Mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes under Australia hate crime laws

Australia passed strict laws on Thursday to combat hate crimes, introducing mandatory jail time ranging from one to six years for terror offences and displaying hate symbols.

The new laws follow a wave of antisemitic attacks in the nation, with a dozen arrests made for vandalising or setting homes, schools, and synagogues on fire in recent months. In one such incident last month, police discovered a caravan containing explosives and a list of Jewish targets in a suburb of Sydney.

The legislation creates new and bolstered hate crime offences protecting a raft of characteristics, including race, religion and gender.

People who commit less serious hate crimes — such as performing a Nazi salute in public — face minimum jail sentences of at least a year, while those found guilty of terror offences could be imprisoned for up to six years.

While giving a Nazi salute and displaying Nazi symbols were outlawed last year and punishable by up to a year in prison, the new laws mean that jail time is mandatory.

“We want people who are engaged in antisemitic activities to be caught, to be charged and to be put in the clink,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Thursday.

Antisemitic attacks in Australia have led national news and prompted daily questions for Albanese — and claims of inaction from his main political opponent, conservative Liberal party leader Peter Dutton.

Jewish and Muslim organisations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fuelled incidents since the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

Australian lawmakers said in parliamentary speeches this week that the attack by Hamas had provoked an outburst of antisemitism at levels never seen before in the country.

Since October 2023, about 200 people have been charged with crimes linked to antisemitism in the state of New South Wales – where Sydney is located – police say.

Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke said the new laws were the “toughest laws Australia has ever had against hate crimes”.

Additional sources • AP