Prison time, $22,000 fines for Nazi chants in new laws
People chanting Nazi slogans or referencing Nazi “characteristics” near synagogues face up to two years in prison and a $22,000 fine under new laws to be introduced to state parliament today.
Proposed Crimes Bill changes would make it an offense to publicly display support for Nazi ideology. Slogans such as “blood and honour”, which were shouted by 60 neo-Nazi protesters outside parliament earlier this month and are linked to the Hitler Youth, will be outlawed.
The National Socialist Network is holding a rally outside the NSW Parliament in Sydney.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison or an $11,000 fine, doubled if the Nazi exhibition is outside a synagogue, a Jewish school or the Sydney Jewish Museum, up to two years in prison or a fine of $22,000.
Police will also be given the power to order the removal of a suspected Nazi symbol and impose a $2,200 fine or three months in prison for those who do not comply with police instructions. Police will also have the power to force a person to reveal their identity if it would help officers investigate a suspected Nazi demonstration.
The legislation states that these crimes are still valid even if the protest is allowed.
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“The deplorable demonstration we saw outside the NSW Parliament has no place in our society. No one should be subjected to this vile hatred because of their background or belief,” said NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley.
“We are giving the police and courts additional powers to hold Nazi extremists to account for their abhorrent views.”
The government will also seek to remove the repeal clause supporting the crime of inciting racial hatred, which is supported by the opposition and the Greens and is due to expire in three years.
