The NSWCCL supports the legal challenge to the anti-democratic laws by the Palestine Action Group (PAG) in the Supreme Court of NSW today.  These laws granted NSW Police improper powers in dealing with protestors and activists at rallies. They included additional move-on orders that would cause serious damage to our right to assemble and communicate with each other, and therefore damage our democracy. They should be tested. 

Today the NSWCCL has written to State MPs calling on their support for a NSW Legislative Council inquiry into whether Premier Chris Minns and Minister Catley misled the Parliament and public in order to pass the Places of Worship Bill, Racial and Religious Hatred Bill and the Inciting Racial Hatred Bill. 

The information available on the public record indicates the Premier may have been aware that the caravan incident was a criminal hoax, not a credible threat to lives, as early as 29 January 2025. Despite this he warned the public that it was “terrorism” and the “discovery of a potential mass casualty event”. Deputy Commissioner Barrett has said that investigators knew “almost immediately” that the plot was a fabrication. The New South Wales public should have clarity regarding what the Premier knew, when he knew it and the circumstances of the legislation he then rushed through parliament as a consequence. 

The Premier’s comments incited a climate of fear and panic across the state. In particular, they led Jewish Australians to understand that a mass casualty terror attack against their community was imminent. It was in this atmosphere that the Premier leant on the Opposition and crossbench and rushed highly restrictive and repressive legislation through the parliament in a two week period, without being subject to a parliamentary inquiry. This is highly unusual for such controversial legislation with far reaching impacts.  

The Premier had an obligation to clarify that he had been briefed that terrorism was not the most likely explanation for the caravan incident. Instead, three days before the laws passed Parliament, he doubled down and insisted that the threat to the public from the caravan was not overstated. Our concern is that the Premier exploited the sense of crisis that he himself had ignited and that he may have misled the Parliament and the public by not correcting the record before the laws were considered. 

A legislative inquiry is warranted because the Premier has so far been unable to answer the following questions:

1. When was the Premier briefed by the police that the caravan bombing plot was a suspected hoax?  
2. Why did the Premier call the incident a “potential mass casualty event”, inciting fear across the Jewish community, if he knew that it was in fact a suspected hoax?  
3. What did the Premier know by 18 February, when he insisted that the threat to the public from the caravan bombing plot was not overstated? 
4. Did the Premier and the Police Minister intentionally exploit this hoax to speed through legislation criminalising protest and speech?  

Comments attributable to Timothy Roberts, President NSWCCL 

“If it is true that the Minns Labor Government was aware from the outset that the Caravan Plot was a criminal con job, then Premier Minns has deliberately cultivated fear and division instead of fostering unity and social cohesion. 

“It is deeply concerning that he has not, at the very least, corrected the public record instead of relying on this atmosphere to drive through legislation that erodes our rights of assembly and speech. Rights that are essential for the good functioning of our democracy. 

“We congratulate the Palestine Action Group in testing some of these horrible laws in the Supreme Court. 

 “We call on the members of Parliament to repeal these laws in their entirety. We urge all parliamentarians to reflect on their role in safeguarding democracy and the information made available to them at the time they were asked to support this suite of anti-democratic laws. 

“The people of NSW deserve a responsible government that is not reckless with their democratic rights and in the drafting of legislation.  Given the cloud that now covers this saga, it is essential that they have transparency on what the Minns Government knew and when, and an independent legislative inquiry can provide that.”