State governments are legislating to criminalise the public display of Nazi symbols. Victoria was the first state announcing a ban to come into effect in six months.
This flows from a which began this year into the rise of far-right extremism in Victoria in the wake of the large right-wing 鈥渇reedom鈥 movement which grew in response to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The law creates a criminal offence for anyone who intentionally displays the Nazi symbol, with fines of up to $22,000 or 12 months in prison.
, and are considering similar laws.
The law is being promoted as a challenge to racism and the growth of the far right. However, banning the Nazi symbol will not stop them.
Germany has long banned the public display of the swastika and the dissemination of Nazi material. This has done little to stop right-wing parties such as Alternative for Germany (AFD) which includes far-right extremists and now has MPs in government.
The still small organised far-right in Australia is empowered by Liberal and Labor governments鈥 racism towards refugees and attacks on First Nations鈥 rights. These racist ideas become 鈥渁cceptable鈥 when government policies institutionalise them.
One Nation began advancing racist policies such as boat turn-backs that the major parties initially deemed unpalatable, but have now embraced.
Banning the swastika also raises civil liberties and free speech concerns. Any state-sanctioned ban sets a precedent for restricting other symbols, such as those used by left or ethnic groups.
The Victorian government is also criminalising protests in state forests, showing it is no friend of civil liberties.
Michael Stanton of Liberty Victoria at the parliamentary inquiry 鈥渢hat any reform needed to ensure free speech was balanced with people鈥檚 right to live without discrimination and violence鈥.
Banning Nazi symbols also allows the far right to portray themselves as victims of repression. This diverts attention away from their reactionary politics to the secondary question of whether or not they deserve 鈥渇ree speech鈥.
Further, any ban of this kind will need to be enforced by state institutions including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the police.
Progressives should not rely on these organisations to counter far-right extremism. Instead, we should seek to build bigger and stronger anti-racist movements 鈥斅燼nd progressive campaigns more broadly 鈥斅爐hat attempt to mobilise people in defence of our rights.
We should also seek to counter-mobilise whenever far-right political forces organise. The far-right has to be defeated politically. It can鈥檛 be criminalised out of existence.
[Jacob Andrewartha is a national co-convenor of Socialist Alliance.]