Jacinta Allan announces sweeping anti-protest measures in Victoria ‘to combat antisemitism’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has said that the flags of Hamas, Hezbollah and white nationalist extremist groups will be banned in her state, as she speaks on new initiatives to tackle the recent rise in antisemitism.
It follows a spate of antisemitic incidents across Victoria and Australia in recent months, most notably with the arson attack against the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.
Allan said authorities have “had enough of the protests that have caused division and disruption in our streets”, while insisting that the right to peaceful protest must be protected. She said:
Victorians have witnessed extreme, dangerous and radical conduct in numerous public demonstrations over the past year, and it would be wrong for me to say that everyone who’s attending these protests is antisemitic.
There’s no one saying that, but we know some are, and we know some are saying that we also know that hate and antisemitism are thriving in these environments.
That’s why we’re going to give police … the powers to weed out and stamp out the influence of extreme and radical participation in public protests. Firstly, we will ban the flags and symbols of listed terrorist organizations in public that includes Hamas, Hezbollah and several other groups, including white national extremists and radical racist violent extremist rightwing groups.
We will also ban the use of face masks and balaclavas at protests. We know they are being used to conceal identities, shield agitators from crowd-control measures like capsicum spray … face masks aren’t a free pass to break the law, and there should be no place to hide in this state if you’re a racist stirring up hate on the streets.
Allan said she was also going to ban the use of glue, rope, chains, locks and “other dangerous attachment devices that protesters use to cause maximum disruption and also endanger others”.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has welcome the Victorian Labor government’s announcement that it will introduce new laws to tackle anti-Semitism including banning the displaying flags of Hamas, Hezbollah and white nationalist extremist groups in public.
Dutton said the laws, which will also limit the use of face masks and balaclavas at protests, should have been introduced 14 months ago following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war which led to broader hostilities across the middle east.
Dutton said:
I just can’t understand why it’s taken the Allan government so long to react to the reasonable requests, particularly of Jewish Australians, who have been treated in the most deplorable way.
It’s unimaginable that we would allow people of any other background history religion to be treated the way that the Jewish people have been treated.”
Dutton accused Victorian premier Jacinta Allan and Anthony Albanese of “sitting on their hands” since the outbreak of the war.
Of course, it’s escalated, and it was always going to and they were warned about this at the time, if you allow these lunatics to continue on their protests at university campuses and allow them to spew out their hatred and affiliate with a listed terrorist organisation and there to be no consequence.”
