Police in New South Wales (Australia's most populous state) have dropped charges against artist Michael Agzarian, who had been accused of publicly displaying Nazi symbols after placing a satirical poster in the window of his shop in Wagga Wagga ahead of last year's federal election. The poster depicted politician Michael McCormack, opposition leader Peter Dutton, and mining billionaires Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer dressed in Second World War German military uniforms — imagery adapted from the American sitcom Hogan's Heroes. A court heard that police had received internal legal advice before charging Agzarian that the images constituted "political satire" and would not meet the threshold for an offence under either state or federal law; the judge awarded Agzarian over AU$12,000 in costs and criticised police for taking seven months to withdraw the charge. Agzarian's lawyer said his client should never have been prosecuted, calling the outcome "an important win for free speech" in a country with a long tradition of political satire.