis joined forces on the steps of Parliament to vilify and attack our trans and gender-diverse community. No response to extremism will be complete without tackling this increasing hatred and vilification of our queer community. I note the government is still yet to fully implement the recommendations of the inquiry into anti-vilification protections, including reforms to our anti-vilification laws. These reforms are a necessary part of addressing the rise of far-right extremism in our state, and I would urge the government to progress this as a matter of urgency.

While the Greens are pleased that the government has finally responded to this inquiry report, this response must be a first step to a comprehensive, whole-of-government response to the causes and consequences of far-right extremism in Victoria. We encourage the government to be bolder and go further in building and strengthening our community to truly stamp out these hateful movements.