The proto-Nazis in Victoria deserve our wrath — but the law is a blunt tool

All forms of Nazism are abhorrent, but prohibiting any word, gesture or symbol is a step that must be taken with extreme care.

Neo-Nazi protesters outside Melbourne’s Parliament House on Saturday (Image: AAP/James Ross)

Victoria has outlawed the swastika. The Nazi salute is next. Will brown shirts follow?

The criminal law is the bluntest instrument a state or territory government has for enforcing acceptable social norms. Because its consequences are dire for anyone caught on the wrong side of whichever line it draws, we should always step with extreme care. Too often, governments don’t.

The announcement by Victoria’s Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes that her government will legislate to ban the Nazi salute followed quickly on the heels of the small group of black-clad fuckwits who paraded outside Victoria’s Parliament House at the weekend, adding their support to the current hatred-du-jour, transphobia.

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