On Thursday 18 June, the AFUO’s Kateryna Argyrou and Justin Senko joined Andrew Mencinsky, Dan Wolody and Galyna Alyokhina of the Ukrainian Council of NSW – ОУГ НПВ (UCNSW) to meet with representatives from the Offices of the NSW Premier, the Police Minister, the Attorney General and the Minister for Multiculturalism.
The meeting was held in response to the recent public display of hate symbols in Sydney which sought to normalise russia’s illegal actions in Ukraine and incite violence against Ukrainians. The incident caused widespread distress and anger within the Ukrainian-Australian community and amongst many Australians.
Next steps:
The AFUO and UCNSW will meet with the NSW Police Prosecutor to assess whether the display, and the wave of online abuse that followed, breached Section 93ZAA of the Crimes Act
The NSW Attorney General’s office will look into prescribing the “Z” symbol as a banned hate symbol in NSW
The NSW Attorney General will raise the issue federally, working with the federal Attorney General and our organisations toward a nationwide ban
We’re grateful to the NSW Government for engaging with us so quickly on this issue.
The AFUO will keep pushing for the “Z” symbol to be banned federally and for proper safeguards so this isn’t repeated — we’ll update the community as things progress.
We will also be reaching out to federal Ministers and their agencies calling on them to explain how they will protect our community and Australia from further hate-driven and divisive displays like this one.
#StandWithUkraine#BanTheZSymbol#UkrainianAustralians#AFUO#UCNSW
