Last night, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) Annual General Meeting passed a resolution calling on the NSW Police to withdraw the anti-protest charges against the remaining 130 people arrested in Newcastle who were protesting the world’s largest coal port.  

Today the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties and Liberty Victoria (the CCLs) have jointly submitted to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security review into the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025. The CCLs are alarmed that the federal Labor Government is making the post 9/11 questioning and detention powers permanent. The questioning warrant powers remove or restrict accepted legal rights of due process, rights of an accused person to have legal representation and to a fair trial. These powers can be used to arrest, detain and question someone as young as 14, without any suspicion or criminal charge against them. 

The CCLs submit that these immense powers are contrary to the basic democratic principles and would characterise ASIO as a secret police force, rather than an intelligence gathering agency. 

The CCLs remind the government that Parliament’s duty is not merely to protect the safety of the public at all costs. It must also preserve the democratic liberty which the public cherishes and is entitled to expect. The appropriate balance must be struck. If, in combatting extremism, this society descends into authoritarianism, then the Parliament has destroyed what it is seeking to save

Quotes attributable to Timothy Roberts, President NSWCCL 

“Political speech must be protected. This is an absurd situation where someone, in their private capacity, asked a question about an intelligence agency and has subsequently been targeted, censored and publicly condemned by their employer. 

“It is in the public’s interest for questions to be asked regarding the trustworthiness of information from the government, including from intelligence agencies. This year alone it has been exposed that the Dural Caravan incident was known to be a criminal hoax from early on, while the NSW Premier used this to inflame fear in the public and push through anti-protest laws. 

“In a democratic country, we are entitled to question and scrutinize the decisions of all states. Even more so, we are entitled to question and scrutinize the decisions of intelligence agencies. 

“Across Australia we are witnessing institutions, including hospitals, cave to pressure and use codes of conduct and policies to repress legitimate political speech. This is shameful, antidemocratic behaviour.

“As a matter of public policy, definitions which conflate criticism of Israel and its government’s policies with antisemitism are of serious concern to freedom of speech, in the circumstance of Peter Macdonald this is taken even further to equate criticism of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, with antisemitism.”

The NSWCCL 2025 Annual Dinner will have a keynote address from global best-selling author, journalist and film-maker Antony Loewenstein. He will be speaking to members and friends of the NSWCCL on the topic of ‘Free Speech and Discomfort in a Time of War.’ The Annual Dinner will also be addressed by human rights lawyer and Executive Officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, Sarah Schwartz.

Antony’s latest book, The Palestine Laboratory, is an award-winning and best-selling book that exposes Israel’s military industrial complex and shows how it “battle-tests” its weapons and surveillance on Palestinians before selling them to the world.

The NSWCCL is deeply concerned about the censorship some of our community faces when looking to address some issues publically. The NSWCCL is committed to ensuring we are able to have these conversations and welcome the address as one such occasion. This is particularly important given the actions of the NSW Government.

In February this year, the NSW Minns Labor Government passed laws to criminalise the incitement of racial hatred. The offence carries a maximum penalty for an individual of two years’ imprisonment, fines of up to $11,000, or both, while corporations can face fines of $55,000. Hatred was not defined in the laws. In passing these poorly drafted laws, the NSW Government has improperly suppressed speech. They have also acted against the recommendations of the former Chief Justice Tom Bathurst NSW Law Reform Commission, which warned that hatred is too imprecise and subjective a term for the criminal law. Further, the review made clear they go against the advice of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which warned that restrictions on freedom of speech should not be “broad or vague”.

The incitement of violence on the basis of race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status and HIV status was already illegal, as are civil protections against hate speech in the Anti-Discrimination Act, and rightly so. These laws protect our community while not unreasonably burdening free speech.

Hannah Thomas, a candidate who stood against the Prime Minister in the recent federal election, was seriously injured on Friday, reportedly at the hands of NSW Police. The NSWCCL understands that NSW Police used the Premier’s new move along powers in disrupting what was otherwise a peaceful protest.

Public assemblies have been protected under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (‘LEPRA’), whether they are “authorised” through the Form 1 process or not. The Minns Labor Government passed draconian laws that lowered the threshold for NSW Police to issue move on orders, by amending Section 200 of LEPRA which speaks to the operation of these powers in s 197.

It has been reported that the fact sheet of an arrestee at the protest includes reference to a ‘place of worship’. NSWCCL has warned of the potential misuse of these laws since they were first announced.

On Friday the Legislative Council committee inquiry into the impacts of the regulatory framework for cannabis in New South Wales released its final report. The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) has long called for decriminalisation of cannabis across Australia, coupled with regulation. We believe that the criminal law is ill-suited to deal with drug use in the community. We welcome the committee's final report and urge the NSW Government to take immediate action to implement their recommendations. 

A copy of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) submission to the inquiry can be found here. In August 2024, former President of NSWCCL and former Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL appeared at the inquiry on behalf of NSWCCL, his comments can be found here. 

Today, the High Court has handed down its decision in Ravbar & Anor v Commonwealth of Australia & ORS [2025], otherwise known as the case testing the legality of the CFMEU administration. The High Court found the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Act 2024 is constitutionally valid. 

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) remains seriously concerned about the administration and its implications for all member-based civil society organisations, unions, and registered clubs. Last year, the Commonwealth removed democratic control of the CFMEU by its members on the basis of what were at the time, untested allegations. The findings of the High Court do not negate that the CFMEU was placed into administration without, at the time the legislation was passed, any proven allegations of wrongdoing. The appropriate response from the government should have been to test the allegations against CFMEU officials and delegates in court, and if proven, sought the removal of the officials. This process was circumvented when administration was imposed by parliament, and went against the essential democratic principles of innocence until proven guilty, due process and freedom of association. The administration legislation may now operate as a legal model for the takeover of other unions and other member-based civil society organisations in the future. 

Over the past twelve months there has been a worrying trend of state overreach by the federal Labor Government, which threatens to undermine the rule of law, including through the passing of the Administration Act and the introductions of mandatory minimum sentencing late last year. The NSWCCL maintains that everyone has the right to natural justice and procedural fairness, regardless of the allegations they face. 

The independence of membership-based organisations across Australia must be protected and Australia must uphold its obligations under the International Labour Organisation, namely Articles 3 and 4 of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948.

Today, the NSW Premier Chris Minns has refused to appear before the NSW Legislative Council’s inquiry into the handling of the Dural Caravan incident. 

It was revealed in a previous hearing with NSW Police that the Premier and the Police Minister were briefed ‘very early on’ that the incident was like a criminal hoax, yet the Premier continued to use language of ‘mass casualty event’ and ‘terrorism’ in media related to the events.

This and other incidents were used as justification to pass a series of repressive laws including the Places of Worship Act, which restricts protest ‘at or near places of worship’ and is having its constitutionality tested before the NSW Supreme Court from Thursday, and the Inciting Racial Hatred Act.

Yesterday the University of Sydney administration announced that it has adopted a policy that represses political speech and activism on campus. This includes the banning  of banners or on campus without receiving prior permission and constraints on staff sending political emails. 

Comments attributable to Timothy Roberts, President NSWCCL 

“The adoption of this policy is a continuation of an alarming trend of political repression and the loss of academic freedom at the University of Sydney. The University’s leadership continues to take regressive stances on speech that should be of grave concern to not only current and former students and staff, but our community. We rely on institutions like USyd having free and open discussions on complex issues.