A Sydney driver is furious after being ordered to turn in his personalised “ILDUCE” licence plates because they could remind people of fascist Italian politician Benito Mussolini.
The man, named Eddie, told 2GB on Thursday he paid $900 for the plates, which mean “Il Duce” or “The Leader” in Italian, to reflect his business role about six months ago.
But he recently received a letter from Transport for NSW telling him the plates were “offensive” and needed to be returned or he’d lose his car registration.
Eddie said the cancellation was an “attack on free speech”, and an example of the “woke left imposing its thoughts on society”. He also said he’d seen plates with swear words in foreign languages such as Arabic in western Sydney.
“[The car] is under my company ownership, the words really mean ‘the leader’, I’m the director of the company, and apparently I’m not allowed to have those plates on my car,” he said.
“There is a connotation to Mussolini, but if my name was Adolf apparently I wouldn’t be able to put that on my plates.”
Transport for NSW said a member of the public had reported the plates, which were then assessed and determined to have been “originally issued due to an oversight in the vetting process”, 9News reported.
“The decision to withdraw the plates is based on a wider perception they could be directly related to fascist dictator Benito Mussolini,” a spokesperson said.
The government department said it would allow Eddie to order a new set of personalised ones at the same cost as the ILDUCE set, with no extra charge.
Eddie will also be given general issue plates at no cost if he hands his “offensive” plates in before the November 24 deadline.
Header image: Left, the licence plates that have been withdrawn by Transport for NSW (supplied). Right, Benito Mussolini (public domain).
