Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called on the federal government to urgently change criminal laws to prohibit the display of Nazi symbols. 

He attempted to bring on a debate in parliament on Wednesday on his proposed legislation which would change elements of the criminal code.

The Tasmanian and Victorian governments are pushing to ban the Nazi salute, following an anti-transgender rights rally in Melbourne where about 30 men performed the salute on the steps of parliament.

Mr Dutton said federal parliament needed to send a clear message to Australians that it was unacceptable to publicly display Nazi symbols and glorify that period of history. 

“Nazism is an ideology of unparalleled hate, it is an ideology which through its contempt for the rights of man can lead only to darkness and the destruction of humanity,” Mr Dutton said. 

“Thus, in what they represent, Nazi symbols are no ordinary symbols. They must be condemned wherever and whenever they are found and displayed.”

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser said what happened in Melbourne was offensive to all Australians.

“What we witnessed was the glorification and mimicking of an ideology whose fundamental tenet is the racial superiority of one group of people over another,” he said.

“These cowards, many of them wore their faces covered by the cloth of shame, celebrated Nazism. Their actions sickened me to the core.”

House manager Tony Burke said he was horrified to see what happened in Melbourne but the government was not in a position to vote in favour of the opposition’s legislation. 

The issue was being considered by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and his department was working on potential criminal law amendments. 

Mr Burke said people who displayed those symbols should not view the government’s vote against the opposition as a signal of support.

“Of all the symbols of bigotry, this one we have a particular need to unanimously oppose,” he said. 

“Nobody should think that because we divide on the procedure, that somehow that creates a divide on the repugnancy of Nazism and the symbols that go with it.”