Deliberately waving a Nazi flag in NSW or displaying memorabilia bearing swastikas can land an individual in jail for as much as a 12 months, together with a advantageous of over $100,000.
The swiftly handed within the higher home on Thursday with unanimous assist.
It comes after an inquiry earlier this 12 months really useful a ban on the general public show of Nazi symbols in a bid to sort out rising anti-Semitism.
NSW turns into the second state in Australia to move the landmark laws .
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark described the passing of the legislation as a historic day for NSW.
“Nazi symbols are a gateway to violence and are used as a recruitment instrument by extremists,” he mentioned.
“Banning their show is a long-overdue and much-needed legislation in our state. The perpetrators will lastly be held to account”.
The Holocaust is the genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime in Germany that killed some six million Jews and different minority teams together with throughout World Battle 2.
A piece within the invoice states that the show of a swastika in reference to Buddhism, Hinduism or Jainism is permitted and is separate to the unlawful show of a Nazi image, the Hakenkreuz.
“For too lengthy, the Hindu group has not felt snug to show our image of peace as a result of it resembled a logo of evil. That is not,” mentioned Hindu Council of Australia nationwide vice-president Surinder Jain.
The swastika is a extremely non secular and religious determine for Hindus and Buddhists around the globe. Supply: Getty / SOPA Photographs/LightRocket through Getty Photographs
Mr Bark famous the laws can be “a game-changer in tackling on-line hate” and known as on tech firms to ramp up efforts to take away imagery and symbols related to Nazism.
Labor’s Walt Secord, a member of the parliamentary committee inspecting the ban of Nazi symbols and an ardent advocate for the invoice, mentioned 31 incidents of displaying the Nazi flag have been reported to the police in 2020.
Many members from the federal government and opposition within the higher home recounted private tales of their households’ lived experiences enduring the Holocaust whereas others warned of the hazards of rising neo-Nazi developments.
On Thursday, Mr Secord referred to a NSW man arrested by counter-terrorism police in September discovered to be in possession of a Nazi flag and a map of the state on his bed room wall with plans to make a 3D-printed gun.
ASIO mentioned in 2020 that far-right violent extremism with its emphasis on neo-Nazi ideology makes up round 40 per cent of its counter-terrorism caseload.