VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, December 20, 2022 (J-Wire): From December 29, Victorians who display the Nazi swastika could face a year in prison and a US$14,900 fine. The laws were passed by the Victorian Parliament earlier this year but will soon be effective, sending a clear message to all Victorians that the Nazi swastika is a symbol of evil that causes great offense to all Victorians, including Jewish Victorians. CSG continues to record reports from members of the Jewish community of Nazi swastikas being displayed in public and graffitied on public property. The new law will allow Victoria Police to prosecute those who refuse to remove this offensive symbol from view. Exemptions to the law exist for genuine educational or artistic purposes or if the symbol is used in opposition to Nazism.
The new law was drafted following consultation with the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), as well as representative bodies for the Victorian Hindu, Buddhist and Jain communities. As part of their religious practice, Hindus, Buddhists and Jains all use the cultural swastika – which looks different to the Nazi Hakenkreuz, and represents wellbeing, guidance or good fortune. This practice can continue under the new law because it is only the Nazi Hakenkreuz that has been banned. “We had to collaborate in order to make legislation that was going to be worthwhile and meaningful in protecting the Jewish community, but was also going to be worthwhile and meaningful in restoring the original meaning to the symbol – which has represented goodness and auspiciousness for thousands of years,” said Dr Diana Cousens, Vice-President of the Buddhist Council of Victoria.
More at source.
https://www.jwire.com.au/from-next-week-jail-fines-await-neo-nazis-in-victoria/