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Plan to ban IRGC symbols reaches NSW parliament

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People publicly displaying symbols associated with a state sponsor of terrorism and a radical Islamist group could be imprisoned for two years.

Legislation introduced on Wednesday to NSW parliament expands bans on terrorist symbols to all prohibited organisation symbols, capturing those affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and recently outlawed hate group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Waving flags or wearing clothes with their insignia will be punishable with a prison sentence of up to two years, a $22,000 fine or both, and $110,000 for corporations.

NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said the Labor-drafted bill follows in the federal government’s footsteps, aimed at holding extremists to account.

“There is no place in NSW for hateful, extremist conduct,” he said.

Founded in 1979 after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took power in Iran, the IRGC has grown into a feared hybrid military and security apparatus supporting militant groups in the Middle East as well as suppressing local dissent.

Spy agency ASIO said the IRGC directed the firebombings of a Jewish-owned deli Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney in October 2024 and Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024.

It was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the Albanese government in November.

A report published on Thursday by the federal joint committee on intelligence and security found the attacks were fostered through a complex scheme of proxies, in an attempt to conceal IRGC involvement.

They ultimately led to the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador from Australia in August.

AAP

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