Emotions run high during Nazi symbol ban debate

A parliamentarian has broken down during a debate on Nazi symbolism as tensions ran high in the Senate.

The opposition is pushing to ram through a ban on Nazi symbols after a protest in Melbourne drew neo-Nazis, who used the Sieg Heil salute.

Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash said the push to ban the symbol needed to take precedence.

“Every Australian should find the actions of that small group of protesters who dared to use the Nazi salute offensive,” she told parliament.

“Those who display Nazi symbols or use the Nazi salute are either ignorant of the past or are deliberately promoting evil.”

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher agreed there was no place in Australia for Nazi ideology.

“But I think we should also acknowledge this is a complex area of law and any move to ban Nazi symbols deserves serious consideration,” she said.

“The Australian people deserve better. We should stand together, we should send a strong voice about the events we saw in Victoria.

“This bill needs serious consideration, not a stunt.”

Tensions boiled over when Liberal senator Sarah Henderson cried in the chamber after an interjection from Labor minister Murray Watt.

The interjection related to text messages Senator Henderson reportedly sent to the Victorian Liberal leader in defence of the state MP he is trying to expel from the party for attending the Melbourne anti-transgender rights rally where Nazis showed up.

“I am disgusted in you,” Senator Henderson yelled across the chamber.

Senator Watt withdrew the remarks.

Labor senators also took aim at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for not strongly backing the push to expel state MP Moria Deeming.

Anthony Chisholm said there was a contrast in the actions of Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto moving to expel Ms Deeming, and the federal Liberals who had nine years in government to act.

“You can show leadership or y ou can pursue stunts. It is disappointing the federal Liberals have chosen stunts,” the Labor senator said.

Liberal senator Anne Ruston said Labor was attacking the opposition over something “that could not be more important to humanity”.

“Shame on you for not understanding how unbelievably painful this must be for so many Jews around the world, to think that you would suggest this is a stunt,” she said.

“This is absolutely a matter of urgency.”

The push to have the bill debated ultimately failed, despite all sides agreeing it was an important issue to discuss, with Labor, the Greens and One Nation voting down the suspension of standing orders.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young expressed her anger at the push to have the legislation voted on almost immediately, saying politicising the issue would drag the debate into the gutter.

“I don’t think anything we’ve displayed to the Australian people … is anything to be proud of,” she said during the debate.

“The politicking over this issue – which is serious, which is sensitive, which is fundamentally about the values of a respectful, democratic nation – should not be drawn into the gutter.

Divided Vic Liberals cop prime ministerial kicking

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used a visit to Melbourne to lash the state’s Liberal party over its division about expelling a controversial MP.

“The Victorian Liberal Party here are a shambles, we’ve seen them fighting each other,” he told reporters on Friday.

His comment follows Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto’s bid to eject MP Moira Deeming from the party following her appearance at an anti-transgender rally in Melbourne on Saturday.

The heated event made nationwide headlines after the attendance of neo-Nazis who lined up and made a salute outside parliament.

Ms Deeming was present but has denied any Nazi alignment and denounced the salute.

Mr Pesutto accuses her of “conducting activities in a manner likely to bring discredit” to the party over her association with rally figures with alleged links to extremists.

He presented a 15-page dossier of supportive “evidence” detailing Ms Deeming’s involvement in the ral ly.

Ms Deeming has since denounced Nazism and denied any ties to far-right groups but refuses to condemn British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen, who headlined the event.

A Victorian Liberal party caucus meeting on Monday is due to vote on a motion to expel Ms Deeming.

Mr Albanese was in Melbourne campaigning alongside Labor’s candidate for the April 1 Aston federal byelection.

An urgent push to ban Nazi symbols has reached federal parliament following Saturday’s rally and emotions are high.

As debate continued in Canberra’s upper house, Liberal senator Sarah Henderson started crying over mention of the text messages she had sent Mr Pesutto in support of Ms Deeming.

AAP