Secord: Nazi graffiti attack in Sydney’s north
NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair and Shadow Treasurer Walt Secord has labelled a Nazi graffiti attack in Sydney’s north – as a “crude, planned and deliberate” act of hatred.
Nazi slogans and swastika in Sydney
Walt Secord was referring to a neo-Nazi graffiti attack at an abandoned Commonwealth Building near a highly frequented walking track at Bantry Bay near Killarney Heights.
He has condemned the attack which included graffiti comprising the Nazi swastika; slogans of “White Power”; “Blood will be drawn”.
It also included a systematic trail of stickers promoting the so-called National Socialist Network, a Victorian-based extremist group advocating for a “White Australia”.
Mr Secord also called on the Berejiklian Government to reassure the community that it is properly monitoring the activity of neo-Nazi and far-Right wing groups in NSW.
“This attack is clearly a crude, planned and deliberate act of hatred,” Mr Secord said.
He added: “I have seen photographs of the incident and this is a planned and systematic attack. It was carried out by someone with hatred and evil intent.
The Nazi flag is deeply offensive to all Australian and allied veterans who fought and sacrificed to defeat fascism. Displaying the symbols of an enemy that Australians died to defeat is an affront to them, to survivors of the Holocaust and to all of their collective descendants.
The Nazi flag is an emblem of genocide and racism.”
Mr Secord also took the opportunity to renew his call for the Berejiklian Government to get on with its promise to ban the swastika and Nazi flags in NSW.
“The display of a swastika is a simple expression of hatred,” Mr Secord said.
“The swastika represents a regime that murdered six million Jews, including more than a million children. It represents a regime that sought nothing less than total fascist domination of Europe.”
On March 23, Mr Secord issued the call in a major speech in the NSW Parliament – after the Victorian Parliament recommended the Nazi flag ban.
Last year, documents obtained under freedom of information laws revealed that in a two-year period in NSW police had reported 112 incidents of antisemitism, including 31 Nazi flag incidents. This included the flying of a flag on a Wagga Wagga water tower and another incident in a Newtown backyard near a synagogue.
Mr Secord said he made the call in the context of NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman and former Attorney-General and Vaucluse MP Gabrielle Upton last year promising to await a Victorian Parliament inquiry into banning the swastika.
But on March 3 the Victorian Parliament’s report Inquiry into anti-vilification protections recommended creating a specific criminal offence to prohibit displaying Nazi symbols in Victoria.
The Victorian Parliament reported: “The Committee believes it is important to send a clear message to the community that Nazi symbolism is not acceptable in any form, and has wide-ranging, negative societal impacts. It recommends that the Victorian Government establish a criminal offence that prohibits the display of symbols of Nazi ideology, including the Nazi swastika, with considered exceptions to the law.”
Mr Secord praised the Victorian government and described it as a “historic recommendation”, which NSW should follow immediately.
He concluded: “Now that the Victorian report has been handed down and it has provided a way forward, it is time for the Berejiklian Government to stop making excuses and ban the swastika.”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff condemned the graffiti as “an insult to the people of Sydney and all Australians. The swastika represents the Nazi regime, which was responsible for the murder of six million Jews and which 27,000 Aussies lost their lives combatting during World War 2.
“It’s appalling that there are people out there who think it’s a good idea to promote this symbol, which represents the ultimate in race hatred. All well-meaning people stand united in condemning it. One such act is one too many, and unfortunately, we have seen far too many in recent times.”
Don’t promote these clowns by publishing there images.