Australian state pushing to ban Nazi salute after far-right group appear at trans protest

“Nazis aren’t welcome. Not on Parliament’s steps. Not anywhere,” premier of Victoria, Australia, Daniel Andrews wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Andrew’s comments come after a group of neo-Nazis appeared at a protest where transgender rights activists and anti-transgender protesters clashed over the weekend.

The neo-Nazi group, known as the National Socialist Network, showed up to the protest in support of British anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.

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Marching around dressed in all-black, members of the group performed the salute and used offensive anti-transgender language.

Videos of the group circulated on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

In response, Andrews tweeted they would “take legislation to Parliament to ban the Nazi salute in Victoria.”

“Nazis and their hateful ideology aren’t welcome here,” he continued.

Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, invited supporters to listen to her preach anti-transgender rhetoric on Saturday which led to a counter-protest from transgender rights activists.

Each side held up signs and shouted at each other.

Police said they were forced to form a line between the opposing sides to "protect the safety of all involved, stop breaches of the peace and prevent any physical violence," according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

In total, there may have been around 300 protestors, according to police who told Reuters that 15 “possibly” belonged to right-wing groups.

Although some have reported at least 30 seemed to belong to the group.

On Twitter, people reacted in horror to the obvious presence of neo-Nazis and the Nazi salute at the protest.

Already, the Nazi swastika is banned in Victoria.

Last year, the state became the first in Australia to ban public displays of it. Attorney General, Jaclyn Symes said it "glorifies one of the most hateful ideologies in history – its public display does nothing but cause further pain and division."

Now, the salute may be the next step in the government preventing hateful displays from occurring again.

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