Nazi salute to be explicitly outlawed in NSW
The Nazi salute will be explicitly outlawed in NSW after white supremacists mounted a series of demonstrations in Sydney.
Police broke up a neo-Nazi demonstration on Sydney’s north shore on Sunday, the third straight day public safety powers were used to disrupt the group over the Australia Day weekend.
Premier Chris Minns credited police for a great job but flagged the law may need to be strengthened.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.While the Nazi salute is explicitly banned in Victoria, it is more grey in NSW, where all Nazi symbolism is outlawed.
“Explicitly the swastika is illegal in NSW, there’s a question as to whether a Nazi salute is as well,” Mr Minns told Seven’s Sunrise on Monday.
“I want to make it clear though that (salute) is not acceptable in NSW and if the current laws don’t cover it, we’ll move legislation to make it illegal.”
With about half of the 61 masked men who gathered on Friday coming from Victoria, the premier warned his state had the power to unmask people.
“Police have the right to take off your balaclava and to expose you and your identity so that everyone you know, your family and friends, your employer, your co-workers will know that you’re a racist,” Mr Minns told Nine’s Today.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the images of neo-Nazis in Sydney’s streets were “incredibly confronting” and had no place in modern Australia.
But the former attorney-general was unsure if police powers for unmasking, used for driving and serious offences, extended to these gatherings.
“It’s not clear here what the powers of the police are,” he told 2GB.
“But I think in principle, if someone turns up in public dressed in a balaclava, they’re looking for trouble, and police should have the power to rip them off.”
It comes as the federal government looks to introduce new religious discrimination laws in coming months.
The proposal would seek to protect people from hate speech and vilification based on their faith.
Laws banning people from performing the Nazi salute in public or displaying symbols such as the swastika came into effect earlier in January.
The federal laws banning Nazi salutes came after similar state prohibition on the gesture in Tasmania and Victoria.
Passage of the legislation came following a rise in anti-Semitism and the use of Nazi symbols by far-right groups.
