NSW protest ban flagged as organisers query police presence
Police resources are stretched thin after weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations and that could be a reason to shut them down, NSW Premier Chris Minns says.
Police have clashed with protesters in front of Victoria’s parliament. (Con Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)
Weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations may be shut down as NSW’s premier suggests police time could be better spent focusing on tackling serious crime.
Organisers behind the protests have hit back, suggesting their events have been “entirely peaceful” and over-policed.
Premier Chris Minns has ordered a review into the handling of the marches, which have run through Sydney’s streets every Sunday for a year following the Hamas massacre on October 7 and Israel’s Gaza counter-attack.
He said police should be allowed to deny a request for a march due to stretched resources, revealing NSW had spent at least $5 million on the protests in 2024 alone.
There was a heavy police presence at Sunday’s protest, where about 10,000 people congregated in Sydney’s Hyde Park after authorities ditched a court bid to shut the rally down.
An unauthorised demonstration – a candlelit vigil on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s terrorist attack that left about 1200 people dead and 250 more taken hostage – also proceeded, but no incidents have been reported.
Palestine Action Group Sydney organiser Josh Lees questioned why hordes of police were needed for a peaceful event.
“We saw hundreds of riot police needlessly mobilised for a candlelight vigil … that wasn’t our decision, that was the premier’s decision,” Mr Lees told AAP.
“As we always said it would be, it was an entirely peaceful event, as all our protests for 52 weeks have been … Minns and all the others who participated in this campaign have egg on their faces and owe the Palestinian and Lebanese community a big apology.”
Others suggested protesting on the anniversary of the Hamas attack was disrespectful.
NSW has a permit system that allows protest participants to disobey laws against blocking transport routes with police approval, although officials can go to court to deny permission.
The premier said the government and police would join forces for the review, and investigate if stretched resources could be used in court as a reason to block an event.
“We still have to have police to investigate serious crime in NSW, that’s proven to be incredibly difficult if our resources are tied up with marches and protests,” he said.
“If an application is made every single weekend, week after week after week, draining police resources and time and taxpayer money, police and taxpayers in the state are entitled to say we’ve got other things that are taking place in this busy city.”
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said the continued police presence at the protests was extreme given “52 weeks of evidence that demonstrates these protests are non-violent and peaceful”.
“If the premier is concerned about the cost to the public of excessive police presence at protest events, the rational solution is to stop the excessive police presence,” she said.
Two people have been charged with displaying Nazi symbols at Sunday’s protest in Sydney, while four people were arrested at a 7000-person-strong rally in Melbourne on the same day.
Victoria Police said they were “pleased” with the behaviour of those at a vigil in Melbourne on Monday evening and reported no incidents of note.
Despite the police praise, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the vigil was not OK.
“(Monday’s) other event was … not an appropriate set of actions to take on a day that represented the single biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust,” she said.
By: Alex Mitchell /AAP
