The simple explanation behind a set of “deeply worrying” license plates accused of referencing neo-Nazi sentiment has been revealed.
Australians were left outraged after a Lexus sports car with the Victorian license plate ’88-SS’ was spotted in Doncaster, northeast of Melbourne.
Members of the Jewish community claimed that ’88’ referred to the code used among neo-Nazis for ‘Heil Hitler’, while ‘SS’ alluded to Schutzstaffel, Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit that became the guard of the Nazi regime. .
However, VicRoads says there is a simple explanation for the personalized plates.
Australians were left outraged after a Lexus sports car with the Victorian license plate ’88-SS’ was spotted in Doncaster, north-east of Melbourne (pictured).
Chief operating officer Michael Hooper said following an investigation by VicRoads it was found the plates referenced the driver’s year of birth and initials.
“We have reviewed the application and are satisfied that the intention behind the combination is not intended to offend: lucky numbers, years of birth and personal initials are often used on personalized license plates,” it said in a statement.
It is understood the plates were sold as one of 520 in VicRoads’ range of exclusive limited edition plates, first issued in 2017.
While VicRoads has the power to inadvertently remove number plates by pushing a social agenda, it said it will not withdraw ’88-SS’ plates.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday night that the “stomach-churning” license plate was pushing a “vile agenda”.
“VicRoads must ensure that personalized number plates containing anti-Semitic and racist acronyms and terms are immediately revoked or not approved in the first place,” Mr Abramovich said.
‘At a time when anti-Jewish hatred is skyrocketing across the country and we are seeing a dangerous surge of unabashed white supremacists who are determined to push their vile and dark agenda on the world, this kind of thing is the last thing we need.
“We cannot afford to fall asleep at the wheel and allow egregious references that incite violence and glorify intolerance to appear in our cars.”
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich ((pictured) called on Victoria to follow New South Wales’ lead and remove the offending license plate.
Abramovich called on VicRoads to follow the lead of New South Wales, which removed personalized number plates reading “OCT7TH” in an apparent celebration of Hamas attacks on Israel last year that sparked bloody fighting in the region.
Images of a white Ford Ranger with a NSW license plate were widely shared on social media.
NSW Main Road Minister John Graham said he had acted to remove the plates.
“As soon as I found out about this, we issued an order for it to be removed,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB on Thursday.
«Previously the process took up to a month until the plates could be returned. The transport acted immediately.
‘Given the tensions around the world, I wasn’t happy about it. As Minister of Highways, we have shortened that process and now the request is that these plates be (removed from the market) within 48 hours.’
This license plate which appeared to celebrate Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on October 7 was removed last week by the New South Wales Highways Minister.
Graham said if the owner does not turn in the offending plates, the car’s registration will be “completely cancelled.”
Leach said an X supporter informed him that the license plate had been “registered a few years before” the attacks, calling it a “very unfortunate coincidence.”
Transport for NSW denied the claims, telling news.com.au the offending license plate was registered in December 2023, after the attacks.
Hamas attacks in southern Israel left around 1,200 Israelis dead and hundreds more kidnapped.
It triggered an all-out war between Israeli forces and the militant group that controls the Palestinian area of Gaza. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 27,000.
About 85 percent of Gaza’s civilians have been displaced due to airstrikes and ground operations.