The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ), the peak rep­res­ent­at­ive body of the Aus­trali­an Jewish community, has welcomed the Federal government’s announce­ment that it will introduce legis­la­tion to crim­in­al­ise public displays of the Nazi Haken­kreuz and the Schutz­staffel hate symbols and ban the trade in these items.

“This legis­la­tion will implement recom­mend­a­tions made by the ECAJ to the recent par­lia­ment­ary Inquiry into the display of Nazi symbols”, said ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim. “We appre­ci­ate the gov­ern­ment moving on this issue, and heeding the voice of our community.”

“We espe­cially welcome the proposals to ban the trade in items featuring certain Nazi symbols, and to empower the police to issue dir­ec­tions to remove Nazi symbols from public display, as advocated expressly in the ECAJ’s sub­mis­sion to par­lia­ment”, Mr Wertheim said.

The ECAJ has also expressed concern directly to the Attorney-General that the pro­hib­i­tions will be limited only to the haken­kreuz and Schutz­staffel symbols (SS lightning bolts).

“Our concern is that neo-Nazi groups will cir­cum­vent the legis­la­tion simply by using the Totenkopf (deaths head), sonenrad (sun wheel) and other well-known Nazi symbols instead of the two pro­hib­ited symbols. We have urged the gov­ern­ment to review the legis­la­tion peri­od­ic­ally so that if our concerns are borne out, the pro­hib­i­tions may in due course be extended to the display of other Nazi symbols.”

Another concern expressed by the ECAJ is the absence of any pro­hib­i­tions on the per­form­ance of Nazi gestures such as the Nazi salute. “This will leave a gap that will need to be filled by State and Territory legis­la­tion,” Mr Wertheim concluded.