Police and other state agencies had no legal power to remove the flag which has caused outrage in the small town of Beulah in the Mallee, about four hours north-west of Melbourne. Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich welcomed news the flag had been removed, but repeated calls for Parliament to ban public displays of the Nazi symbol. "This is a victory for the people of Victoria, for decency, and for the foundational values that bind us all together. While we welcome the removal of the flag, this action does not address the core problem that the public displaying of the Nazi swastika is still legal in this state," Dr Abramovich said on Tuesday night. Ms Patten condemned the couple's actions, however she does not believe banning the swastika is the answer. "I think with banning symbols, where do we stop? Now yes, the history of the Nazi party and the extraordinary, horrific acts that they undertook is one thing. I don’t think prohibiting something or banning it the answer, however we do want to prohibit people trying to incite hatred and violence on the grounds of who they are," she said.

A parliamentary committee will review Victoria's anti-vilification laws this year and Ms Patten is pushing to widen the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act to include hate speech targeting people for their gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as addressing online trolling. At present, laws only cover racial and religious vilification and have resulted in just one prosecution in 17 years. The flag flying over a home in the Victorian town of Beulah. "This current review will obviously consider all areas of intolerance and vilification, but I can’t see us banning [the swastika]," Ms Patten said. Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said the government will examine whether anti-vilification laws need to be tightened to give authorities the power to remove Nazi flags like the one flying in Beulah.

"Victoria Police are currently considering the complaints, as I understand, that have been made, but the state of the law requires it to incite hatred and incite others to threaten physical harm to other people," she told radio station 3AW. Ms Hennessy did not say whether she supported a full ban on any public display of the swastika, but said the government would have to balance people's freedom of speech with the right to live without racial and religious vilification. When contacted by The Age, home owner Cheryl Lawdorn, who bought the house with her partner last year, defended her right to fly the flag because of her German ancestry. Premier Daniel Andrews has called for the couple to take the flag down, describing it as "absolutely disgusting behaviour". "If there's any decency in that household, they will take that flag down immediately," he said.

Loading Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton said displaying the flag was "reprehensible" and was "completely out of step with community expectations". She said it could be possible for a member of the public to make a complaint about the flag to the Commission or VCAT under the act, however there is a very high threshold for showing vilification has occurred. "You need to be able to show that the conduct incited others to ridicule or feel hatred, serious contempt or revulsion for the victim. This can make it difficult for a case to succeed," she said. Ms Hilton has supported Ms Patten's bid to expand the legislation and lower the threshold for civil and criminal vilification.





with Rachel Eddie