Members of the Gold Coast Jewish community are outraged after a stallholder at a Coomera antiques fair was allowed to sell Nazi war memorabilia and weapons.
Pictures taken on Sunday show a swastika armband, SS uniform patches, daggers, bullets, war medals and propaganda booklets displayed for sale.
A figurine of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering, the Nazi air force commander, had a price tag of $45.
A "horrified" member of the Jewish community filed a complaint with event organisers and the Gold Coast Council, which owns the Coomera Sports Complex where the event was held.
Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg was disgusted people would seek to glorify and profit from the sale of these "vile" items, which he said belonged in a museum or in the bin.
"There were some items in there that absolutely make our community's skin crawl," Mr Steinberg said.
"This kind of memorabilia should never see the light of day.
"These symbols, these artefacts, represent the murder of six million Jews but also five million other people who were industrially slaughtered just because they were different."
'We apologise to everyone'
The event organiser, Allan Lawson, who has operated antiques and collectables fairs at locations around the state for more than three decades, said he was "upset" the stall went undetected during their vetting process.
Mr Lawson said it was difficult to check all of the estimated 200,000 items for sale at the event.
"It's definitely not acceptable and we apologise not only to the Jewish community but we apologise to everyone," Mr Lawson said.
"We will do everything in our power to make sure it does not happen again."
He said stallholders would be notified in writing that the sale of such items was banned at future events.
Criminalising hate symbols
Despite being outlawed in New South Wales and Victoria, the public display of hate symbols is not illegal in Queensland.
Last May, the state government announced it would criminalise the use of Nazi symbols by the end of 2022, but the legislation has not been introduced.
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman condemned the attempt to sell Nazi paraphernalia, labelling it "outrageous" and "disrespectful".
"The government is working with stakeholders from across Queensland's multicultural communities on these important reforms, including a recent roundtable hosted by the Attorney-General, to ensure we get these changes right," the spokesperson said.
"This is important legislation, and the Attorney-General looks forward to introducing the bill into parliament early this year."
Mr Steinberg believed giving police the power to confiscate and destroy hate symbols would help combat anti-Semitism and extremist ideologies.
"The display of this kind of material has been going on for far too long," he said.
"It's very important for not only the Jewish community but at large to really be confident that these things are not going to be shown in public.
"We would encourage the owners of those items to look to donate them to a Holocaust museum or put them in the bin because that's where they belong."
