Published: 23 May 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
GABI KALTMANN argues attempts to stop neo-Nazis through targeted laws will be ineffective.
I am a born and bred Melburnian. I love this city, and having the good fortune to be born here means that every day I wake up knowing that I won a lottery in life. I raise my kids in peace while working as a rabbi, leading a synagogue and a Jewish community centre.
I am also the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, the late Joseph Kaltmann, who settled in Australia in the 1950s after his whole family was murdered in Europe. I know that for millennium Jewish people have suffered from antisemitism and in some parts of the world continue to experience discrimination and prejudice.
As a rabbi who is deeply familiar with ancient texts, the weight of the history of my people is never far from my mind. I certainly don’t take for granted that my children and I walk around freely, while looking identifiably Jewish, without incident.
Of course, I feel very disturbed that the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House have twice in the past few months played host to groups of neo-Nazis.
But I don’t think the Victorian government needs to rush to implement new legislation to deal with these small groups of attention-seekers.
This government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews and his Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes, is one of the most proactive governments in Australia in legislating protections for minorities. Jewish Australians know that we have a rock-solid ally in this government, which has led the way by becoming the first Australian parliament to ban the Nazi swastika.
In the wake of these disturbing neo-Nazi incidents, there are calls from Jewish community leaders that the government should strengthen the ban to include all symbols and expressions of Nazi ideology.
