Federal police are investigating whether protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne broke new anti-terror laws by glorifying slain terror chief Hassan Nasrallah and displaying Hezbollah flags.
Federal police are investigating whether protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally broke new anti-terror laws for glorifying slain terror chief Hassan Nasrallah and displaying Hezbollah flags after a political firestorm erupted over the limits of free speech at local demonstrations.
Immigration and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday he would “consider refusing and cancelling visas for anyone who seeks to incite discord in Australia”. On Monday morning, a spokeswoman for AFP said “the mere public display of a prohibited symbol on its own does not meet the threshold of a Commonwealth offence”.
“It is frankly not good enough for police to wave the white flag less than 24 hours after these incidents occurred and say laying charges is all too hard. They could not have even conducted a preliminary investigation let alone any interviews to determine whether all elements of the offence have been met,” he said.
Dutton on Monday condemned the protesters for inciting fear and violence against the Jewish community by glorifying Nasrallah. Melbourne rally organiser Omar Hassan said a mass protest movement was always bound to have a diversity of positions but the presence of a small number of Hezbollah symbols at a rally should not detract attention from Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
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