A pair of anti-Semitic personalised number plates on the back of a ute that outraged Aussies has now been recalled.
A white Ford Ranger with the NSW number plate ‘OCT7TH’ was seen on Sydney roads, with a picture of it widely shared on social media.
The number plate appeared to reference the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead and hundreds abducted.
Many hostages are still being held prisoner in Gaza.
Former Liberal candidate Freya Leach, shared an image to her X account with a question to the NSW premier Chris Minns.
‘Seen in Western Sydney. @ChrisMinnsMP how is this allowed?’ she wrote.
Main Road minister John Graham said on Thursday he immediately took action after he was made aware of the number plates.
A white Ford Ranger with the NSW number plate ‘OCT7TH’ was seen on Sydney roads, with a picture of it widely shared on social media. The plates have now been recalled
Former Liberal Party candidate Freya Leach, shared the picture of the licence plate to her X account asking the NSW premier how the plates could be allowed
‘As soon as I heard about this, we issued an order for it to be recalled,’ he told 2GB.
‘That process used to take up to a month before plates could be called back in. Transport has acted immediately.
‘Given the tensions around the world I wasn’t happy with that. As roads minister, we’ve shortened that process, and the request is now that these plates are [recalled] in within 48 hours.’
Mr Graham said if the owner doesn’t hand in the offending plates, the car’s registration will be ‘cancelled altogether’.
Ms Leach said an X follower informed her the plate had been ‘registered a few years prior’ to the attacks labelling it a ‘very unfortunate coincidence’.
Transport for NSW rubbished the claims telling news.com.au the offensive number plate was registered in December 2023 – after the attacks.
The Hamas attacks in southern Israel sparked an ongoing battle with Israeli forces.
According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, the death toll in Gaza has passed 27,000.
Some 85 per cent of Gaza’s civilians have been displaced due to the air raids and ground operations.
Over 1000 Israeli civilians were murdered in co-ordinated attacks by Hamas fighters on October 7, with hundreds being abducted. It sparked a counter-attack and the death toll in Gaza has passed 27,000. 85 per cent of Gaza’s civilians have been displaced due to the air raids and ground operations
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory told Daily Mail Australia the number plate is very ‘concerning’.
‘A surge of anti-Semitism has been sweeping across Australia and the licence plate is a symptom of it,’ he said.
‘We raised it with an MP yesterday but these things keep happening.’
Mr Gregory said there have been past incidents with number plates and there needs to be a system in place to stop it occurring again.
‘It’s crazy. I understand that an employee may not have realised what the date meant, bit once it was raised they should have acted faster,’ he said.
‘It should be treated seriously when raised.
‘It’s extremely concerning for the Jewish community that there are people in our society who celebrate terrorist attacks and murder, and they live in the same city as them.
‘It does feel like the focus on October 7 disappeared very quickly and left peoples’ minds fast.
Transport for NSW introduced stricter screening processes after a neo-Nazi plate went unnoticed last year. A motorist saw the number plate 88-SIEG on a car – eighty-eight is coded slang for “Heil Hitler” and sieg is the German word for ‘victory’
‘We attribute this to the government and Penny Wong not being supportive of Israel. Penny Wong refused to visit the sites of the massacre.
‘It’s important for leaders to send the right message to the community and we’re not seeing that about October 7.’
When assessing if a personalised number plate application is appropriate, authorities use a combination of automatic and manual processing.
A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said an investigation was underway.
‘We apologise the date was not flagged as offensive and for any subsequent offence and distress caused,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Unfortunately, in this instance the filtering process did not identify the combination.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk