5 March 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:27): I rise to speak very briefly on the Summary Offences (Terrorist Organisation Symbols) Amendment Bill on behalf of the Greens. The Greens believe that everybody—all South Australians—should live without fear of racial violence, abuse or discrimination. Symbols have been used throughout history by movements to discriminate against different ethnicities, identities or religious beliefs.
We support the restriction on symbols used to instil hate. Meaningful democratic practice requires perspectives from a diverse range of groups, but we must also ensure that we are protecting people, especially minority groups, from harassment. This bill contemplates the types of symbols that should be prohibited. We do, however, have some concerns with the scope of the legislation that I would like to put on the record.
I note the advice that the government has provided today around some of the complexities and, in particular, the potential crossover with the Commonwealth Constitution. We certainly look forward to the government addressing those issues when the bill progresses through the houses. We also have concerns about the wording of the bill, which prohibits symbols that, and to quote from the bill, 'so nearly resemble a prescribed symbol that it could be mistaken as such'. This could be considered quite a wideranging prohibition, and there is the potential for some unintended consequences. We certainly would not want to see this capture symbols where there is no intention to replicate a dangerous symbol.
Legislating these types of prohibitions is complex, and there are obvious implications for other jurisdictions and, in particular, our constitution. We consider the government being best placed to obtain the necessary legal advice, and so it is our intention today to not oppose the bill but to allow the government to work through these issues between the houses.