Abc govt.in

The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill will be introduced into parliament next week, outlining a ban on symbols related to Nazis or the SS, including on flags, armbands, T-shirts in public and online, with a maximum penalty of up to 12 months' imprisonment. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said tackling far-right extremism was a priority for the federal government and the measures will work alongside the moves some of the states have made to ban Nazi symbols in their jurisdictions. "This bill is going to complement the work of the states and ensure that there are no loopholes and we will have all governments working together to ban the display and trade of these evil symbols," he said. The bill will not ban all uses of the swastika, due to the religious significance of the symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The Nazi salute will also not be covered by the ban. "The Nazi salute is an offensive gesture that has no place in Australian society, but we think that the banning of these gestures is a matter for state and territory laws," Mr Dreyfus said. "We need to make a start. This may not be the end of what we do to criminalise hate speech, this kind of conduct — we need to make it absolutely clear that there's no place in Australia for Nazi symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust." Experts call for more to be done to combat rise of far right The move to ban Nazi symbols has been welcomed by those researching ...