SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — An Australian woman has taken down the Nazi flag she was flying from her home following a joint effort by neighbors and local police, as well as a Jewish member of Parliament.
Cheryl Lawdron told reporters that she had German ancestry and had the right to fly the flag featuring a large swastika and other Nazi symbols on her property in the country town of Beulah.
Victorian state lawmaker David Southwick of the Liberal Party contacted the municipal council, local police and residents to assist in coordinating efforts to have the flag removed.
The incident drew condemnation from the local community. The flag was removed late on Tuesday evening.
“Once again, this incident demonstrates the rising wave of anti-Semitism and racial hatred in Victoria and highlights the need for greater State Government action to crack down on incidents such as these in the future,” Southwick, who is Jewish, said in a statement.
He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “a Nazi flag displayed in a small fruit farming country town that has people from different multicultural backgrounds, including Jewish and Muslim, shows that nobody is safe from this hate.”
Southwick called on the premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, to “introduce stronger laws to stamp out the public display of the swastika in Victoria.”
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