Truth about number plates spotted on Australian roads after Jewish community outrage
Some say the plates referenced the Nazi Party – but the government has since refuted the claims
Members of the Jewish community were outraged after spotting another set of number plates that they thought referenced Nazi sentiment, but transport authorities have investigated and revealed an innocent explanation.
Earlier this morning Yahoo News reported that a set of number plates were seen on a Victorian road that upset the Jewish community, less than one week after a "repugnant" set of plates were spotted in NSW ostensibly referencing the date Hamas massacred over 1200 people in Israel.
The latest plates, seen in Doncaster in Melbourne's northeast, read "88-SS".
People said that the 88 alluded to the code used among neo-Nazis for "Heil Hitler" and SS seemingly refers to the Schutzstaffel, the guard of the Nazi regime within the Third Reich.
But speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Michael Hooper, Chief Operations Officer at VicRoads said the plates actually refer to the driver's birth year and initials and did not have antisemitic sentiments.
"We have reviewed the application and are satisfied the intent behind the combination is not intended to cause offence — lucky numbers, birth years and personal initials are often used in custom number plates," he clarified.
Yahoo understands that these particular number plates were sold as one of VicRoads's limited edition signature plate range, of which there were only 520 combinations available. The number plates in question were first issued in 2017 and just this one complaint has been received by VicRoads since then.
The authority explained it does have the ability to recall plates that inadvertently issued inappropriate social messages, but it wouldn't be in this case.
Jewish community wants more scrutiny of offensive plates
Earlier today, Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia’s leading civil rights organisation fighting antisemitism, said offensive, antisemitic number plates were "of grave concern".
"VicRoads needs to ensure that vanity number plates that contain antisemitic and racist acronyms and terms are revoked immediately, or not approved in the first place," he told Yahoo News Australia.
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"The NSW Transport Minister recently set the bar on dealing swiftly with offensive licence plates, and we should follow suit," Abramovich added, referring to the swift action taken last week by the state government after the pro-Hamas plates were noticed on the road.
Abramovich said another set of number plates that attracted complaints in 2021 were "confronting". Those plates read "HailSS", with Abramovich slamming the owner at the time over what he described as glorifying “Hitler’s cruel and sadistic killing unit" whose members included "guards at death camps like Auschwitz where millions were gassed”. Those plates were the subject of a review at the time with a Transport Department confirming they were later recalled.
NSW plates ordered back or face cancelled registration
Last Thursday, Transport for NSW demanded a set of number plates which read OCT7TH be returned or risk the vehicle's registration being cancelled, after uproar across the country.
Roads Minister John Graham said last week his department became aware of the complaint the previous day and "acted immediately". "We don't know the story behind it. But whatever the story is, this is something that if people saw it they would be upset, and we want it off the road rapidly," he said.
"We've issued an order for it to be recalled ... the request is now that these plates are in within 48 hours, but it might take up to a week. If they don't come back in, the registration will be cancelled altogether and the car is coming off the road."
The plates drew swift backlash from people all over the country and from the Jewish community in particular, with many airing their confusion over how they weren't detected during the filtering process in the first place. A Transport for NSW (TfNSW) spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo News Australia the plates were administered in December, two months after the deadly attack.
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