Melbourne – Police are investigating an early morning demonstration in Melbourne’s CBD after witness reports of a group of people dressed in black marching and giving Nazi salutes.
Police officers attended Parliament House and Flinders Street Station in the early hours of Saturday after becoming aware of an “unplanned demonstration”.
Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the “hateful and cowardly behaviour”.
“It is particularly abhorrent at a time when our Jewish and Israeli communities are hurting and grieving,” she said.
The gathering came a week after Hamas launched attacks in Israel, sparking retaliatory air strikes on the Gaza Strip, with thousands of civilians killed on both sides. On Friday, thousands gathered at a vigil in Caulfield in solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attacks. A Free Palestine rally is to be held in Melbourne on Sunday.
Saturday’s gathering was also only hours before voting opened for the referendum on the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Allan said Victorians stood with Jewish communities at this difficult time. “We will always stand against antisemitism, hatred and racism – we are making sure people who use these symbols and gestures to harass, intimidate and incite hate are held accountable,” she said.
A police spokesperson said a group of about 25 people gathered for a short time about 1.30am before being moved on.
“There were no reported incidents during the demonstration and at this stage, unless further information is received, no offences were detected,” a police statement said.
“Police will, however, assess the circumstances surrounding the demonstration and review vision of the incident and people involved.”
Footage and photographs published by Daily Mail Australia showed men in black making Nazi salutes at Flinders Street Station and again as they boarded a train.
It reported that the group was seen with an antisemitic banner, singing songs about white supremacy, shouting racist insults and posing for photographs.
They were approached by police before entering the station and boarding a train on the Werribee line about 1.50am, the report said.
On the train, they were seen trying to hand out promotional material for Australia’s largest neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network, and asking a passenger if they were Jewish. Daily Mail Australia reported that the group got off the train at Altona.
Deputy Opposition Leader David Southwick said the demonstrators should not be allowed to “incite hate and threaten violence”.
“The Jewish community are already on edge, with many living in fear,” he said. “This is a shocking and dangerous incident that is contrary to Victoria’s identity as a tolerant and multicultural community.”
Under legislation before Victorian parliament, anyone who intentionally displays or performs a Nazi symbol or gestures in public will face penalties of more than $23,000 and jail time.
A range of symbols and gestures used by the historic Nazi party and its paramilitary organisations will be banned – including anything which closely resembles a Nazi symbol or gesture, ensuring that people who deliberately try to circumvent the ban and spread hate are punished.
The Victorian reforms were triggered after a group of neo-Nazis gatecrashed the “Let Women Speak” event in March. The neo-Nazis at the rally performed the Nazi salute outside Parliament House.
