Malcolm Turnbull has described an incident in which a swastika flag was flown on an Australian army vehicle in Afghanistan in 2007 as “completely and utterly” unacceptable.
A photo leaked to the ABC shows the Nazi emblem hoisted above a vehicle with at least four soldiers on or near it.
The Australian Defence Force has confirmed that the flag was raised above an Australian Army vehicle in Afghanistan in 2007.
“Defence and the ADF reject as abhorrent everything this flag represents. Neither the flag nor its use are in line with Defence values,” a Defence spokesman said in a statement.
“The commander took immediate action to have the offensive flag taken down.”
The Prime Minister this morning said that it was “absolutely wrong” for the swastika flag to have been used by Australian soldiers.
“It was reported in 2007, that incident, and the flag obviously was removed and the personnel involved were disciplined,” Mr Turnbull said.
“The Defence Minister will have more to say about that, but the incident, it was wrong — you know, it was wrong.
“It was absolutely wrong, and their commanders took action at the time.”
The ABC is reporting that further images of the flag in Afghanistan have also been circulated among Australian soldiers.
One Defence source told the ABC the decision to fly the flag was a “twisted joke”, rather than an expression of genuine Neo-Nazism.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said the revelation was “deeply troubling and distressing”.
“The flying of the Nazi flag, the most evil symbol in the history of mankind by our soldiers is a slap in the face to the diggers who fought valiantly and died to defeat Hitler,” Dr Abramovich said.
“This immoral act also dishonours the most basic values that Australians stand for.
“The swastika represents pure hatred and the crimes of a regime responsible for the most destructive conflict the world has ever known, including the murder of six million Jews and millions of others.
“At a time of escalating anti-Semitism and intolerance, this vile display of bigotry is a reminder of the ever-present need for people of good to speak out against such abhorrence, and that racism is still rampant in parts of our society.”