Posters depicting world ‘leaders’ wearing Nazi uniforms have led to a cafe owner having to shut down an unrelated gig as Canberra police established a crime scene.

On Wednesday, ACT Police officers attended Dissent Cafe & Bar in Canberra after a complaint about “possible hate imagery”, and asked the owner to remove posters. The owner declined, so police established a crime scene, seized five posters, and said they will be considered under “recently enacted Commonwealth legislation regarding hate symbols.”

Cafe of Dissent. When satire meets hate speech laws

by Joshua Barnett

The posters depicted Donald Trump, J D Vance, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu in Nazi uniforms, along with signs to “Sanction Israel” and “Stop Genocide.”

Cafe owner David told MWM, “As far as I can recall, about 7:15, uniformed police turned up, said that there was some problem with some of the posters that we had on display in the front window. The gig just started, and the police presence made sure that the gig wasn’t going to proceed.”

David has not been charged with anything, and ACT Policing’s own statement says the posters were seized and will be assessed under the new Commonwealth hate symbol laws, and that police are still seeking legal advice on legality.

The core offence is in section 80.2H of the Criminal Code Act 1995, as amended by the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026, which makes it an offence to publicly display a prohibited symbol. It also contains defences for genuine artistic, educational, journalistic, and other public interest contexts.

Hate speech, propaganda or satire? There is a real distinction between propaganda and satire, and between glorifying fascism and depicting powerful figures as fascists to criticise them.

MWM put questions to the ACT Police who confirmed that the investigation is under the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act, and that officers had relied on the new section 80C for the initial seizure of the posters. The Police spokesperson also said any decision to lay charges would ultimately be a matter for prosecutors and, if it progressed that far, the courts, stating, “a prosecutor might determine… there’s no reason to prosecute, or a judge might determine if you got that far.”

https://michaelwest.com.au/cafe-of-dissent-when-satire-meets-hate-speech-laws/

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